How bad is my X300SE?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Don
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D

Don

I am currently using a X300SE 256MB. I am wondering just how good are the
high end ATI cards? I find it difficult to imagine how fast the high end
cards are. Judging by the current price difference between my humble X300SE
and the top cards I imagine the difference would be simply mind blowing. I
have never seen the high end cards in operation so I have absolutely no idea
what I should expect.

Any comments on the above most welcome. By the way, I will not be running
dual cards.

Don
 
Don said:
I am currently using a X300SE 256MB. I am wondering just how good are the
high end ATI cards? I find it difficult to imagine how fast the high end
cards are. Judging by the current price difference between my humble X300SE
and the top cards I imagine the difference would be simply mind blowing. I
have never seen the high end cards in operation so I have absolutely no idea
what I should expect.

Any comments on the above most welcome. By the way, I will not be running
dual cards.

Don
Click to expand...


The X300SE is completely entry-level. The 256MB memory is a waste of time
on a card of that strength. With a high-end card, you will be able to run
games in higher resolutions with more graphics details turned on (along with
anti-aliasing and anistropic filtering) than you could ever hope to with the
card you have now. I think it's also important to "balance" your CPU and
video card so that one is not too much more powerful than the other. I have
no doubt that some modern gaming is possible with the X300SE if you go easy
on the graphics, but you should check out some of the tech and gaming
websites out there for benchmarks. I don't know if they have anything
current, but Tom's Hardware typically benchmarks a slew of different video
cards when they do their round-ups.

For the record, even as a gamer, I always ran video cards costing less than
$200 Canadian up until three years ago. When I made the jump to a GeForce3
Ti500 three years ago, and then a Radeon 9700 Pro afterwards followed by a
9800 Pro, I was really impressed with how it improved my overall gaming
experience. Funny enough though, it wasn't the graphics that blew me away
so much as the better frame rates and how some games became much more
playable as a result. However, I think next time I buy a video card
(probably next year), I'll more likely go for a model costing $400 Canadian.
$550 to $600 plus sales tax for a video card is a bit too much for my
liking. I simply wanted to see what it was like being on the highest-end
for a little while. My 9800 Pro is no longer high-end, but it was a great
ride when I first got it in 2003! And I'm still happy with it now 22 months
later.
 
Don said:
I am currently using a X300SE 256MB. I am wondering just how good are the
high end ATI cards? I find it difficult to imagine how fast the high end
cards are. Judging by the current price difference between my humble
X300SE
and the top cards I imagine the difference would be simply mind blowing.
I
have never seen the high end cards in operation so I have absolutely no
idea
what I should expect.
Click to expand...

It's basically a slightly faster 9200SE with full DX9 compliance. The core
is upped to 325Mhz, but the memory is 64bit and 200Mhz. Basically a bottom
feeder card. Perfectly adequate for productivity, or games like Diablo II.
It would be woefully inadequate for games like Doom3, HL2, FarCry, etc. Full
DX9 compliance on an X300SE with 256Mb of slow RAM is kind of like putting a
200mph speedometer Toyota Echo. The current generation high end cards are
only necessary for running the current crop of 3D games at high resolutions
(1152x864 and above) with FSAA and AF turned on. A 9800 Pro will run any
game at smooth rates with FSAA and AF at 1024x768. For $130 new.
 
My Dell came with one (PCI Express) and it was very basic. I only use MS
Flight Simulator so I cannot compare to other games/sims. I have since
upgraded to the X700 pro pci express and the difference is amazing. Much
smoother, better frame rates and scenery looks better

Bill
 
I forgot to add ATI had a trade up on at the time so I sent them X300 and
got a credit for $50 so net cost was around $159 or thereabouts, I cant
recall exactly. Dont know if the X700 is still available for trade up.

Bill
 
Ah, the stupid trade-up program. To get money back on a 9800Pro, I sent in a
useless 2 MB Mach32 PCI card. :-) In the end I saved $11 on the bottom line,
because ATi's online store carries higher pricetags than NCIX, and sending
in the old card costed money...
 
First of One said:
Ah, the stupid trade-up program. To get money back on a 9800Pro, I sent in a
useless 2 MB Mach32 PCI card. :-)
Click to expand...


LOL, I love it when people send in really old cards! I would be no
different if I wanted to participate in such a program.
 
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