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Best card for win2k/3dsmax 4

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  • Graphics Cards
  • Nvidia
  • ATI
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 12:12:30 AM

What card can handle to most polys and highest rez? Also, fill rate is pretty important too. I can't afford a professional card so it needs to be from Ati or Nvidia. Please no, "nvidia is god/Ati is god". Just the facts, thanks.

More about : card win2k 3dsmax

Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 12:56:28 AM

depends on how big of monitor or resolution u want.
ultra 2 is awesome 4 small res but if your on a 20 inch monitor radeon is the way 2 go plus its cheaper
February 12, 2001 1:59:12 AM

Well here is a tread that debates the Radeon and Geforce II series about 3dsmax/maya in Win2k many of the people responding have both cards (Radeon and GTS II):
<A HREF="http://rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=3649" target="_new">http://rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=3649&lt;/A>
Not sure if this will help or not because opinions seems to run more rapid than test on that tread but is worth reading. I use TrueSpace5 in W2k and nothing I've ever used is faster. I prefer OpenGL over Directx. In perspective mode I can load up the scene with ojbects and convert them all to nurb objects and pan smoothly around rendering all of them in real time. I am impress, but this is not 3dsmax. Radeon performs better and better comparitively against a GeForce series card as the polygons go up due to hyperZ (not rendering unseen ploygons). Geforce II Ultra has alot of processing power which the Radeon may never make up due to finesse. One more thing is that the Radeon is fully OpenGL1.2 compliant and more Directx 8 compliant then the Nvidia GTS II's. Obviously NV-20 would be the dream card, Quadra, Firegl pro. Also supposenly you can make a GTS II into a Quadra, might be the ticket for you.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by noko on 02/11/01 11:00 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
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Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 2:17:30 AM

yeah, I've read that thread, hence the "no nvidia/ati are gods". I have also heard that the geometry of ati is really good but also in that thread it said there was major issues running in win2k. I am on a smallish budget so going with Ati is tempting, waiting for the nv20 isn't an option because that will be so expensive. I want to make sure that I don't go through hell with ati and win2k.
February 12, 2001 2:55:17 AM

Sorry about that but that was the best I could do for a quick response. What will your system specs be? Motherboard etc, Radeon now seems to run stable on most setups but not all. Geforce II series and W2k, has very good OpenGL and D3d rendereing. High resolutions you will have to be careful, not all Geforce II's and beyond are equal when it comes to clarity. Radeon OpenGL in W2k is just as fast or faster in W2k as compared to Win9x, not D3d, 2d is top notch at high resolutions 1280x1024 and above using high refresh rates. What type of monitor will you be running? I have a 20" Trinitron HP A4331D monitor which is crystal sharp but now days high end monitors don't come cheap and are better than what I have. If you don't have a relatively high end monitor than a Radeon or Geforce will be about the same in clarity.
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 4:15:34 AM

Pentium 3 500mhz
Dell's crap BX chip
256mb (cas3) pc100
19in Dell D1226H (not the best now days but can't afford a new one, only .26)
Tnt2 32mb (used to run at 1600x1200 but at bad refresh rate, now run at 1280x1024 but bad performance of course)

I'll be replacing that with
Duron 850
Asus A7V133
Does the geforce 2 MX have lower refresh rates for high res than Radeon?
What performance gain would I see moving from my ram now to pc133?
February 12, 2001 4:28:41 AM

You can check out the resolution/refresh rate here for a 32mb DDR Radeon, all Radeons have the same DAC of up to 350mhz(Note: only the radeon has a 10 bit DAC, Nvidia and others have 8-bit DACs, meaning the Radeon has better color matching):
<A HREF="http://www.ati.com/na/pages/products/pc/radeon32_ddr/in..." target="_new">http://www.ati.com/na/pages/products/pc/radeon32_ddr/in...;/A>
At 1600/1200 you can do up to 90hz with any Radeon. My monitor does 70 hz at 1600x1200 and it is crystal clear unfortunately I like a 85hz refresh rate minimum so I am stuck at 1280x1024 and below.

Radeon should work well in either system, probably better with the Duron system you mentioned above. I do recommend this setup instead, you might want to check it out. A 933mhz Thunderbird system with Via's KT133a chipset. HOT!

<A HREF="http://www.genxtechcomp.com/specials.html" target="_new">http://www.genxtechcomp.com/specials.html&lt;/A>

Check out the review of that system here whiched used a Radeon 32mb video card:

<A HREF="http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/cpu/oc_warehouse/tbi..." target="_new">http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/cpu/oc_warehouse/tbi...;/A>

Anyways I ordered one of these gigs and will soon be in Thunderbird paradise. :smile: <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by noko on 02/12/01 01:36 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 4:54:18 AM

How, that is some nice overclocking he's done. I plan to over clock as well so that answers my pc133 mem question. Any particular brand you suggest? Also, since the main importance of the cpu is rendering the duron is the best choice but I want to maximize the mhz. How high do you think someone could overclock a duron 850 to? Using artic silver II, and best heat sink fan combo? (OCW Ofrio or Globalwin WBK38) after reading that review.
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 5:22:27 AM

Yeah, but Noko, will you be running Win2k on that machine.
I've been reading some threads on this forum and I still have serious doubts about the combination of Radeon/KT133/Athlon.
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 6:07:48 AM

yeah, I'm still very worried about that too. That one big thread about radeon and win2k is scary, I don't want to go through that.
February 12, 2001 7:30:59 AM

Well I've been running W2k with the Radeon since September of 2000. Back then it was a nightmare, not so now. Not everything was Radeon related. When Via released the 426beta 4in1 drivers it finally addressed the DMA issue with W2K and the Via chipsets. When the 427/428betas and now the official 428a 4in1 drivers was issued this fix one of the last conflicts, that was W2k bus mastering. Without bus mastering in W2k DVD playing and video In using the Radeon Harware was shacky at best. Now playing DVD using the full arsenal of what the Radeon provides in haredware is impressive. Video In works correctly, benchmarks and overall performance went up. Disk performance now matches or exceeds WinMe for a Via setup, at least on my KX-133 setup. Also ATI has released a number of leaked betas and now has a relatively strong W2K Special Purpose driver which I use. You are talking about 6 months of developement where as most reviews are now months old. Intel plateforms for the most part was ok from the beginning. Now the AMD especially the KT-133a chipset and DDR boards outdue the Pentium III per clock speed easiliy using same pc133 ram. In short alot of maturing has occured on all sides.
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 7:41:25 AM

I'm willing to take your word on that, I know the guy that owns the copu sotre I am going to buy from so if I have problems it won't really matter since i can get a refund without hasstle. I will probably go with the 32mb card since the 64DDR is really expensive, is it that much better? Going with the 32mb radeon will reduce the amount I spend on the vid card and so I can focus on getting DDR ram instead of pc133. What AMD chips run at 266?
February 12, 2001 8:38:01 PM

DDR1600 system hasn't shown any improvement in benchmarks at this time over a pc133 system. DDR2100 systems using the AMD760 chipset <b>in general</b> shows a 4-6% improvement over a KT133a system using a AMD chip running both at a 133 Front Side Bus FSB (EV 266 since the 133FSB is double pumped) at equivalent speed. Cost of DDR2100 is way more expensive then PC133. The ALI Magik chipset (AMD DDR capable chipset) initially did not support the Radeon, supposenly a specilized ATI driver and bios for motherboards fixed this issue, I am not sure how effective. I don't recommend an ALI Magik chipset board at this time with the Radeon. Via's KT266 chipset (DDR Capable) has been released but as yet no motherboards are available. Many Thunderbird 200(100FSB) chips will run at 266(133FSB). There is no guarantee that a Thunderbird 200 will go to 266. The place I referred to above test the CPU's and burns in the CPU and Motherboard combination before shipping to ensure what you get is stable and a reliable setup running a 133FSB(266). In addition they warrant the whole setup for one year.

<i>AMD Thunderbird 650@ 933MHz (7 X 133MHz) with Iwill KK266 motherboard and cooler of your choice. Combo is tested under Winbench, Unreal and Quake 3 for 72 hours. Comes with one year warranty</i>
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 8:48:31 PM

Gees I want that. I don't have a credit card so I am seeing about other payment methods. Are those mobo's DDR? Cause now that you've told me it's 6% better I was pc133
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 12, 2001 8:54:23 PM

NM, I just read up on it, pc133 nice. I think I'll go with the ati radeon 64mbDDR, I can get a great price on it and that offer and order the 640@933 and mobo from those guys, if they have payments methods other than credit card
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
February 13, 2001 5:16:54 AM

Noko, if you read this tell me how the GenXTech 933 and Iwill mobo worked out. I think I want to get it too but want to make sure everything is ok with that mobo and radeon. Since it is a tb650@933 is it a better choice to buy a tb850 and see if that can go to 933 or above?
February 13, 2001 5:24:57 AM

I should be receiving it anyday now, first I will try without reloading everything, WinMe will not be to hard to reload because I just has games on it, Win2k is a different story. ARGGGGGGh. I am good in the registry so I should do ok. I already received 256mb pc133 CS2 from Crucial. I could put it in my current setup which already has 256mb pc133 generic junk but I will probably wait until my new mobo setup comes in. Will let everyone know how it works out.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by noko on 02/13/01 02:26 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
!