New Graphics Card- But what to buy?

[insane_canadian]

There have probably been a million other posts like this, so I apologize for the repitition of this question.

I am looking for a decent graphics card to pair with my new rig. I have looked long and hard at the 6600GT because it has SLI compatibility and is within my price range (about $230 CAN). However, I have heard that it is limited by its 8 pipeline archetecture and 128MB of VRAM, even in SLI. I like the idea of getting an SLI graphics card, mostely because I own an SLI mobo, but also because it means I can upgrade later for double the performance (I know, I know, it's actually like 1.5x the performance). However, I like the Radeon X800XL even though it is way out of my price range, but also the next reasonable step up. I am reluctant to buy the Radeon because it would be a waste of this mobo's ability for SLI and because I'm not sure what brand to buy it from. Connect 3D has the lowest price, but I've heard their cards are ****. So who should I buy the Radeon from, if that's the best option for me? I'm going to be playing BF2, Halo, and HL2 and I need good performance in these games.

My Specs:

Athlon 64 (s939) 3200+ Venice Core
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Mobo
1 GB OCZ Premier Dual Channel RAM
80GB SATA Seagate Barracuda HDD

 

[vegasgmc]

The 6600 also only has a 128bit memory bus. That coupled with the 8 pipes means it runs really fast at lower resolutions but stumbles at higher ones. The Radeon cards arent capable of SLI. Thats only for nVidia cards. If you're on a budget the regular 6800 is a great card. It has 12 pipes and 256 bit memory and some of the cards can be soft modded to open up all 16 pipes. Check the reviews at Newegg.

 

[springy101]

also, i heard sli isnt worth buying becuase most of the new games coming out arent going to utilize it, so instead of buying two okay video cards get one really good one instead