DirectX 8 and vid cards

[deez]

From what I've been told and read the GF4 MX440 doesn't take full advantage of DirectX 8 but I've seen nothing specific. What does it not do that a GF3 or GF4Ti can do? Will I be restricted in future games by a GF4MX?

I dont have much to spend on a new card and I'm considering between a GF4 MX440 and a GF3 Ti200.

 

[funnyperson1]

yes there are many features of DX8 like programmable picture shaders that the G4(Geforce2 really) does not provide...and it will hold you back...in a year or two it will be obsolete....like a Voodoo3 is now....

 

[deez]

any good links or refs i can look at? I know the GF4MX has the NV17 core and is pretty much a cross between a GF2 and a GF3 and I've seen some benchies and comparisons but I just want to make sure I dont waste my $$$ since I'll probly keep it for a while

as I mentioned in another thread I'm not a huge gamer but I would like a nice crisp image with decent framerate at 1024x768x32 for a good price.

 

[funnyperson1]

yeah but look at this:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1580&p=7

the GF2 doesnt seem to be doing to well....1024x768 would be doubtful when Unreal2 comes out....

 

[slim_lim]

Choosing between gf3ti and gf4mx is a no brainer. Thr gf3ti is better in every respect. Since you're concerned about a crisp image, why not consider a Radeon8500. Image calrity on most nvidia cards isn't that great.

 

[deez]

okay I made my decision and I'm heading out to buy an Aopen Gf3 Ti200 from a local shop here for $150.00 I'll see what I can do with that puppy when I get home from work tonight and post on it.

I definitely want to be able to play UT2 and future games

And yes i know i can buy a Radeon 8500 or order this card for a bit cheaper but i like the nvidia driver support...hell my TNT2 card lasted me over 2 1/2 years

 

[slim_lim]

$150 for a crappy aopen ti200?! Dude, you're getting ripped off. I'm sure you can grab a Gainward or Visiontek at that price. I think CompUSA has Visiontek ti200 for $150 on sale right now.
And Best Buy has it for $170 - $30 rebate. You could buy at @ Bestbuy and pricematch to CompUSA so you pay $150 and get the rebate too. Or buy cheaper online.

 

[deez]

I haven't read anything negative about the Aopen card anywhere and have seen several good OC results with it in other forums. And if I dont like it then I can just return it. The shop is a block from my work and both Compusa/Bestbuy are inconvenient to get to b/c of traffic (im in New Orleans)

Also neither store here ever has anything in stock and I dont do MIR's and yes I can save $10-15 ordering online (then I wait a week or longer to get the card) but now if I have any problems I simply drive a block away and swap out my card.

Thats worth $10 to me

 

[funnyperson1]

well as long as you are happy with your purchase..tell us how it turns out ...

 

[slim_lim]

Yep, you pay the money -- you call the shots. Good luck on your purchase, hope it'll turn out well.

 

[deez]

Initital results Ti 200 at default settings 3DMark 2001 1024x768x32 CPU speed =1333 <---need to get tweaked bios to run with AGp 4X @ 1450 (Thanks ASUS)

 

[slim_lim]

So, how's the image quality on that thing?

 

[deez]

its a pretty sweet card with nice quality...never seen the nature test before but now its time to OC...got the proper bios and my score improved just a bit @1450

 

[slim_lim]

Whoo-hoo! Have you tried overclocking it yet? Come on, push her harder, make her sweat pure speed . How far can you go? What RAM chips does it have?

 

[deez]

I think it has 4ns Samsung but I'm not positive...already had ram sinks on it

(232/540) <--and might be able to go a little higher... So whats that you said about a crappy Aopen?

 

[slim_lim]

(232/540) <--and might be able to go a little higher... So whats that you said about a crappy Aopen?

I humbly take it back. That's one excellent overclock and if the image quality is as good as you say, you got yourself a hell of a card. That's about the upper boundary the best of ti200's will go. I always thought AOpen made vanilla cards, and I haven't seen alot of positive respsonse from users about them either, while Visiontek and Gainward consistently get great reviews. Apparently image ain't everything. Congratualtions!

BTW, does your card have the Open Bios feature? I know AOpen puts it in some cards. It lets you access videocard BIOS and tweak clocks, voltages, and other stuff.

 

[deez]

Thanks...I think Aopen got a bad rap on some of their GF2's and tried to redeem themselves on their GF3. And yes it does have the Live update/Open bios feature among others that I haven't even tested. heres the product link (my card has slightly different Ramsinks and HSF and its on a green PCB) http://www.aopen.com/products/vga/gf3ti200-dv64.htm

I'm Just using the default bios...Dets 21.83 from nvidia with WinXP. Will play with more of the features tonight. I had a little trouble getting the new card to play with both Win XP and my mobo. After that I used NVMax to tweak...powerstrip was reading the RAM speed incorrectly

 

[deez]

UPDATE...The Aopen Live bios prog doesn't work even with their drivers loaded. But I got it up to (250/540) so my 3d mark score went up a few more points to 7198. I'm actually currently using dets 21.81 tried out 27.50 and 27.70 and image quality was better...3dmark score was about 300 points lower than 21.81 tho

No infinite loop error while testing so I'll probly switch to the 27.50's

EDIT: with 2DMK2001SE I had to bring it down to 245/540 but score went up about 120 points so I'm now breaking 7000 with 27.50 drivers.... happy with the card

 

[cboniks]

I know this may be slightly off topic, but I am eagerly awaiting more information on the Sis 330 from some of the initial specs it seems that it is going to be a pretty good card with a lot of potiental