Graphics Card

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jeremy

Pentium III 450 MHz with 100 MHz FSB
Click to expand...

look for a used GeForce 3 (whatever kinds cheap) or a Geforce 2 (non-MX)

aside from eGay there are good forsale/trade forums at anandtech.com


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Hello,

I have an older system. I was just wondering what considerations I should make when choosing which graphics card to purchase. Are there any brands out there that are better than others, i.e. nvidia vs. ati?


Thanks,

Eric Scofield
 
In a nutshell, ATI has better graphics, while nVidia has much more stable drivers.

--
DaveW



Hello,

I have an older system. I was just wondering what considerations I should make when choosing which graphics card to purchase. Are there any brands out there that are better than others, i.e. nvidia vs. ati?


Thanks,

Eric Scofield
 
So then, which one is better overall? I know there is a tradeoff, but which one would be better for gaming?
Also, how do I know if my system can fully utilize a newer video card if it is an older system?


In a nutshell, ATI has better graphics, while nVidia has much more stable drivers.

--
DaveW



Hello,

I have an older system. I was just wondering what considerations I should make when choosing which graphics card to purchase. Are there any brands out there that are better than others, i.e. nvidia vs. ati?


Thanks,

Eric Scofield
 
Hello,

I have an older system. I was just wondering what considerations
I should make when choosing which graphics card to purchase.
Are there any brands out there that are better than others, i.e.
nvidia vs. ati?
Click to expand...

Please use line-wrapping in your posts.

Please do NOT post in HTML or attachments.

"Older system" doesn't tell us HOW old it is. If we know the
specifics of the system, motherboard make/model/chipset, perhaps a
link to the manufacturer's product page, it would be helpful.

Also mention the budget and intended use, need for the new video card.
If you need a high-performance card for gaming there is also the
potential need to replace your power supply, so if that applies,
mention of power supply make, model, and combined 3V/5V rating might
help.


Dave
 
"Older system" doesn't tell us HOW old it is. If we know the
specifics of the system, motherboard make/model/chipset, perhaps a
link to the manufacturer's product page, it would be helpful.
Click to expand...

Gateway
Pentium III 450 MHz with 100 MHz FSB
384 MB SDRAM
Jabil Tabor Pentium II BX Motherboard: Part Number 4000444
200 W Power Supply => Supplied by Gateway
Also mention the budget and intended use, need for the new video card.
If you need a high-performance card for gaming there is also the
potential need to replace your power supply, so if that applies,
mention of power supply make, model, and combined 3V/5V rating might
help.
Click to expand...

I have no budget. The intended use is for gaming. I play some of the more
modern, graphic intense games such as Simcity 4, Dungeon Siege, Warcraft
III, etc.
 
Gateway
Pentium III 450 MHz with 100 MHz FSB
384 MB SDRAM
Jabil Tabor Pentium II BX Motherboard: Part Number 4000444
200 W Power Supply => Supplied by Gateway


I have no budget. The intended use is for gaming. I play some of the more
modern, graphic intense games such as Simcity 4, Dungeon Siege, Warcraft
III, etc.
Click to expand...

The CPU is too slow for significant benefit from a video card upgrade.
The motherboard only accepts older AGP1 (2X) 3.3V use... newer cards
will work, but are a bit of a waste.

You may find you're in need of more memory too, but your motherboard
only supports lower-density memory, might be expensive to upgrade the
memory and that isn't the primary bottleneck "yet".

The power supply is also inadequate for high-performance video cards.
You can't just replace the power supply either if you have the common
GW midtower case, it uses a proprietary form-factor power supply.

You didn't mention your current video card so I can only assume it's
of the same age, speed as the rest of the system. To more directly
answer your question, if it were me, wanting to only upgrade the video
card, I'd look for the cheapest Geforce3 Ti200 I could find. Failing
that, perhaps a Radeon 9100. Either will be bottlenecked by the rest
of the system, quite severely. They're both around $50-60 (low
internet pricing). You could instead get a Geforce 4MX for around
$40, or a Radeon 9200 for $50, but they would be slower on your
CPU-bottlenecked system. To reduce the CPU bottleneck you could try
upgrading the CPU but at this point in time it's not cost-effective,
especially since you still need the video card.

On the other hand, the above is only if I had some odd emotional
attachment to the system... realistically the whole thing needs
replaced for significantly higher performance. Even a system such as
an Athlon XP2100 with nForce2 integrated video, would run circles
around your current system with (the fastest video card on earth
plugged into it), which of course wouldn't work anyway because of the
power supply. I'm not entirely sure that any of the above video cards
will work with your low-wattage power supply either, so I'd buy from
someplace with a good return policy.


Dave
 
Eric said:
Gateway
Pentium III 450 MHz with 100 MHz FSB
384 MB SDRAM
Jabil Tabor Pentium II BX Motherboard: Part Number 4000444
200 W Power Supply => Supplied by Gateway
Click to expand...
I have no budget. The intended use is for gaming.
Click to expand...

Then buy a new system. You are wasting your money trying to upgrade this
one. Too many bottlenecks to be worth even trying.
 
You didn't mention your current video card so I can only assume it's
of the same age, speed as the rest of the system. To more directly
answer your question, if it were me, wanting to only upgrade the video
card, I'd look for the cheapest Geforce3 Ti200 I could find. Failing
that, perhaps a Radeon 9100. Either will be bottlenecked by the rest
of the system, quite severely. They're both around $50-60 (low
internet pricing). You could instead get a Geforce 4MX for around
$40, or a Radeon 9200 for $50, but they would be slower on your
CPU-bottlenecked system. To reduce the CPU bottleneck you could try
upgrading the CPU but at this point in time it's not cost-effective,
especially since you still need the video card.
Click to expand...

I have an ATI RAGE 128 16 MB Graphics Card currently. Anything would be an
improvement as far as an upgrade would go. What do you reccomend for me?
Eventually I plan on building a new one, but not now because the funds are
in short supply.

- Eric
 
I have an ATI RAGE 128 16 MB Graphics Card currently. Anything would be an
improvement as far as an upgrade would go. What do you reccomend for me?
Eventually I plan on building a new one, but not now because the funds are
in short supply.

- Eric
Click to expand...

The better low end ATI is the 8500 but thats being phased out it
seems. I saw some high prices for them in some regions. You can get
the roughly equivalent 9100 instead. I cant remember if you lived in
the US or not but a month or so ago they were blowing out the Xtasy
brand 9100's with rebates down to $29 or so. I think they are
actually phasing that out to - at least the one with less memory - 64
megs or so. The avg price for a 9100-9200 though can run from $59 to a
gross out 89 and higher.

The bit older card thats on sale now and was a low end favorite was
the Geforce 440 mx. Compusa had a good deal on it now probably
because its also being phased out - $29 after rebates the Maddog brand
64 megs.

Besides the speed etc many games wont run on 16 megs of mem. I ran
into some kids games that wouldnt run on a 32 meg Geforce Pro so I
upgraded the persons PC with a 400 mx super cheap 64 megs and it runs
all the new kids games fine now.
 
I have an ATI RAGE 128 16 MB Graphics Card currently. Anything would be an
improvement as far as an upgrade would go. What do you reccomend for me?
Eventually I plan on building a new one, but not now because the funds are
in short supply.
Click to expand...


See the above suggestions. There will be significantly better
performance from the Geforce 3 or Radeon 9100, because they require
less software-CPU processing. If you already had a faster card than
the Rage 128, I might've recommended a CPU upgrade instead of the
video card, but the video card is where you'd see the most improvement
in gaming.

You might be able to find a used Geforce 3 TI200, that would be my
first choice. Being the "TI200", running at lower clockspeed than the
regular Geforce 3 or TI500, it'll use slightly less power too, more
likely to work with the existing power supply but again you could very
easily need a new power supply for that or any signficant video card
upgrade, which isn't an option for that Gateway system unless you
disassembled the whole thing and physically modified the case to
accept a standard power supply. That's a lot of work just to continue
using a 450MHz system.

I really would think about delaying any kind of upgrade, putting the $
towards a newer system. An nForce2 motherboard w/integrated video,
Athlon XP2100, case & power supply and memory might be had for $250 if
you bought the parts incrementally as you find good deals on them.


Dave
 
I have no budget. The intended use is for gaming. I play some of the more
modern, graphic intense games such as Simcity 4, Dungeon Siege, Warcraft
III, etc.
Click to expand...

You are having a quite slow CPU.
Try to read the games' box information about the minimum/recommended
system requirement before buying any of them.
I am having a 500mhz system and it is too slow to run those games that
you have mentioned.
 
You might be able to find a used Geforce 3 TI200, that would be my
first choice. Being the "TI200", running at lower clockspeed than the
regular Geforce 3 or TI500, it'll use slightly less power too, more
likely to work with the existing power supply but again you could very
easily need a new power supply for that or any signficant video card
upgrade, which isn't an option for that Gateway system unless you
disassembled the whole thing and physically modified the case to
accept a standard power supply. That's a lot of work just to continue
using a 450MHz system.
Click to expand...

You replied to a previous post of mine about power supplies and showed me
how you modified several Gateway mid-tower cases. Very interesting stuff.
Thank you for your suggestions. I'll definitely look into those graphics
cards.

Sincerely,

Eric Scofield
 
See the above suggestions. There will be significantly better
performance from the Geforce 3 or Radeon 9100, because they require
less software-CPU processing. If you already had a faster card than
the Rage 128, I might've recommended a CPU upgrade instead of the
video card, but the video card is where you'd see the most improvement
in gaming.
Click to expand...


Should I get a 128 MB card or a 64 MB one?
 
Should I get a 128 MB card or a 64 MB one?
Click to expand...

For the present system I don't think it'll make a lot of difference,
any game using > 64MB would likely run too slow, but still if the
128MB card is a small enough additional cost it might be worthwhile,
the card might be more useful in the future.


Dave
 
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