bother upgrading G3 for under $100?

[petebert]

Ive got an Asus GeForce3 Ti200, I payed what I consider alot of money for back when GeForce3 was the newest thing out so I've probably got my moneys worth out of it. I dont want to spend the $200-300 for a new card, would it even be worth it for me to upgrade to an under $100 card? On pricewatch I see the G4 Ti200 and radeon 9600's for about $80. I mainly use Microsoft Flightsim 2004 and first person shooters. Think I would even see a significant enough improvement to spend the money? I am running into games now that I cant max out the graphics on but I can still keep it pretty high. rest of system is
Asus A7N8X deluxe
Athlon XP 2100+
512MB PC2700 Corsair, dont remember the specs, it was good stuff when I bought it last year about this time.
ancient(512k cache!) 5400 HD's being replaced by WD800JB soon.

 

[HardWareBoss]

Go with the TI 4200. Now if you can get 9600Pro for $80 grab it.

 

[Ion]

Just OC that GF3, i wouldn't justify spending even $100 to upgrade to ti4200(you upgrade from DX8 to DX8.1). Remember next generation cards out at like march? So price drop coming soon, hehe. :tongue:

Asus A7N8X Deluxe, Xp 2500+(3200+), 512MB RAM, Radeon 9500Pro

 

[blackphoenix77]

the only 9600 you can get for $80 is the 9600SE, which would be a mistake, don't get it

My Rig:
AthlonXP 2000+ 1.677ghz
GeForce Verto FX5200 128mb DDR
Maxtor 7200RPM 80GB, Stock 40gb
Kingston 384MB DDR
Cendyne 52x24x52 CD-RW
Lite-On 4x DVD-RW
Go EMachines...

 

[markgun]

Just OC that GF3

I agree. I have a Gainward GF3 Ti200 that does well over Ti500 speeds, which provides a pretty significant boost, IMO.

<b>Qui habet aures audiendi audiat</b>

 

[cleeve]

My take:

Your Geforce3 is a decent card, but if YOU feel that the framerates aren't up to snuff, yes, it's time to upgrade.

I don't think I'd bother upgrading to a Ti4200 at this time, when DirectX 9 graphics are really on the verge of becoming mainstream.

So basically, my recommendation is to not bother upgrading until a decent DX9 card comes into your price range. Right now the lowest DX9 card worth upgrading to for you is the 9600 PRO, and that's closer to $120... so if that's out of your price range, wait until it drops, or until another alternative arrives.

OR... buy the 9600 PRO for $120, and sell your GF3 on ebay for $30 to $45... that's what they go for used.

Net cost to you: $75 to $90, and you have a directX 9 card with powerful shaders...

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9500 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(hardmodded 9500, o/c 322/322)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>2600+</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 2400+ w/143Mhz fsb)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,055</b></font color=red>