VGA Better Then FX 5200, 9550 or 9600 or ??

[Oblivion]

I've got 4 systems running....i have top of the line VGAs on 2 of em...now on the last one i have MSI's FX5200 128MB Running. I need to know what is better then this one currently...Radeon 9550 or Radeon 9600 or some card in the FX line up. I dont intend to spend much on the card though.

[jAkUp]

How much do you want to spend? a 9600 would be the best out of the cards you listed. But even a 9550 is better than a 5200.

[rohit]

9600Pro or FX 5700Ultra
either is/will be better than the 5200!

[Oblivion]

I wont like to spend more then $100 i guess

[anzak]

Sapphire Radeon 9600 pro - $108 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-301&depa=0

Still a great card for shader heavy games such as FarCry and Half Life 2. Walks all over any midrange card from the FX line.

[saturnotaku]

If you hit up the refurbished section of Newegg, you can pick up the same card for $91 + shipping. Likewise, they have the original Radeon 9500 available for $109. If you get that, you might get one of the infamous L-shaped memory cards that could be soft-modded to a 9700.

http://www.techpowerup.com/softmod/faq.php

That's a list of all the different ATI cards and how they shape up for a soft-mod. Even if you get an I-shaped memory board, the 9500 Pro mod might give you a leg up in performance over a 9600 Pro.

[anzak]

If you hit up the refurbished section of Newegg, you can pick up the same card for $91 + shipping. Likewise, they have the original Radeon 9500 available for $109. If you get that, you might get one of the infamous L-shaped memory cards that could be soft-modded to a 9700.

http://www.techpowerup.com/softmod/faq.php

That's a list of all the different ATI cards and how they shape up for a soft-mod. Even if you get an I-shaped memory board, the 9500 Pro mod might give you a leg up in performance over a 9600 Pro.

I normally don't like refurbs, but that 9500 is a great deal.

[XanderF]

Well, yeah, except you can get used Radeon 9500 Pros on eBay for around $50 shipped nowadays.

If you can deal with ATI's crappy driver support (IE., you only play games the card can actually do right), then that's an almost criminal steal.

[Oblivion]

now that's a nice deal