IBM APTIVA

[2fast]

I'm looking to upgrade a freinds machine he has an IBM Aptiva Pentium III@ 500MHZ. What would be a good video card for this machine? It currently has a 8M AGP card I also want to upgrade his ram to around 256 currently it has 96M.

If it ain't broke don't fix it

 

[scamtrOn]

well its really about his budget. a radeon 7200 and upwould be nice or any geforce2 and up.

<font color=red><b><i>you</i> keep talking i'll pretend i'm listening.</b></font color=red>

 

[2fast]

How about a 3D prohpet 4500 has 64 meg of on board ram? I'm not sure if his board supports 2x or 4x I had been told that it may be just a 1x slot.

If it ain't broke don't fix it

 

[scamtrOn]

ouch. 1x. that would be a total waste of that video card. how about a pci card? like voodoo 5500 or geforce mx pci.

<font color=red><b><i>you</i> keep talking i'll pretend i'm listening.</b></font color=red>

 

[2fast]

Ooops my mistake I was just looking at system specs over at IBM web site and it is an AGP 2x slot. Someone obviously didn't know what they where talking about.

If it ain't broke don't fix it

 

[AMD_Man]

yes, I'd get a GeForce2 TI. It'll give you the best bang for the buck.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

Let me appologize on the behalf of other forum members for the lame advice these guys are giving you.

Kyro II cards use a software-based T&L engine and are therefor a poor choice for anything under roughly 1GHz. You may want to consider an GeForce 2 GTS for under $100, a GeForce2 Pro from Gainward with 4.5ns ram goes for aroun $130. The Ti200 and Radeon 8500 are the next two steps up. If you need something cheaper, I suggest a Radeon LE.

scamtron-AGP1x offers 4x the performance of PCI, and the system he's refering to is AGP2x, almost as fast as AGP4x with most video cards. My advice is that you actually LEARN something about computers before giving other people such poor advice. For those who don't know better, listening to you is like the blind leading the blind.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[2fast]

Thanks Crashman for the advice the card that I had actually considered was the Hercules 3d Prophet. Your thoughts on that choice greatly appreciated!!! Once again you have come to the rescue. You are a great asset to this forum and everyone here!!

If it ain't broke don't fix it

 

[Crashman]

That's a Kyro card, I wouldn't even bother, unless you were looking for a cheap card on a FAST system, instead of a good card for a SLOW system.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[AMD_Man]

AGP1x offers 4x the performance of PCI, and the system he's refering to is AGP2x, almost as fast as AGP4x with most video cards.

No, AGP1X is only twice as fast as PCI. Think about it. Roughly 1066MB/s for 4X AGP. Roughly 533MB/s for 2X AGP and Roughly 266MB/s for 1X AGP. PCI is 133MB/s.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

I'll buy that as soon as you can proove to me that the AGP slot is 32-bits instead of 64, and I need a RELIABLE source (like Intel's website). because so many of these hardware websites give conflicting information.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Crashman]

Never mind, after hearing this argurment both ways for so many years, I finally decided to look it up myself:

"Although AGP 1X mode operates at 266Mbytes per-second, how many bits is it? If it's two times faster than PCI at 32 bits, is it a 64-bit slot?
The AGP bus is 32 bits wide and the bus frequency is 66MHz. This compares to PCI at 33MHz and 32 bits, so AGP 1X mode data rate can be described as two times that of PCI. Stated another way, PCI data rate is 33 million transfers-per-second times 4 bytes (32 bits) for a maximum data rate of 133Mbytes per-second. AGP (1X mode) data rate is 66 million transfers-per-second times 4 bytes, for a maximum data rate of 266Mbytes per-second. AGP 2X mode uses a 66MHz clock, but data is transferred on both edges of the clock for 133 million transfers-per-second times 4 bytes, for 532Mbytes per-second maximum data rate. "

<A HREF="http://support.intel.com/support/technologies/graphics/agp/24237.HTM#4" target="_new">http://support.intel.com/support/technologies/graphics/agp/24237.HTM#4</A>. So now I'm on the other side of the argument. Those 64-bit 66MHz PCI server slots are starting to look more and more attractive for PC's.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[AMD_Man]

It's kind of obvious if you think about it in a reverse chronological perspective. AGP4X came out the same time as the PC133 and VCM 133MHz RAM did. VCM was supported by VIA chipsets by the 133MHz bus P3s before the 820 Intel mobos and 815 mobos became popular. AGP4X was designed to make full use of PC133. Which means it runs at approx. 1GB/s. AGP2X was half that speed approx. 532MB/s. AGP1X is again half at 266MB/s. PCI as we all know is 133MB/s.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

They could have just as easily based it's buswidth of the memory (64-bit), even though they didn't.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?