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$84 Radeon shipped for use in a K6-2 system? ASAP

R

RobsTV

Platinum Member
Radeon LE 83.99 shipped

All reviews and tests seem to show the Radeon as a better card than the GF2 MX, but that was done in mid to high end systems. What about in a lowly K6-2 400 system? Both cards can be had for less than $90 shipped.

I am doing the yearly mini upgrade for my brother, and while he only wanted to change hard drives, I talked him into also getting rid of the Diamond Stealth S220 card. He is not a gamer at all (yet).

For speed comparison, the wife currently has a K6-III @448, with a Voodoo3 3k.
Which card will perform best, and be the most compatable with a FIC 503+ SS7 motherboard, the Radeon or GF2 MX?? In this system, how will it compare to the V3 3k?

Also, this will finally give me a chance to test a Radeon's 2d against me own Visiontek GF2 GTS card, (which runs 2d just as good as the V3). If the Radeon is noticably better, you will hear about it, but if it's not, you will hear about that too. I like the fact that everything flys, and all games work right out of the box with the nVidia card, so if you think the Radeon may not live up to the hype that I think is being presented, let me know, and I'll stick with a brand I know and trust. If I'm very disapointed in the Radeon, you will hear about it for a long time. I don't expect anything close to GF2 GTS performance, but I do expect image quality and compatability to be close. Win ME system.
Thanks in advance for responding in.
 
You may want to throw this out at the K6 Forum. Those old SS7 boards had some funky AGP issues. The guys over there may be of some help. CPU scaling on a lowly system is an interesting point. As a matter of fact, one of my kids PC's is a K6-3+ @ 450 MHz with a Voodoo 3 3K PCI. What is nice about using that card is it can play UT in Glide, which is a large benefit on a "CPU challenged" system. I'm also pretty familiar with the S220. Pretty good chip for its day, but now VERY dated. Had nice image quality, and horribly slow 2D. I think you can easily do better than that.
 
Geforce2MX has twice as effective a T+L unit to help the CPU. i suppose if the Radeon is DDR it's ok. otherwise, go for the MX.
 
Dang it. I really wanted to try the Radeon out.
Looks like I'll have to take the Radeon out of my cart and get a GF2 MX instead.
Thanks for the link oldfart, it was very helpful.
Looks like it can be a bit difficult getting the Radeon working with SS7, and after it is working, it's performance is only about 50% to 75% of what GF2 MX owners are getting.

I agree that the V3 performs very well with a K6/x system, and looks to run just as fast as the Radeon, but the 16bit 3d limitation is enough reason to avoid the V3 for a new purchase, even if 3dfx were still in business.
 
You aren't going to run 32 bit on a K6 system anyway. I would get the card that will give you the best 16 bit performance. All of the cards you are looking at are overkill since the system will be CPU limited.

On this business about 2D quality. You have to consider the monitor used. My kids PC's both have 15" monitors. One is a Samsung, the other a NEC. Both pretty decent models. I've had many different video cards in those PC's and I can't tell the difference in 2D quality from one card to the next. Why? Those monitors are old and are older technology. They can't display a real sharp high res image. Its like getting the cool new soundcard and hooking it up to that same $10 set of speakers. On my Mitsu 900U 19", I can see a considerable difference between cards. I'm not saying anything about your monitor. I have no idea what you use. But it is a consideration when comparing quality of different cards, and deciding what to buy to match up with the monitor you are using.
 
While 32bit with a K6-x is a stretch, some games such as MS Links 2001 only support 32bit 3d hardware. A game like this will only run in software mode with a Voodoo1/2/3, 16bit type card.

Most gaming and windows apps will be done with 17" monitor at 1024x768x16.
The Radeon card's strong point is 32bit. As you say, 16bit with K6-X most of the time. That really makes it an easy choice.

Just ordered a Gigabyte Geforce2 MX 32MB, Retail Boxed with TV Out for $94 shipped.

Thanks again for the help!
 
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