Hello, (a mighty thanks in advance to all those who help on these boards!!!)

After looking off on for several weeks and having a time crunch issue I have a question.
I've bought the following for my new setup over the weekend (shipping this week):
Gigabyte GA-P35 DS3L
Intel e2180 (plan to OC)
G.Skill 2gb ram (2x1gb)
Corsair 550vx psu
Envision 22"w LCD
(I already have HD's, Windows XP pro, DVD r/rw etc)

$300 MAX budget (incl shipping), for the video card.

All (or at least all), have a time frame on either the return policy or rebate submission (ie must be submitted w/in 2 weeks etc).

Heres the pisser:
I (along with the entire world), planned on buying the 8800gt to top it off. Unfortunately (no news here), I can't find any in stock at an acceptable price. MSI and XFX at Dell don't ship for a month (negating my rebates/returns), EVGA is out of stock, and every online dealer is out. I need a vid card to run the system to make sure the components work before I cut out UPC's and send in rebates, versus RMA's (and w/in the next 1-2 wks).

So here is the question for you awesome folks that know a lot more about the spectrum of vid cards out there:

1. Should I buy a different video card and just suck it up? (I would like to play this gen of games like crysis etc)
2. If yes, is there one that you can recommend that is close to the 8800gt that is DS3L compatible.

I guess the other totally acceptable option is to buy an EVGA lower end card (66xx-86xx), and then Step Up when I can (but that is dependant on their willingness to allow me to step up for a 8800gt.)

Any other suggestions as I need a card, sooner rather than later?
a. Cheap EVGA and Step Up.
b. Wait for a few more days for the 8800gt
c. Different card all together.
d. CompUSA $19.00 cheapo that gets chucked in a few weeks?

Thanks a ton in advance for any advice!!! Sure is a bummer the 8800gt is so dang hard to get right now!

At this point in time, I would get a $20 disposable card for assembly reasons and then get the 8800GT or perhaps a 3870 when it becomes available.

I suspect that availability will increase shortly.
In about a week, the updated 8800GTS should also begin shipping.

This along with more 3870s should help stabalize stocks a little.

Check this m8:

http://rd.ss.yahoo.com/SIG=1942hqq [...] DSPC-YAHOO

Got mine there. =)
It's coming the 28th. Hurry before it's not in stock.

Thank you Luchan, but my absolute budget max is $300, and this is $328+shipping.

I sincerely appreciate you looking though.

It really is frustrating when the MSI OC is $207, list is $200-$250, XFX is $238 but doesn't ship for 2-4 wks, and this option is $328. I know the game is included but buying for a game isn't good :-)

Thanks again for looking. Any other opinions?

I would suggest waiting for the 8800GT then.. I've been doing a TON of research on the card, and it seems to hold it's ground against the higher 8800's.. In the future, i might even get another one (price is gonna be cheaper then) and turn up my SLI mode = better than GFX.

Btw, XFX is just giving away free games with the card as a reason to increase the price.. I even already own CoH, but i'am soo darn impatience, i want my 8800GT now!

Buy a cheap $20-$40 card now to test all your stuff, then wait a couple weeks for availability to drop the price on the 8800gt. I know it's a pain to wait (waiting myself as I'll be getting one as a gift for someone), but it's not worth it right now. Also, having a spare pci-e vid card is never a bad thing. You can always save it in case you have to rma a card, or if you want to throw together a cheap system.

Instead of buying a cheap card, you could buy a 8600gts from evga and use the step up program to buy an 8800gt when they become available.

Slightly different choice, but have you looked at eBay?
I just bought an XFX 8800GTX from there (in the UK) and paid £235 for it (equivalent of $470) or £100 (approx $200) less for a used one. I originally wanted to buy a new one, but this was at such a good price I just thought I'll try it
Basically the money I paid for my GTX would have bought me a basic GTS or decent GT.