Reccomendations for older system

[Vjeszczi]

Looking to purchase a new Video card for my OEM PIII 500mhz machine. I currently have a TNT2 16mb video card. I am looking to upgrade to either a 32 or 64mb card. I am looking ideally for something from the GeForce2 line, I also only have the capability for AGP2X so would prefer to buy just what I need as opposed to an AGP2X/4X if possible. Don't know what I am looking to spend as of yet, thats contingent upon how much I can get outta my wife :D Essentialy this system is going to be used to play games, online ones for the most part, and I would like some input as to what some of my options may be.

Thanks in advance :)

[Dunga Bee]

For pure performance for your dollar, I'd look at the ATI Radeon 32MB DDR. Not the LE card, but the real DDR card. You can get it at Newegg.com for around $70 US. It is AGP 2x/4x and also has features that have not been utilized in games yet, wich means it will last you a while.

Plus, with that CPU, your CPU will become your bottleneck before this card.

You could also look at the LE card and overclock it and enable the HyperZ features with a tweak util. I think I saw that card on Pricewatch.com for around $50-60 US.

That is my recommendation. I do not think you can find another card for $70 US that will outperform the Radeon 32 DDR.

Hope this helps.

[[OC]_SR20DE]

Hi, Vjeszczi

ATI Radeon cards are good.. they are strong in 2D apps image quality including text, DVD, photo, video capturing and more but not the best in 3D gaming if u're talking fps, fps, and fps.. GeForce 2 lines are good choice especially if you're more into 3D gaming although it puts out ugly 2D text hahaha.. but it does put out crisp and bright image quality in both 2D and 3D.

GeForce 2 Pro (Not GeForce 2 GTS) would be very good choice if you want very high performance at great price. GF2 Pro is almost like an underclocked GF2 Ultra. GF2 Pro starts from around $110 and up. The card from Gainward brand makes 4.5 nano seconds RAM whereas the most other GF2 Pro's have 5 sec memory access speed. There's big price jump if you go with an Ultra. Me thinks Ultra's are still too expensive compare to GF2 Pro's. I bought a GF2 GTS 32mb a year ago and it is still plenty fast to play any of my games. Have fun deciding! :p

[Cisco Kid]

Go with the Radeon DDR, at 1024 x 768 in 32 bit colour it is equal to GEforce 2 GTS Pro card and the video clarity and 2 D qualtiy far surpass nvidia based cards. It is cheaper as well and has features not yet used which will appear in games to come.

Overall I would say it is a better rounded card than a Geforce 2 GTS card due to price , and I am one who has switched back to ATI from a Geforce 256 DDR 32 meg Deluxe V6800 Asus card.

I love my radeon 64 DDR vivo, it truly kicks ass!!!

Cisco Kid:D

[!-=sky=-!]

Originally posted by Cisco Kid
Go with the Radeon DDR, at 1024 x 768 in 32 bit colour it is equal to GEforce 2 GTS Pro card and the video clarity and 2 D qualtiy far surpass nvidia based cards. It is cheaper as well and has features not yet used which will appear in games to come.

Overall I would say it is a better rounded card than a Geforce 2 GTS card due to price , and I am one who has switched back to ATI from a Geforce 256 DDR 32 meg Deluxe V6800 Asus card.

I love my radeon 64 DDR vivo, it truly kicks ass!!!

Cisco Kid:D

well you really cant compare a geforce256 with a ati 64mb ddr vivo

that's like comparing a tnt to a geforce3......

but anyways, the geforce2 pro are great
i love my elsa geforce2 pro.........and i think it's better than ati

[Cisco Kid]

Originally posted by !-=sky=-!


well you really cant compare a geforce256 with a ati 64mb ddr vivo

that's like comparing a tnt to a geforce3......

but anyways, the geforce2 pro are great
i love my elsa geforce2 pro.........and i think it's better than ati

My point was really about the video quality. It is a fact that all the nvidia based cards have fuzzy 2d.

Why go with a Geforce 2 GTS Pro when you can get a Radeon 64 DDR vivo for cheaper wit vivo feature, it performs the same if not better at 1024x768 32 bit colour, what most people play at. Also it has superb 2d quality and great 3d gaming features many yet stll not yet utilized in todays games. DVD playback is very very good.

So I would say you get a better bang for your buck than the Geforce 2 Pro cards. I switched back to ATI cause I was tired of the lacklustre performance in 2d video with my Asus nvidia based card. I would personally give the edge to ATI for price features and performance.

My 2 cents

Cisco Kid:p