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Best choice given my situation?--Help!
Hello. I'm a little more out of touch than I'd like to be with the video card market these days, but I need a new one. As I RMAd my Ti4200-8x that was going to hold me over until the summer, it was lost in shipment, so (hopefully) I'll get my money back and I need to buy a new one. My school year is finishing up, and I definitely would like a good card to catch up on long lost gaming time. I originally bought the Ti4200-8x in December and was going to wait until May or so, when the next generation cards and Doom 3 and HL2 were going to come out, so I could (a) wait until the prices on the current gen went down, and (b) find out if ATI or nVidia handled the new generation better.
Obviously, this situation becomes a little more difficult now. Do I buy another mid-level card like the one I lost, then give it to a family member when the new generation finally comes out and prices drop, or do I buy a new one now, and do we know yet what the best choice will be. My ultimate questions:
1. When are these next generation cards from ATI and nVidia really going to hit shelves?
2. Where will prices drop to as a result?
3. Do we know what card will better handle the new engines?
4. What card/plan of attack would you suggest at this point? I'd like to spend $150 max, so if the 9800 Pro 256MB can come done that much in a month or so, I'll wait. I mostly play sports games, FPS, and 3rd person shooters. I've kept my eyes peeled on Hot Deals and Fat Wallet, but haven't found anything suitable yet.
Thanks for the suggestions/knowledge.
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