Best Cheap Video Card

[HarleyMYK]

I am building a cheap system and was leaning towards a Retail Gigabyte GA-622-32C 32MB TNT2 M64 because it has some games with it. The ATI XPERT 2000 PRO 32M AGP - OEM is a couple bucks cheaper, but no games. Any thoughts on performance? It is for a young kid, so it doesn't need a lot. I just would like it to last a few years. You can see them both in this list of video cards: <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=list&catalog=48" target="_new">list of video cards at newegg</A>

Old enough to remember when sex was safe and a personal computer was a slide rule

 

[Unolocogringo]

stay awaw from anything with the M64 chip. It is a tnt with a crippled 64bit bus. very slow!!!!!
Also stay away from the MX200 chips. also crippled.....
On your list i would buy the Abit Siloura (sp?)GTS2 32mb
the next fastest card, MX400 is a little slower and a few dollars more.
The ATI is also very old and slow. These would work for older games but forget about any newer games. you would pay twice as much for the Abit GTS2 or MX400 but they are at least 4 times as fast,so you might not have to upgrade for at least a year or two.

I aint signing nothing!!!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by rick_criswell on 10/16/01 08:13 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[yellowood]

It would help to know how much you are willing to spend, but if you're considering either the TNT2 M64 or a ATI 2000 Xpert, I would lean towards the TNT2 M64. I got one a few years ago to build a cheap system also and works great.

You might want to consider either an MX-200 or a Radeon VE card. They are not much more expense and are IMHO much better cards with support for directX 7.0.


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It's a shame we have only one soul to sell...

 

[Guest]

Get a KyroII, 64MB. Solid card, great price (AIB--good company-- has them for 66 USD on pricewatch).

<font color=blue>Jesus saves...</font color=blue><font color=red>and takes half damage!</font color=red>

 

[HarleyMYK]

Right now we are talking about something to handle "Chip's Challenge" and "Pajama Sam" (not to be mistaken for "Serious Sam"), Reader Rabbit and Learning Company Titles and so on, so I thought: get something real cheap now, and upgrade at a later date. I was planning to stay under $40, but I would go up to $50 if it made sense.

Old enough to remember when sex was safe and a personal computer was a slide rule

 

[dhlucke]

Ok, if we're talking about the "Chips Challenge" from the Win3.1 days then don't worry about spending a lot of money. You're only playing 2D games so there is no need for you to spend a fortune on a 3D accelerated card.

Don't overdue it, save your money.

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>

 

[HarleyMYK]

That is sort of what I thought. Go with the cheapest now, and then upgrade in a couple of years (when a GForce-3 is $35 and who knows what else is on the market).

Old enough to remember when sex was safe and a personal computer was a slide rule

 

[arsend]

The one thing that I have to ask, well there is two things actually, A) how old is your kid B) does she have ANY grandparents. It is my experience that grandparent will buy the latest 3D kiddy game, send it to the little 4-6 year old, then the game will not run well because of the graphics card runs to slow. You see, many grandparents do not know anything about minium system requirments and have no problem spending money on the little grandkids, ecpecially if they are the first. I would go with the Radeon LE or other graphics card in the $50-$70 range, just so you won't have to hastle with dear old grandma, plus you will have a card that may last her up until he/she gets to be 9-10.

If it works for you then don't fix it.

 

[evil_homer]

Buy a Geforce 2 MX200 or 400, it's a newer card plus you get regular and reliable drivers from Nvidia for a little extra preformance boost every once in a while.


Keyboard not found press F5 to continue

 

[RT2002]

Still, I echo the thoughts of some other repliers. I think a low end Radeon will offer the most use for the money.
1) Your Newegg link posts Radeon VE at $49.00...under your upper budget.
2) Is not the superior 3D card by any measure...but will support current DX8 games.
3) Standard ATI onboard DVD hardware. For educational and entertainment use. Versatility to get more out of $49.

 

[phsstpok]

Newegg.com is selling Visiontek's new Xtasy 5632, Geforce2 GTS-V, 128-bit DDR. It's only $65.

I'm having trouble finding details but the GTS-V appears to be a low-cost version of the GTS at the original clock of 175mhz, core. I don't know about the memory speed but the card should still outperform all Geforce2 MX cards including MX-400's.

Would you like a Quarter Pounder?
No, thank you. Just give me the BIG heatsink. It's an Athlon.

 

[Crashman]

Look around Pricewatch for ORIGINAL TNT2 cards, such as the Diamond V770, instead of the crippled M64. The V770 is as cheap as $32 on Pricewatch and is much faster than even the MX200, simply because it has a 128-bit memory path.

Back to you Tom...

 

[Crashman]

Dang, I just noticed that Axion is listing an TNT2 Ultra (V770 Ultra) on Pricewatch for only $40! This is much faster than even the original TNT2 (v770)!

Back to you Tom...

 

[AEboy128]

I'll sell my riva TNT2 m64 16mb AGP for $30 shiping included.

My system: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=8946" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=8946</A>