Topic: Video Card Advice Requested (Read 6965 times)

Mazeppa · « **on:** May 04, 2004, 09:04:04 am »

In my work computer I have a 32 MB ATI RAGE PRO 128 GL, whatever that is. I have available a 32 MB Gainward GeForce2 MX 200. I sometimes play around with SFC2OP on my breaks.

Would I see any improvement by throwing the GeForce2 MX card in the computer? I have permission to do so.

This computer is a P-4 1.6 with 128 MB PC133 SDRAM. It runs Windows 2000. Typical School purchase. Sounds good when you hear "1.6 Gig Pentium 4", but in reality with all the System junk they have running on it, it is slower than my son's Duron 900 at home.

Sirgod · « **Reply #1 on:** May 04, 2004, 09:40:27 am »

It 6 of one half dozen of another when you look at both cards having 32 Meg of ram. If I may suggest Mazz, Go over to 8518 E. 71st street , ver by wooland hills mall, and they have a PC club store there. You should be able to buy at least a 64 Meg Video card, that will help your performance incredibly, n If you can swing it, go for a 128 mb. I know I think I paid around $60.00 for my Geforce 4 MX 128 card.

But as far as switching, those two cards you have, It might not be worth the headache when you consider drivers, etc. I'll try and find a benchmark test between the 2 cards though for you.

Stephen

Mazeppa · « **Reply #2 on:** May 04, 2004, 10:07:08 am »

Quote:

It 6 of one half dozen of another when you look at both cards having 32 Meg of ram. If I may suggest Mazz, Go over to 8518 E. 71st street , ver by wooland hills mall, and they have a PC club store there. You should be able to buy at least a 64 Meg Video card, that will help your performance incredibly, n If you can swing it, go for a 128 mb. I know I think I paid around $60.00 for my Geforce 4 MX 128 card.

But as far as switching, those two cards you have, It might not be worth the headache when you consider drivers, etc. I'll try and find a benchmark test between the 2 cards though for you.

Stephen

Sirgod,

I am aware of the PC Club store on 71st, and thanks. That is where I do almost all my business with parts.

I don't want to spend money on this computer. I just have the GeForce2 card lying around, and was wondering if I could expect to see any video performance improvements if I swapped it out.

I have found little on this ATI card; suspect it is some sort of OEM job ATI did for HP.

The Postman · « **Reply #4 on:** May 04, 2004, 10:37:56 am »

Isn't all of this pointless with only 128mb ram?

Stormbringer · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2004, 10:40:21 am »

Iceman · « **Reply #7 on:** May 04, 2004, 12:53:20 pm »

"Only 128mb ram". Hmmmm. This is kinda true, but not really. If you're talking about your system ram, then 128 is low.

However, for a video card, 128 is fine. I am runnin a ATi Radeon 9600 Pro 128 right now, with an AMD XP 2600 and I've never had any slowdown problems on games with reasonable settings. (IE at lease 1024, medium graphics, etc).

My advice to you: Wait until the end of summer if you can. NVidia just released its 6800SE card, and its a killer. ATi is soon to follow suit. After that, you'll be able to pick up an ATi Radeon 9800XT with 256mb for cheap. Around $150. (Thats cheap for the particular card, in comparison to like $400 now).

Its all about what you want to spend. But follow this.
If you're buying a card new right NOW, such as ATi Radeon or NVidia 5xxx series, stick with the ATi. NVIdia's run hot and hence have humongous fans on them which can make you system hard to modify if need be. (It actually blocks out the PCI slot below it.). And ATI's cards in the same class out-perform NVIdia's cards.

This can all change in the next few months though, as the new Nvidia 6800's are insanly powerful.

Javora · « **Reply #8 on:** May 04, 2004, 05:15:58 pm »

Since you said, "have permission to do so" I'm guessing that:

A. You?re not willing to spend a lot of money (if any).
B. This is someone else's machine.

In that case, unless Sirgod finds a huge difference between video cards I wouldn't bother swapping out cards. Although what Sirgod found so far might make it worth the change.

Here is what I suggest:

A. Get everything you can out of the system tray (except virus scanner/firewall of course), Win2000 is a system hog as it is without everything running on top of it. When I ran Win2000 on my old PIII 800Mhz it always seemed to run slow compared to Win98se and that was with 512 Megs of Ram. If you are having trouble removing items from your system tray try coping MSconfig from a WinXP box on to the system. That will allow you to run MSconfig just as if you were running it from a Win98/WinXP machine.
B. See if the hard disks need to be defragged. If that is a company machine most likely it has rarely if ever been done.

If A and B doesn't work enough to suit your needs and you are willing to spend some money then you might try:

C. Add a 512 Meg Ram stick. With 640 Megs of Ram that should boost your speed more than just another video card alone.
D. Spend some more cash and buy a NVIDIA 9200pro I saw some for sale at Sams for about ~$80USD. That is less than the price of a Gforce 4 card I've seen at other places.

Hope this helps.

Iceman · « **Reply #10 on:** May 04, 2004, 09:02:17 pm »

It might, but thats a good point. And yeah, theres no such thing as an Nvidia 9200 pro. He meant ATi Radeon.

ActiveX · « **Reply #12 on:** May 05, 2004, 06:46:49 am »

Dont buy value cards, those are just rebadged as DX9 compliant versions of antiquated hardware...

I wouldnt even look lower than a Radeon 9600 for ATI and a GeForceFX 5700 for nVidia.

vsfedwards · « **Reply #13 on:** May 05, 2004, 05:22:22 pm »

I just got me an Nvidia 5700 Geforce 256mb, for the system Im building, got 512 (to be 1024 in a few months mwahhaa) ddr ram and 2ghz ATI processor, should run ok, also getting a nice wireless router for a little hook me up around the house.
My major concern for cost right now is my TFT monitor, average prices don't go below £200.
This is the PSU I have for it though, its pretty sweet: http://www.clickonit.com/product.php?product=153369 ...I know gold is a little cliche' , but this one actually looks pretty nice.
Also getting some *good* speakers, not going below about £50 on those.
I know Steve, I should have spent it on a visit instead, slap the boy for not spending money on a gigantic lilly pad to cross the pond.

Baker · « **Reply #14 on:** May 05, 2004, 06:35:00 pm »

Personally I would recommend getting more Ram. This should make a bigger improvement then a new video card. However, if you can't and must go the road of the new card, then I suggest thinking of pros and cons of both types (keeping in mind you have an Nvidia card now);

Nvidia cards (go for the middle range card or top, the lowest range is not worth the money). Going with NVidia means you don't have to worry about removing your previous drivers completely. Unfortunately Nvidia cards run hot and are outperformed for the most part by ATI cards of equal range. The performance difference is not great so that really doesn't matter. If you aren't on a budget, or if its a very large budget, then I would recommend getting the top of the line one. Of course if you only play games like SFC2 and not the latest like BFV, then if within budget, I would recommend getting mid range card with a boost in memory.

ATI cards (I personally have the 9600 XT). ATI cards have a slight performance edge over NVidia and thy don't run as hot, but according to some people (probably a few more then NVidia), the cards have slightly more trouble in driver issues. It depends on your luck really as I've never had a problem with my ati cards, but I thought I would warn you anyway. Again go for the mid range card, just like I said up above. My card was $250 AUS (probably about $180-190 US). However, again I stress the point that ram would be better (getting both would be best but if you're working within budget, then you are limited in purchasing power).

Hope that helps you.

vsfedwards · « **Reply #15 on:** May 05, 2004, 06:49:24 pm »

Wow, suppose I went off on a tangent and got a bit excited there, I will try and search for some differences in the two cards for you too.

Elvis · « **Reply #16 on:** May 05, 2004, 07:45:39 pm »

Everything you need to know about power supplies, well almost.

A good read about power supplies.

Iceman · « **Reply #17 on:** May 05, 2004, 08:05:23 pm »

vsfedwars,
I'm assuming you have a 2ghz AMD and not ATi right?

Praxis · « **Reply #19 on:** May 05, 2004, 10:38:46 pm »

I have a Geforce 2 MX 400 64 MB in my older computer, an EXCELLENT card for the age. Still plays JK2 and SFC3 perfectly, despite being used in tandem with a 900 mhz Celeron processor.

I would recommend getting a Geforce FX 5200 128 MB card, its the cheapest 128 MB card around ($99) and if you look you can find a $99 one from VTY that has dual-VGA for dual-monitors. Excellent card- I have one in my new computer.

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Topic: Video Card Advice Requested (Read 6965 times) var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

Mazeppa

Sirgod

Mazeppa

Sirgod

The Postman

Stormbringer

TB613

Iceman

Javora

hobbesmaster

Iceman

Javora

ActiveX

vsfedwards

Baker

vsfedwards

Elvis

Iceman

Sirgod

Praxis

Topic: Video Card Advice Requested (Read 6965 times)