Ok here is my dilemma I am building a new computer and have to choose a video card. It is not as easy as it sounds believe me. I am going to be using the new system for gaming mostly and I play WWII Online mostly. I am stuck at the moment between 3 cards, the Radeon 8500 128mg, MSI Geforce 4 Ti4400 or MSI Geforce 4 Ti4600. My new system spec.’s are
Motherboard: MSI KT3 Ultra (it has onboard sound but later might buy a sound card anyways)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2100+ (With retail heatsink and fan)
RAM: Crucial PC2100 512mg DDR CL=2.5
HD: MAXTOR Quiet Drive 40GB 7200RPM
Toshiba DVD Rom 16X DVD, 48X CD ROM (For the game I play the CD ROM is only needed for installation otherwise it is not used for the game.)
Samsung 1.44mg floppy drive
PS: Allied 400W Power Supply ATX400P4 w/ Two Fans ***AMD APPROVED good to 2100+ *** UL, CSA, FCC Approved
Case: MAXTOP CSX-147K-GF-USB-GRAY **Cool Case** With 2 Additional Fans : 1 x on the Top Panel and 1 x on the Side Panel (It came with two 90mm generic fans and I added 3 Enermax Thermal Control 8CM cooling fans to it)
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
I know all the above info is not needed but I hope I got a decent system so far. Anyways, the problem has been I have a somewhat tight budget to work with but planed on putting in the extra for the video card. Now just by going by the VGA charts here at Tom’s Hardware both Geforce cards out perform the Radeon 8500 128mg. Now in games like Quake III and a few others listed the FPS is not that much difference if your getting close to 100 FPS, I don’t think the difference is going to show much. But in games that are really tough on FPS then every bit can count.
I am looking now starting to lean more towards the Geforce 4 cards as the Radeon 8500 128mg cards seem to have been made to compete with the Geforce 3 cards. If I get into overclocking then I can really push the Radeon 8500 128mg but not sure if I really want to do that. I know the MSI Geforce 4 Ti4400 can be overclocked to perform like a Ti4600, but once again I am not sure I want to do that. The MSI Geforce 4 Ti4600 is only $40 buck more then the Ti4400. So, unless anyone can show me that the Radeon card can perform better and I don’t know it I will have to go with the Geforce 4 cards. If I go that route then I am stuck between the Ti4400 and Ti4600.
Anyways, I was wondering if anyone out there has had experience with these cards and can let me know what they have found. I want a good card I can use for at least a year before upgrading. I cant afford the new Radeon 9700 card and with only AGP X4 on my motherboard it might bottle neck the performance as it is a AGP X8 card anyways. I will be buying the video card the 1st of next month so I need to make up my mind by then. Any responses are appreciated, thanks
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by MMMT on 08/20/02 00:13 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
Motherboard: MSI KT3 Ultra (it has onboard sound but later might buy a sound card anyways)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2100+ (With retail heatsink and fan)
RAM: Crucial PC2100 512mg DDR CL=2.5
HD: MAXTOR Quiet Drive 40GB 7200RPM
Toshiba DVD Rom 16X DVD, 48X CD ROM (For the game I play the CD ROM is only needed for installation otherwise it is not used for the game.)
Samsung 1.44mg floppy drive
PS: Allied 400W Power Supply ATX400P4 w/ Two Fans ***AMD APPROVED good to 2100+ *** UL, CSA, FCC Approved
Case: MAXTOP CSX-147K-GF-USB-GRAY **Cool Case** With 2 Additional Fans : 1 x on the Top Panel and 1 x on the Side Panel (It came with two 90mm generic fans and I added 3 Enermax Thermal Control 8CM cooling fans to it)
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
I know all the above info is not needed but I hope I got a decent system so far. Anyways, the problem has been I have a somewhat tight budget to work with but planed on putting in the extra for the video card. Now just by going by the VGA charts here at Tom’s Hardware both Geforce cards out perform the Radeon 8500 128mg. Now in games like Quake III and a few others listed the FPS is not that much difference if your getting close to 100 FPS, I don’t think the difference is going to show much. But in games that are really tough on FPS then every bit can count.
I am looking now starting to lean more towards the Geforce 4 cards as the Radeon 8500 128mg cards seem to have been made to compete with the Geforce 3 cards. If I get into overclocking then I can really push the Radeon 8500 128mg but not sure if I really want to do that. I know the MSI Geforce 4 Ti4400 can be overclocked to perform like a Ti4600, but once again I am not sure I want to do that. The MSI Geforce 4 Ti4600 is only $40 buck more then the Ti4400. So, unless anyone can show me that the Radeon card can perform better and I don’t know it I will have to go with the Geforce 4 cards. If I go that route then I am stuck between the Ti4400 and Ti4600.
Anyways, I was wondering if anyone out there has had experience with these cards and can let me know what they have found. I want a good card I can use for at least a year before upgrading. I cant afford the new Radeon 9700 card and with only AGP X4 on my motherboard it might bottle neck the performance as it is a AGP X8 card anyways. I will be buying the video card the 1st of next month so I need to make up my mind by then. Any responses are appreciated, thanks
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by MMMT on 08/20/02 00:13 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
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