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Rhaegar
Village Dweller
Joined: 05 May 2002
Posts: 8
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| Upgrade my GeForce 256 or Athlon 750 for better performance? |
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I currently have the following system:
Athlon 750Mhz
GeForce 256 DDR
384mb Ram
I recently bought Morrowind and Dungeon Siege and they are the first games that have really pushed my computer to the limit. Unfortunately I'm currently saving for my education and can only really spare enough money to buy either a new video card or a new proc/mobo/ram combo. I believe that a new video card would be my best bet for improved game performance but I'm not 100% sure. I'm either going to get a GeForce 3 Ti200, GeForce 3 Ti500, or a GeForce 4 Ti4200 when they become available in Canada.
Will I see a big improvement in games? Is the new video card route the best way to go or should I start with the proc and mobo first? Advice appreciated |
Tue May 07, 2002 10:52 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
I think you should choose between GForce 3 Ti and GForce 4 4200, GForce4 is better but more expensive. |
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Tue May 07, 2002 11:21 pm |
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Rawis
Gorthaur
Joined: 01 Apr 2002
Posts: 1861
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New graphic card!  |
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Tue May 07, 2002 11:32 pm |
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Hyperion
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 07 May 2002
Posts: 122
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In general, you should see a gain for most games if you get a new vid card. But games like MW are not as limited by the graphics card as they are by the CPU.
I would suggest that you go for a new CPU and MB (up your mem to 512 or more). You can't go wrong there. Get a better video card later. |
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Tue May 07, 2002 11:33 pm |
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Guest
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You may want to go for a card and a faster CPU, a 1 gig Duron is like $40 and will not be as bad a bottleneck as your 750... |
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Wed May 08, 2002 2:43 am |
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SlitherSly
Guest
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Well I have a 750 Athlon, GeForce 3 ti 200, 512 mb of ram, and 40 gb hd, and I have the same type of performance as anyone else (i.e. 40-60 indoors, 10-30 in cities. So I'd DEFINTELY buy a new video card, go for the Geforce 4 ti 4400 or 4200, they are both reaonsably priced . . . and stay away from the MX. |
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Wed May 08, 2002 7:13 am |
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JemyM
Vault Dweller
Joined: 28 Nov 2001
Posts: 753
Location: Sweden |
Videogames are driven by the GPU (graphic processing unit) that is located on GeForce 256 or newer. It is interesting when someone says "this game runs slow on my P4 1.7" and thinks that say something about their specs, when it is the graphiccard that have 95% control of their speed.
A TNT2 does not have a GPU at all, it leaves all the calculations on the CPU, so a P4 1.7 with a TNT2 would be alot slower than a A750 with GF3.
I myself upgraded from a p2 350Mhz to a Athlon 1000Mhz when I still used GeForce 256. Gaining +650Mhz offered be a boost of 10% in quake, while upgrading from Voodoo2 to GeForce 256 had offered me almost a 50-90% boost.
I say, grab a GF3/4 first, and then a new CPU/Motherboard will likely not cost you more than 300-350$ for a 1.4Ghz.
And for gods sake, stay off the MX cards... They are NOT for games, they are downscaled office cards. NVidia even print that out on their website. Expect 20-30% of the speed if you go for MX.
Best Regards
JemyM |
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Wed May 08, 2002 7:20 am |
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Aramas
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 25 Apr 2002
Posts: 38
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You might also want to check out the Radeon 8500, which is about the same price asa GF3 Ti200. |
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Wed May 08, 2002 8:20 am |
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JemyM
Vault Dweller
Joined: 28 Nov 2001
Posts: 753
Location: Sweden |
ATI have a long history of drivers that no-one supports.
ATI-boards tops all hardware "technical problem" lists on all gamesites.
9 of 10 "this game wont run" messages on game-forums is of users that have ATI cards.
Therefore I cannot reccomend Radeon to anyone. NVidia Detonator Driver's should work with any game out there, from scratch.
Best Regards
JemyM |
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Wed May 08, 2002 8:29 am |
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Merkin
Head Merchant
Joined: 01 Dec 2001
Posts: 65
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I agree with the consensus about the vid card. I would recommend against the GeForce 3. It's adequate, but you'll be unhappy with it in 6 months to a year. The GeForce 4 4600 is still absurdly overpriced, so it's out for anyone on a budget. ATI is a gamble, one that I wouldn't take. Some games perform beautifull on them, some are heinous.
So trhe choice I would see is between the 4200 and the 4400. the 44 has substantially better performance, and currently is only about $30 american more. Unless the 4200 comes down substantially, the GeForce 4 4400 is the "sweet spot" between price/performance. And it's a card that should still make you reasonably happy two years from now.
_________________
Proprietor of
Spydah's Web
A Gaming Community |
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Wed May 08, 2002 8:49 am |
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JemyM
Vault Dweller
Joined: 28 Nov 2001
Posts: 753
Location: Sweden |
Im actually trying to update graphiccards each 2nd generation, and always take the best available option when its time to update, but besides my computer, I really dont have much to put my money on. =)
Best Regards
JemyM |
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Wed May 08, 2002 8:54 am |
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Rhaegar
Village Dweller
Joined: 05 May 2002
Posts: 8
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Thanks for the advice everyone.
I think I'll get a new video card for now. Unfortunately it will be a lot more expensive that you say since I live in Canada. Hell we don't even have the GeForce 4 Ti4200s here yet. |
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Wed May 08, 2002 5:09 pm |
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Hyperion
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 07 May 2002
Posts: 122
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quote:
Originally posted by JemyM
Videogames are driven by the GPU (graphic processing unit) that is located on GeForce 256 or newer. It is interesting when someone says "this game runs slow on my P4 1.7" and thinks that say something about their specs, when it is the graphiccard that have 95% control of their speed.
A TNT2 does not have a GPU at all, it leaves all the calculations on the CPU, so a P4 1.7 with a TNT2 would be alot slower than a A750 with GF3.
I myself upgraded from a p2 350Mhz to a Athlon 1000Mhz when I still used GeForce 256. Gaining +650Mhz offered be a boost of 10% in quake, while upgrading from Voodoo2 to GeForce 256 had offered me almost a 50-90% boost.
I say, grab a GF3/4 first, and then a new CPU/Motherboard will likely not cost you more than 300-350$ for a 1.4Ghz.
And for gods sake, stay off the MX cards... They are NOT for games, they are downscaled office cards. NVidia even print that out on their website. Expect 20-30% of the speed if you go for MX.
Best Regards
JemyM
A rather inaccurate statement. Not all games (or applications in general) are based on the rendering power of you card. There are games, such as MW, that are more CPU limited than graphics limited. Certainly a GPU will help (particular with games that support hardware T&L), but if all games were 95% driven by the GPU, then I would never of had to upgrade from my Celeron 450. Not all games are about graphics and effects. There's more behind a game, particulary a game like MW, then pure rendering power. |
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Thu May 09, 2002 1:53 am |
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rascalmanny
Guest
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pricewatch.com my friend. You can get a Athlon 1.4 for less than $100 and a GF3 Ti 200 for $150 or less. So for $300 or less (assuming you get another 256mb of system ram) your good to go for a year from now.
Just make sure to really check out any sites you may buy from as far as their return rules and security. |
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Thu May 09, 2002 8:02 am |
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JemyM
Vault Dweller
Joined: 28 Nov 2001
Posts: 753
Location: Sweden |
Hyperion
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Ok, not 100% accurate no...
But with Hardware support for a graphical effect the GPU will take care of the entire effect instead of letting the CPU take care of it.
The more effects the GPU can handle, the better. Sometimes it can be a good thing to have a slower graphiccard with more effects than a faster graphiccard with less effects, since everything the GPU cant handle must be taken care of by the CPU.
A GPU does not handle the game, but it handles the GRAPHICS of the game. Games such as Sims that requires lots of calculations for the AI engine needs more CPU. The good part with a good graphiccard then would be that the CPU can deal with the AI alone without bothering about the graphics.
I wouldnt consider Morrowind intense in the AI engine thou.
Best Regards
JemyM |
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Sun May 12, 2002 12:53 pm |
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