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What to choose

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  • Graphics Cards
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
December 1, 2001 5:16:35 AM

Hi there,

I am trying to help my brother to upgrade his system; however, we don't have many budgets. I think I have enough money for either buying a Gefore 3 card, or upgrade to Athlon XP + mainboard. My borther has PIII-550 + 1GB memory. I don't know the video card, because we don't live in the same city, and he doesn't know about his computer(that's why I am helping him). I would consider his graphics card is an old and not very good one. He mainly runs Maya, and all the 3D rendering animation for his tasks. Since I am not very familiar with those softwares, I don't know what is the best choice for him. I think he really wants to have better performace on OpenGL stuff. What is the choice to go? Geforce 3 or AthlonXP?

Thanks

More about : choose

December 1, 2001 5:25:05 AM

i'd say go with the geforce 3.
if you buy the athlon xp + mobo...you'll get a faster computer but it's being held back by a "primitive" vid card.
the geforce 3 will give you better performance on open gl stuff. but im not sure how well it will do with a PIIIso...like i said...i'd go w/ the vid card.
for the record...geforce 3 cards are the mercedes of graphics cards (ie.they kick ass).

I don't claim to know anything about everything, I just tell people what I know.
-PSB
December 3, 2001 6:11:43 AM

if you could tell us how much your budget is we could better help you.

<font color=red><b><i>you</i> keep talking i'll pretend i'm listening.</b></font color=red>
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December 3, 2001 4:14:40 PM

if a geforce3 is a mercedes that means the radeon 8500 it a ferrari or mclaren
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
December 3, 2001 4:42:57 PM

Hmm, I would say around 600 Cdn dollors. 700 the most.
December 3, 2001 7:11:01 PM

i didnt know you're using canadian dollars...
in that case...get the ati radeon 8500 because the geforce 3 in canada is almost twice the cost of the R8500 but performs very similarly (at least thats what i heard).

I don't claim to know anything about everything, I just tell people what I know.
-PSB
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
December 4, 2001 4:17:38 PM

Thanks.
It's a good idea.
The best I can get is 399 cdn for ATI - 8500.
599 for ASUS Gefore Ti-500. Maybe I could buy
ATI, and get a hard drive or something as well. :) 
December 4, 2001 8:01:27 PM

Hi all, I'd to say a word or two about pro graghics card. Any non pro cards sucks on Maya, 3dsmax, etc.(if you live on pro graghics) A fast CPU is alway important since rendering by CPU is slow but accuret(no driver bug problem) . Pro graphics card can speed up procesing using Geometry Assist(like T&L, but Geometry Assist was avaible since early '97) and only pro graphics cards can do the job as accuret as possible. GF3 or ATIs suck big times. If u don't have much budget, buy a ELSA SynergyII(TNT2)for less than USD$200 or a SynergyIII(QUADRO MX) for around USD$300. These are real pro cards. Or you can buy a good GF MX and mod it into Quadro MX for less than USD$120.This is much cheaper but requires a lot of knowledge on PCB.(How much is a MX400 anyway?) SynergyIII can fit most of the pro jobs. Use the rest of the money to buy a better CPU. Try a used Xeon, cheap and larger L2(P3 1G is cheap nowdays) And you can save the motherboard, if it supports FCPGA-370 and core v1.65; if it is a SLOT1, buy a slot1 to FCPGA-370 card, core v1.80 is ok .(or u can dig hard for a slot P3 1G, i wish u good luck.) 1G memory is enough, but at what speed? PC100@CL2 is faster than PC133@CL3. If it's a BX, stick with 100MhzFBS so no problem with AGP2/3.

Once I used my i386/34+i387 and 4 MB Ram for CAD...
December 4, 2001 11:51:17 PM

make sure the R8500 you're getting is retail...cuz the oem is clocked slower than the retail (you'll loose about 10% in performance in the oem, unless you dont care).
besides....the reatail R8500 comes with half life: counterstrike :) 

I don't claim to know anything about everything, I just tell people what I know.
-PSB
December 5, 2001 12:06:39 AM

WAIT!! Before you buy anything, consider this. True that gamer's graphics cards suck in 3d apps liek Maya, but GF3 is also pro. Using Rivatuner, which will mod teh drivers a bit, u get a Quadro DCC, and BLOWS ANYTHING OUT OF ITS PATH. Thne get an optimization driver for it, like Maxtreme for 3DSMAX, and you'll be able to do mad complex things. Today, my Quadro DCC was able to render in real time raytracing, and trillions of polygons. It was sick. Anyways GF3 is the way to go in Maya. However, consider that your foinal render does use processor. How about u get a GF2 GTS, and a better processor. In other words, get a little bit less of each, and u end up w/ a perfect system. The GTS can be turned into a Quadro2 Pro, and that is sweet.

NOS and a <font color=red> Ferrari </font color=red> can be fun! :cool:
December 5, 2001 12:10:53 AM

Pr, don't call a gf3 a mercedes, mercedes suck. A GF3 is like a Ferrari, and a Radeon like a Porsche.

NOS and a <font color=red> Ferrari </font color=red> can be fun! :cool:
December 5, 2001 1:36:21 AM

Like you would turn it DOWN if someone gave you a Mercades :>:>

I Love them myself, and wouldnt turn ANY of them down :>

To Be or Not to be... DAMN but that is confusing!
December 5, 2001 3:48:57 AM

it was only a figure of speech (or umm...writing...whatever)
i was only trying to say that a gf3 is a really good card.
last time i checked...mercedes were good, solid cars (except for a few exceptions).
and besides....if a gf3 was a ferrari and a radeon was a porche...why dont we see more ferraris than porches on the road?

I don't claim to know anything about everything, I just tell people what I know.
-PSB
December 5, 2001 5:36:44 AM

i would think you live in the us since you think NOS is what goes in to the engin. NOS is only a company. mercedes do not suck. i used to work in a mechanich shop and i'd say most korean cars suck and some american. btw i'm glad you are an amd fan.

<font color=red><b><i>you</i> keep talking and i'll pretend i'm listening.</b></font color=red>
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
December 5, 2001 4:31:00 PM

Hi,

I would have to thank yiliang, Flamethrower205, and all the people replied here for your precious advices. I have to do some price search and find out what's the best way to go and in the same time double check with my brother for his graphics card. I don't know how to modify the graphics card to squeeze the performace as much as possible. It would be so kind of you to give me some hints and links to articles on how to do it.

If ATI's cards suck on 3d applications, then it's probably not the way to go for my brother. He doesn't play games, but uses all those 3d applications as far as I know. The main reason to this upgrade is to release him from the pain of long-waiting of processing time. :p 

Once again, thanks for the help. All these opinions help me to do the decisions. :) 
December 5, 2001 6:32:09 PM

Quote:

If ATI's cards suck on 3d applications, then it's probably not the way to go for my brother. He doesn't play games, but uses all those 3d applications as far as I know. The main reason to this upgrade is to release him from the pain of long-waiting of processing time. :p 

Your main bottleneck isn't the graphics card, it's your processor. You should look at upgrading to a 1GHz+ P4 or Athlon XP.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
December 5, 2001 9:21:50 PM

P4?? Last thing on earth I'd do. First it costs a lot, and second, FPU performance sucks. An Athlon Thunderbird is about 8/3 faster in pure FPU. So, Athlon XP will be even crazier. O, and in my neighborhood, I do see a lot of Ferraris and Porsches- my first car's gonna be most likely be a used Ferrari. Also, I am not American, although I live in America; I'm from Bulgaria. NOS is not only a company, but an additive to increase car performance.

NOS and a <font color=red> Ferrari </font color=red> can be fun! :cool:
December 5, 2001 9:26:30 PM

Oh, and about modifying teh vid card. It's most simple, go to guru3d.com, and download rivatuner. In teh help file, it tells u how to do it- basically u use a patchscript, it turns it into a quadro, and blam, u have a sweet wass vid card.

NOS and a <font color=red> Ferrari </font color=red> can be fun! :cool:
December 5, 2001 11:35:19 PM

Many 3D rendering apps are now SSE2 optimized so the P4 is a viable option.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
a b U Graphics card
December 6, 2001 12:00:55 AM

OK, I'll help you out. You can get a Radeon 8500 for around $200 U.S. (what is that, about a million Can$-LOL), and overclock his 550E to 733 by raising the bus speed to 133MHz.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?
December 6, 2001 12:04:12 AM

For $700 CDN, you can get a Radeon 8500 OEM, an ECS K7S5A and a and an Athlon XP 1600+ and 256MB DDR RAM. That's before tax, of course.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
December 6, 2001 1:01:04 AM

Thing is though, w/ a GTS running as a Quadro 2 Pro, he'll get 2x the performance in Maya than w/ a Radeon, and maya also has problems running under gamer's cards- it crashes, etc. Hence, why a GF series turned to Quadro should be hius choice.

NOS and a <font color=red> Ferrari </font color=red> can be fun! :cool:
December 6, 2001 1:01:28 AM

dude n2o goes into the engin, not NOS. btw are you a rich guy that is under 16 years of age. i really don't mean to sound like a jerk, but from what you have writen it sounds like it. plus being rich and young is cool.

<font color=red><b><i>you</i> keep talking and i'll pretend i'm listening.</b></font color=red>
December 6, 2001 1:04:31 AM

Lol, yeah, I am under 16. Can't wait to get to drive. hehe- instead of used ferrari though, think I should get a Honda S2000 w/ a VTEC mod? That would be sweet as well.

NOS and a <font color=red> Ferrari </font color=red> can be fun! :cool:
December 6, 2001 1:05:56 AM

Oh, it just came ot my mind- how much does this piss u off: A friend of mine got a Ferrari (brand new) as his first car, and teh second day he got it, he drag raced w/ it. Guess what- he rammed it right into a pole. he was fine, but teh car was done for.

NOS and a <font color=red> Ferrari </font color=red> can be fun! :cool:
Anonymous
a b U Graphics card
December 6, 2001 3:20:43 AM

um.. get both??? instead of buying top of the line graphic card, buy cheaper graphic card and CPU? =)

hm... No signature.. :) 
December 6, 2001 9:40:50 PM

that idiotto.

<font color=red><b><i>you</i> keep talking and i'll pretend i'm listening.</b></font color=red>
!