Noob seeks video card advice

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

Gentlemen (and Ladies, if any are present),

In light of the previous discussion, I come into your presence seeking
guidance.

I'm running an 1800+ Athlon with 512 Megs of RAM over a DSL
connection. My motherboard is limited to 4x AGP, and I am not
interested in changing it at this time due to economic constraints
(i.e. business ain't so good, income is down from the last few years).
I intend to wait for 6 months or so after the new replacement for the
8x AGP is out to get a new board, processor, RAM. ect.

My video card is a NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 Pro that come with my
motherboard as part of a barebones kit.

Would you suggest that I change the video card?

I know the 4x cards are reaching the end of their life-cycle, and I
thought I might pick up one cheap. I've tried to do some reasearch,
but I have begun to doubt the reviews I read on retailers sites.

I had thought about buying this card from TigerDirect

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=84761&sku=D10-2002

but was not sure that I woud see any real performance increase.

Any thoughts.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

"Sivad" <Rayzer59@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:sdbua0h9j98qkud28qacdsundvvguvrjkq@4ax.com...
> Gentlemen (and Ladies, if any are present),
>
> In light of the previous discussion, I come into your presence seeking
> guidance.
>
> I'm running an 1800+ Athlon with 512 Megs of RAM over a DSL
> connection. My motherboard is limited to 4x AGP, and I am not
> interested in changing it at this time due to economic constraints
> (i.e. business ain't so good, income is down from the last few years).
> I intend to wait for 6 months or so after the new replacement for the
> 8x AGP is out to get a new board, processor, RAM. ect.
>
> My video card is a NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 Pro that come with my
> motherboard as part of a barebones kit.
>
> Would you suggest that I change the video card?
>
> I know the 4x cards are reaching the end of their life-cycle, and I
> thought I might pick up one cheap. I've tried to do some reasearch,
> but I have begun to doubt the reviews I read on retailers sites.
>
> I had thought about buying this card from TigerDirect
>
>
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=84761&sku=D10-2002
>
> but was not sure that I woud see any real performance increase.
>
> Any thoughts.


You could buy a top of the line 8X card now that would work fine in your
current setup and transfer nicely to your new MB 6 months from now.
However, by that time you may want to consider a PCI Express MB which would
make any AGP card obsolete.

So, the biggest upgrade for the least money while keeping your PCI
Express options open would probably be a Geforce 4 ti4200 for about $70.00
(there's probably an equivilent from ATI (8500?) but I am not as familiar
with their line). This card will be a big step up from the TNT2. It will
run all current games and should run HL2 and Doom3, althouth not at their
maximum graphical glory.

Here' the cheapest source I could find, although I have never bought
from them, so can't vouch for service, etc.
http://www.arsenalpc.com/Details.asp?ItemID=2464

Review of the Ti 4200 http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Mjc3LDE=
Another review (8X version)
http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/VGA/Chaintech_A-GX20/index.htm


Bob

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

On Sat, 22 May 2004 05:55:42 -0500, Sivad wrote:

> Gentlemen (and Ladies, if any are present),
>
> In light of the previous discussion, I come into your presence seeking
> guidance.
>
> I'm running an 1800+ Athlon with 512 Megs of RAM over a DSL
> connection. My motherboard is limited to 4x AGP, and I am not
> interested in changing it at this time due to economic constraints
> (i.e. business ain't so good, income is down from the last few years).
> I intend to wait for 6 months or so after the new replacement for the
> 8x AGP is out to get a new board, processor, RAM. ect.
>
> My video card is a NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 Pro that come with my
> motherboard as part of a barebones kit.
>
> Would you suggest that I change the video card?
>
> I know the 4x cards are reaching the end of their life-cycle, and I
> thought I might pick up one cheap. I've tried to do some reasearch,
> but I have begun to doubt the reviews I read on retailers sites.
>
> I had thought about buying this card from TigerDirect
>
> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=84761&sku=D10-2002
>
> but was not sure that I woud see any real performance increase.

What framerate do you get with that card? I tried a tnt2 32mb pci in an
old p233mmx tx97e at and got ~30fps at 1024x768 - and with a p4 1.8GHz
i845 using a tnt2 32mb agp, I got essentially the same exact frame rate.
Sure, dropping down to 800x600 and 640x480 helped some, but only to
about 46fps or so at 640x480.

I'd recommend getting at least a nvidia geforce1, and make sure you get a
DDR board (avoid the "mx" varieties). The best bang for the buck would be
a geforce2 gts (had for about $15 or so), but for the longest life and low
expense I'd get a geforce3 ti (had for about $35 or so).

--
We HAVE been at war with Iraq for 13 years now, bombing their
country on at least a weekly basis.
"U.S.-led sanctions have killed over a million Iraqi citizens,
according to UN studies" - James Jennings
3,000+ innocent Iraqi civilian casualties can't be "wrong"...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

On Sat, 22 May 2004 20:51:19 GMT, Ixnei <ixnei@ixnei.ixnei> wrote:

>
>What framerate do you get with that card? I tried a tnt2 32mb pci in an
>old p233mmx tx97e at and got ~30fps at 1024x768 - and with a p4 1.8GHz
>i845 using a tnt2 32mb agp, I got essentially the same exact frame rate.
>Sure, dropping down to 800x600 and 640x480 helped some, but only to
>about 46fps or so at 640x480.
>
>I'd recommend getting at least a nvidia geforce1, and make sure you get a
>DDR board (avoid the "mx" varieties). The best bang for the buck would be
>a geforce2 gts (had for about $15 or so), but for the longest life and low
>expense I'd get a geforce3 ti (had for about $35 or so).


I ran the Upset Guys benchmark test in response to your question
because I had never really benchmarked the card using Q3.

With everything in the settings I usually play with on the internet
servers, I get around 35 fps.

If I go really basic, the best I can get is 64 fps on the Q3DM9 map
and 68 fps on the Q3DM17 map.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

On Sat, 22 May 2004 18:25:08 -0500, Sivad <Rayzer59@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>On Sat, 22 May 2004 20:51:19 GMT, Ixnei <ixnei@ixnei.ixnei> wrote:
>
>>
>>What framerate do you get with that card? I tried a tnt2 32mb pci in an
>>old p233mmx tx97e at and got ~30fps at 1024x768 - and with a p4 1.8GHz
>>i845 using a tnt2 32mb agp, I got essentially the same exact frame rate.
>>Sure, dropping down to 800x600 and 640x480 helped some, but only to
>>about 46fps or so at 640x480.
>>
>>I'd recommend getting at least a nvidia geforce1, and make sure you get a
>>DDR board (avoid the "mx" varieties). The best bang for the buck would be
>>a geforce2 gts (had for about $15 or so), but for the longest life and low
>>expense I'd get a geforce3 ti (had for about $35 or so).
>
>
>I ran the Upset Guys benchmark test in response to your question
>because I had never really benchmarked the card using Q3.
>
>With everything in the settings I usually play with on the internet
>servers, I get around 35 fps.
>
>If I go really basic, the best I can get is 64 fps on the Q3DM9 map
>and 68 fps on the Q3DM17 map.


UPSET CHAPS not GUYS, SORRY!!!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

On Sat, 22 May 2004 18:25:08 -0500, Sivad <Rayzer59@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>On Sat, 22 May 2004 20:51:19 GMT, Ixnei <ixnei@ixnei.ixnei> wrote:
>
>>What framerate do you get with that card? I tried a tnt2 32mb pci in an
>>old p233mmx tx97e at and got ~30fps at 1024x768 - and with a p4 1.8GHz
>>i845 using a tnt2 32mb agp, I got essentially the same exact frame rate.
>>Sure, dropping down to 800x600 and 640x480 helped some, but only to
>>about 46fps or so at 640x480.
>>
>>I'd recommend getting at least a nvidia geforce1, and make sure you get
>>a DDR board (avoid the "mx" varieties). The best bang for the buck
>>would be a geforce2 gts (had for about $15 or so), but for the longest
>>life and low expense I'd get a geforce3 ti (had for about $35 or so).
>
>I ran the Upset Chaps benchmark test in response to your question because
>I had never really benchmarked the card using Q3.
>
>With everything in the settings I usually play with on the internet
>servers, I get around 35 fps.
>
>If I go really basic, the best I can get is 64 fps on the Q3DM9 map and
>68 fps on the Q3DM17 map.

Yes, you're getting the ~30fps that I've seen. I use somewhat tweaked
settings, but for the most part I prefer the highest possible visual
quality settings.

Assuming you've got DDR266 or better RAM, you should easily be able to hit
150+fps with a GF1ddr, 180+ with a GF2gts, 210+FPS with a GF3ti, and 230+
with GF4ti. If the memory is PC100/133 SDRAM, you'll be bandwidth limited
to about 130FPS/160FPS respectively, regardless of which GF card. Just
avoid the GF2mx, GF4mx and the FX5200 like the plague...

OH, DO NOT GET THAT CARD FROM TIGERDIRECT. It is GF2mx - you'll get about
90-100fps; an improvement over the TNT2, but significantly worse than what
you could get even with GF1ddr... It really depends on what memory you
have, and how much you want to spend, as to whether to get GF1ddr/GF2gts
or a GF3ti... I guess radeon 8500 or 9200 might also be possibilities -
but I got a radeon 8500 - scores about 10% better in 3dmark2k1 than
GF3ti200, but does much worse in Quake3 (like 20% worse)...

I'd recommend shopping ebay, or pricewatch for these. I've scored
GF3ti200 64mb's for under $35 shipped from ebay, and GF2gts 32mb's for
under $20 shipped. I've also gotten GF4ti4200 128's for under $60
shipped... Just be careful with seller ratings, and when you get it,
immediately subject the video card to a couple hours of a Q3 timedemo loop
as well as other video benchmarks (3dmark) and perhaps movie/dvd files to
ensure the card is stable... I've had great success with ebay.

--
We HAVE been at war with Iraq for 13 years now, bombing their
country on at least a weekly basis.
"U.S.-led sanctions have killed over a million Iraqi citizens,
according to UN studies" - James Jennings
3,000+ innocent Iraqi civilian casualties can't be "wrong"...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

> What framerate do you get with that card? I tried a tnt2 32mb pci in an
> old p233mmx tx97e at and got ~30fps at 1024x768 - and with a p4 1.8GHz
> i845 using a tnt2 32mb agp, I got essentially the same exact frame rate.
> Sure, dropping down to 800x600 and 640x480 helped some, but only to
> about 46fps or so at 640x480.
>
> I'd recommend getting at least a nvidia geforce1, and make sure you get a
> DDR board (avoid the "mx" varieties). The best bang for the buck would be
> a geforce2 gts (had for about $15 or so), but for the longest life and low
> expense I'd get a geforce3 ti (had for about $35 or so).
>
How do you determine fps?

I'm running 1.1ghz, but I should probably upgrade my TNT2. Any advise for
this? Should I simply still follow the advise above? Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

On Sun, 30 May 2004 16:45:55 -0500, Jason Aguon wrote:

>> What framerate do you get with that card? I tried a tnt2 32mb pci in
>> an old p233mmx tx97e at and got ~30fps at 1024x768 - and with a p4
>> 1.8GHz i845 using a tnt2 32mb agp, I got essentially the same exact
>> frame rate. Sure, dropping down to 800x600 and 640x480 helped some, but
>> only to about 46fps or so at 640x480.
>>
>> I'd recommend getting at least a nvidia geforce1, and make sure you get
>> a DDR board (avoid the "mx" varieties). The best bang for the buck
>> would be a geforce2 gts (had for about $15 or so), but for the longest
>> life and low expense I'd get a geforce3 ti (had for about $35 or so).
>>
> How do you determine fps?

To display it real-time, in console (or in autoexec.cfg) type: set
cg_drawfps 1.

To run a timedemo, type the following in the console (or exec a .cfg file
with them in it):
timedemo 1
demo four (or any other demo)

You can also select demos from the menu-driven system...

> I'm running 1.1ghz, but I should probably upgrade my TNT2. Any advise
> for this? Should I simply still follow the advise above? Thanks.

Anything more than a 64MB gf3ti or radeon 8500 would probably be overkill
for that speed processor. I'd say you could get by just fine with a 32MB
gf1ddr/gt2gts, but you have to decide if you need the extra features which
can be had by going to the gf3ti or the fx5600+ series.

--
We HAVE been at war with Iraq for 13 years now, bombing their
country on at least a weekly basis.
"U.S.-led sanctions have killed over a million Iraqi citizens,
according to UN studies" - James Jennings
3,000+ innocent Iraqi civilian casualties can't be "wrong"...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.quake3 (More info?)

"Ixnei" <ixnei@ixnei.ixnei> wrote in message
newsan.2004.05.31.04.34.45.898636@ixnei.ixnei...
> On Sun, 30 May 2004 16:45:55 -0500, Jason Aguon wrote:
>
> >> What framerate do you get with that card? I tried a tnt2 32mb pci in
> >> an old p233mmx tx97e at and got ~30fps at 1024x768 - and with a p4
> >> 1.8GHz i845 using a tnt2 32mb agp, I got essentially the same exact
> >> frame rate. Sure, dropping down to 800x600 and 640x480 helped some, but
> >> only to about 46fps or so at 640x480.
> >>
> >> I'd recommend getting at least a nvidia geforce1, and make sure you get
> >> a DDR board (avoid the "mx" varieties). The best bang for the buck
> >> would be a geforce2 gts (had for about $15 or so), but for the longest
> >> life and low expense I'd get a geforce3 ti (had for about $35 or so).
> >>
> > How do you determine fps?
>
> To display it real-time, in console (or in autoexec.cfg) type: set
> cg_drawfps 1.
>
> To run a timedemo, type the following in the console (or exec a .cfg file
> with them in it):
> timedemo 1
> demo four (or any other demo)
>
> You can also select demos from the menu-driven system...
>
> > I'm running 1.1ghz, but I should probably upgrade my TNT2. Any advise
> > for this? Should I simply still follow the advise above? Thanks.
>
> Anything more than a 64MB gf3ti or radeon 8500 would probably be overkill
> for that speed processor. I'd say you could get by just fine with a 32MB
> gf1ddr/gt2gts, but you have to decide if you need the extra features which
> can be had by going to the gf3ti or the fx5600+ series.
>

Do brands really matter for any of these cards?