Best old card for a hodge podge PC

[mikeb33]

I am putting together a PC for my wife from old componenets. It will have a Win XP, P4 1.9ghz, 384 PC2100 ram, a new 120GB 7200 RPM HD. The big question is what video card to use. My choices of cards on hand are a 3dFx Voodoo 3 16MB, a Matrox G400 32MB dual head, or a nVidia TNT2 32MB ram. She mostly does email and surfs the web, but I bought her The Sims 2 for Christmas, so it has to be able to run it.
Thanks for any opinions,

MIKE

See bio for system specs

 

[Crashman]

The VooDoo3, if AGP, won't work. The TNT2 should work fine. Look for jumpers on the TNT2, if it has them, get back to us: Some TNT2 cards required a jumper change to switch them from AGP1.0 to AGP2.0 standards.

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[pauldh]

I'd ebay all three of those and you'd probably get enough to buy a new radeon 8500le, which I've bought new for $34. It would be night and day over that TNT2 as it's still capable of playing just about any game, and is a DX8.1 card to boot. Anyway, trust me I understand wanting to use what you have in stock rather than buy something else, but if the TNT2 just doesn't cut it, there sure are cheap bargains to be found on new and used cards that will.

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<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Pauldh on 12/25/04 00:02 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

All of these cards aren't good enough to run Sims 2

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[mikeb33]

Thanks gfor all the input. I put it all together using the TNT2 and loaded XP. Everything is working fine, but I haven't tried any 3D games yet. I don't mind buying a video card for it, so what would be good under $75? I usually stick to nVidia cards, but I dee you recommended the 8500. That would be a used card, right?

PS: I'm not a cheapskate, I have a 6800GT in my PC.

See bio for system specs

 

[pauldh]

I actually got this brand new card from Allstarshop for $34 shipped a while ago.
<A HREF="http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=9426&sid=0REHEL2EVMPG9P88QG7KA2RVB4249DXB" target="_new">http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=9426&sid=0REHEL2EVMPG9P88QG7KA2RVB4249DXB</A>


Now all they have is this somewhat odd half height VGA only version for about that price. I have been considering buying this card for a couple weeks to try it and put in a used system I want to sell. But haven't, so i can't comment too much on it yet.
<A HREF="http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=9914&sid=0REHEL2EVMPG9P88QG7KA2RVB4249DXB" target="_new">http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=9914&sid=0REHEL2EVMPG9P88QG7KA2RVB4249DXB</A>


For $65, you can find a 128-bit radeon 9550 (DX9.0), which overclocks well if you care to dabble in that someday. On the NV side, I am not a fan of the FX series at all, feeling they are overpriced and are a flawed DX9 card in some ways. But you should be a ble to find a new GF4Ti4200 for $75, or a used one for easily under $50. Shoot, even a GF2MX400 (DX 7) is better than that TNT2, and those I've seen & bought on pricewatch for under $25 new. But I like the radeon 8500le, 9550, or GF4Ti for your price range. Obviously their not 6800GT's, but they all seem plenty powerful enough for what you want, and then some.

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[RichPLS]

A must then would be a Haugepauge TV Card!

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[mikeb33]

Thanks. I would like to go for a G4 Ti4xxx over a cheap Radeon, but these are DX8.0 only. What would I gain by going up to a DX9.0 card? If it eye candy or framerate or what?

See bio for system specs

 

[pauldh]

Depends on the card and game. Take HL2, the GF FX series is also only rendering the DX8 codepath, as the FX series is aweful. And anything less than a FX5700 Ultra or FX5900XT, isn't a performance gain over the GF4ti series.

IMO it's GF4Ti, or stepping up, the Radeon 9600 pro/XT, 9700/pro, 9800/pro, or GF6600GT, GF6800, GF6800GT that make sense to buy. Otherwise FX = overpriced crud IMO.


Unless you plan on spending over $100 on a Radeon 9600 pro, or better yet Radeon 9800 pro 256-bit or GF6600GT/6800, then I'd stick with the GF4-Ti4x00. Today you can order a GF6600GT AGP card from Compusa for $212 shipped after using the 15% off code <font color=red>Tree</font color=red>.



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[mikeb33]

I'm probably going to have to run out and buy this card today at Best Buy or CC. BB has a ATI RADEON 9550 256MB DDR AGP Graphics Card on sale for $99. I am not familar with the 9550 series, are they any good?

See bio for system specs

 

[pauldh]

If it is a 128-bit 9550, it's a decent card and might overclock well. It's basically a slightly slower clocked Radeon 9600. Both are DX9 cards.

But $99 is too high for that card unless it's a Retail BBA that happens to have a HL2 voucher in it. If you can wait a few days for shipping, Newegg sells 128MB 128-bit ones for around $65. For the under $75 price point for a new card, I think the 128MB 128-bit R9550 is the best choice. And in this card 256MB isn't going to help it perform any better like in a highend card like you 6800GT, so I wouldn't spend much extra just for a 256MB card.

Anyway, considering sales tax if any, you could order a Radeon 9600 pro 128MB for about the same price, and a 256MB version for just a few dollars more. (if you must have 256MB). Nothing in the $100-120 price range new, matches a 9600 pro's performance, unless it's a major sale on a 9600XT.

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[mikeb33]

Thanks for all the advice so far.
I bought the 9550 128 bit with 256mb because she wanted to play her new Sims 2 today. Oddly, I can't get it to work in her PC. It has an ASUS P4S333 mobo and when I put the card it, the screen just stays black. I swapped the TNT2 back in an it works. I made the swap 3 time each and only the TNT2 works. I then put the 9550 in my sons PC, and it boots fine so it may not be defective? He has my old G4 Ti4600. He plays lots of 3D games, would I be downgrading him with the 9550? He has a 2.0G P4 and 512 ram. Any ideas why it would work in one PC, but not another?

See bio for system specs

 

[cleeve]

Your mobo is older I assume... the 9550's will require voltages your mobo can't put out.

Return the 9550 if you can. Good cards that will work with your hardware are the Geforce Ti4200, Radeon 8500, Radeon 9000 PRO.

A Radeon 9200 or 9250 (128-bit versions, not 64-bit!!!) are the ones you could find easier new, they're not as good as the ones I listed but they're not the worst cards in the world I guess. Just don't pay more than $60 or so for one.

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<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>5,354</b>

 

[pauldh]

I had the same thought and re-checked his hardware. For some reason, I was thinking he had an old PIII at the time (spending too much time reading threads here). But it is a DDR P4 system (yet I questioned the P4 1.9 Ghz as I couldn't recall one was ever made. I had to <A HREF="http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/Intel/P4-Northwood/" target="_new">google it</A> to be sure. I'd think a DDR P4 would support any 4X/8X card. I wish my old "hodge podge" PC's were 1.9GHz systems.


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[randy66]

did you clear all NV drivers before installing ATI card ??

 

[mikeb33]

No I didn't, BUT it never booted up. Just a black screen. It was as if no card was installed, except it didn't beep.
ALso it is a Ausu P4S333 Pentium 4 mobo, so it probably can do the proper voltages. I'm just going to take it back to BB.

See bio for system specs