Do you want it lower to 00 or high as 99.Which is better?Is 18/00 the best or is 18/99?

18/00 is the best. It means 18/100 so is better than say 18/80 or 18/99.

RTFM. It's all there in the appendices.
<u>
Ability___Hit___Dmg._Weight_Bashing
Score___Prob._Adj.__Allow.__%
18/76-90_+2__+4____280___35
18/91-99_+2__+5____320___40
18/00____+3__+6____400___45
</u>

Awwwwww, takes alot of rerolls to get 18/00, though its worth it...at least for a while.

lol

Not entirely, the BG 1 tomes increase Strength by a full point, as do many other 'stat' increasing items - and it matters not one whit whether or not you have 18/99 or 18/01 exceptional strength.

e.g.

Binko the Magnificent has 18/01 Strength. He uses the tome of strength, and gets 19 Strength. This is good.

Alternately, Bonko the Magnificent has 18/00 Strength and runs around town bragging has has the Strength of a Ogre. He eventually stumbles across the tome of strength, and instantly gets the Strength of a Hill Giant. Now he has something else to brag about.

The point is, it doesnt really matter as long as you have 18 or over strength... re-rolling ad infinitum to try and get 18/00 is largely pointless.

Binko

<font color=deepskyblue>I don't agree entirely. A natural Strength of 18/00 is certainly nice to have, especially early in the game before you can afford the Girdles or other Strength-enhancing items.

I will agree that anything above 18/90 is definitely worth keeping, and the difference between 18/96-99 and 18/00 is negligible. But if I'm creating a fighter and I get less than 18/75, I would rather subtract 1 point from Strength and add it to my Constitution score (which gives extra hit points) or my Dexterity (which lowers my AC by 1 point). The extra +1 or +2 points of damage gained from 18/01-75 are nice, but really aren't as valuable as the extra hit points or lower AC (IMHO). Anytime I get less than 18/75, I automatically either re-roll or subtract one point to put somewhere else (even in Wisdom to help improve my Saving Throws against Charm spells). If I get between 18/75-90, ir really depends on what my other stats are, and whether 1 extra point will make a significant difference or not.

In the case of Constitution, fighters gain +3hp/level for a 17 and +4hp/level for 18, but fighter classes and kits are the ONLY ones that get the extra bonuses for 17 and 18. ALL other classes get extra hit points for a Con of 16, but they get NO ADDITIONAL BONUSES for a score higher than 16. So those are points that can be added to other scores like Dexterity, which lowers AC on a 1-1 basis regardless of class. Dexterity is also very important for archers and others using missile weapons. Higher Dexterity improves their chances to hit, but I don't have the exact figures on that one.</font>

or, to resolve this all, you could just be a half-orc, with a natural stength of 19 :D

if you can get 18/00, then by all means do so! You can then give the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength to another tank...

I prefer giving natural good strength to characters who need it. (particularly half-orc assassins - over 100 av backstab damage). The girdles, since they increase your strength to the same value whether it was 18/00 or just plain 00, give a greater benifit to characters who have a poor strength to begin with.