http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/16...deocards-money


Article:
BEST GAMING VIDEOCARDS FOR THE MONEY:
PCI-E video cards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_card , August, 2008

BEST PCI-E CARD FOR UNDER $100:
Geforce 9500 GT GDDR3

BEST PCI-E CARD FOR ~$100:
Radeon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon 3850 512MB

BEST PCI-E CARD FOR ~$125: TIE
Geforce 9600GT 512MB
Radeon 3870

BEST PCI-E CARD FOR ~$150:
Geforce 8800 GT 512MB (AKA 9800 GT)

BEST PCI-E CARD FOR ~$175:
Radeon 4850

BEST PCI-E CARD FOR ~$280: TIE
Radeon 4870
Geforce 260

BEST PCI-E CARD FOR ~$350:
Two Radeon 4850 in Crossfire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossfire

HONORABLE MENTION:
2x Geforce 9800 GTX http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_9_Series in SLI configuration
(only recommended if you have an SLI motherboard and can't run crossfire)



BEST GAMING VIDEOCARDS FOR THE MONEY:
AGP video cards, August 2008

BEST AGP CARD FOR UNDER $100:
Radeon 2600 PRO

BEST AGP CARD FOR ~$100:
Radeon 2600 XT

BEST AGP CARD FOR ~$140:
Radeon 3850



WHAT ABOUT THIS OTHER CARD THAT'S NOT ON THE LIST? HOW DO I KNOW IF IT'S A GOOD DEAL?
This will happen! It's guaranteed to happen, actually, as stock changes fast. Prices change fast too. So how do you know if that card you've got your eye on is a good buy in the price range?

You can use this heiarchy to compare pricing between two cards to see which is a better deal. You can also see if an upgrade is worthwhile. I personally don't recommend upgrading unless the card you plan to upgrade to is at least three tiers higher on the chart. If it's less than three tiers higher than your current card, the upgrade is somewhat parralel and you probably won't notice a worthwhile difference in performance.

VIDEOCARD HEIARCHY CHART:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/1 [...] page6.html


SUMMARY
So there you have it folks, these are the best cards for the money this month. Now all that's left is finding them in retail, and that part is up to you. They will almost certainly be cheapest online, but sometimes large retail outlets might surprise you with a good sale.
Don't worry too much about which brand you choose because all of the cards out there stick pretty close to Nvidia and Ati's reference. Just pay attention to price, warranty, and the manufacturer's reputation for honoring that warranty if something goes wrong.
Remember also that the stores don't follow this list, we follow them! Things will change over the month and you'll probably have to adapt your buying strategy to changing prices. Good luck!