$130 and Which ATI Card?

[Hawkens85]

So I've got a limit of $130, and want to buy a nice ATI card. Currently I've got an NVidia GeForce FX5200, but it's starting to stink, and after [trying] to play the UT2004 demo, I realized how bad it really is. Any recommendations in my price range? I was told the 9800, just lookin' for some other input. Later mates.

[AsianBatman]

9800 for 130? i highly doubt it...
But try this..http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-291&depa=0

[Hawkens85]

Gimme the low-down on it - pros and cons. (this was the card I was referred to by my freind, not the 9800, I was mistaken)

[AsianBatman]

um...it uses 128bit instead of 256bit memory pipelines..umm 4 pipelines instead of 8..but its the best card for your budget..atleast that is what i think.

[maximus7001]

You have already been bitten, so do lots of research and be absolutely sure what you want/need before playing the buy a gfx card game again or you will be sorry again.

Example...this customer who originally had a r8500 64mb(from me 2 years ago), did a major 50% downgrade to a fx5200 128mb thinking double the memory = double the speed, not. Then proceded to do another glorious blundering downgrade to a r9600se trying to regain the lost 50% gfx performance. By this time most games are unplayable and he is much worse off that with the fx5200. Then the bloody idiot did it again with another further downgrade to a fx5600xt. So far he has spent $500+cdn doing incremental downgrades and still has absolutely no clue where he went wrong. The funny thing is, during all these blunders, an original ati r9800pro was and is $300cdn and is what I told him to get in the first place.
This goes on everywhere everyday and is a very profitable part of the computer industry.