what videocard to buy?

I am just wondering if the 6800 GT 256 mb videocard is worth the $400 price tag for what I want.

I want to be able to run games like Sims 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Morrowind, and the new Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, occassionally the FPS games such as HL2, Far Cry, at good speeds, but reasonable graphics. The graphics don't have to be down to the extra detail where I can see the individual dust particles as if I was using a microscope, but decent graphics would be nice! I usually run my computer around 1024x768 so would that be good for the 6800 GT?

I have a $1500 max budget to buy an entirely new custom PC, and I want to get a reasonable graphics card for the games I want to play. Is there a cheaper card that will do the work?

1500 is a lot and I would actually recommend a card like the one you are considering. the card your considering can play any game out there with good speed and detail. You seem like somebody who would like to play even more graphic intensive games as they emrge as well. The number one thing I would tell a gamer to get is the best video card they could afford. Then consider how much ram you can afford. Pick out good brands like corsair, crucial, and kingston top end stuff. consider 1 gig of ram to be a good start ok. Processor is your next concern here. Amd is cheaper and faster in gaming enviroments. I would consider those first. Boards to run... MSI ASUS and the new DFI Lan Party Boads are killer. All good quality boards. DFI is currently loved by all reviewers who have reviewed it.

I have real trouble laying down $500.00 dollars for any Video card but there is one I will mention. The Xtasy X800 XT AGP Platinum for about $500.00. This card is wicked fast and sucks power like no other card I have seen. The card is not only top of the line in AGP it also has a lifetime warrenty from a old card manufacturer that has been around the block. Vision Tek. Here Is a link to there site. www.visiontek.com look at their comparison chart for quick specifics. They also have PCI express versions.

Lifetime warrenty on a $500.00 card that is top of line gives me some piece of mind when spending that kinda cash. Having expensive hardware just get outside of warrenty and fail just kills me.

Another thing to get to protect your investment is a uninteruptable power source. IE battery backup. APC is the only one I would even use. Brown outs are just as damaging as surges and an uninteruptable power source is the best protection you can get period! If the voltage gets dirty... spikes or not enough the UPS automatically switches to Battery. Nowadays it is as fast if not faster than any surge protector. Surge protectors get used up and many times you don't even know it till something fry's in your system! 650 VA is a good place to start with a high end system.

I'm not really a gamer, but I want a card to game. I was wondering if there's anything cheaper than a 6800 GT that is marked at $400 bucks, that will let me play the games I talked about above. I'm more into recording music and have almost decided to get an intel processor because of that.

Well you will find it hard to go wrong with a 6600gt 128mb and they are only around $200. That can play all the games you listed at the top end. i suppose the only downside is that that it's only 128mb so you could look into other 256mb if you want to future proof. But at the moment most of those cards are just overkill for the games you are playing.

Good info J A L!