A good PCI Card

[EvilllBilll]

I'm about to buy a 3D PCI card for my uncle. His computer only have pci slots and his a casual gamer, not a FSP freak
I did a search and I found the PowerColor ATI Radeon 7000 32meg PCI. Is this card good ??

 

[eklass]

what kind of games are we speaking of?

pci flavored video cards are a dying breed

 

[Mloot]

If your uncle is playing any games that require hardware T&L, then you will want at least a Radeon 7200 PCI or higher. IIRC, the 7000 was the last ATI card that did not have hardware T&L.

 

[Schadenfroh]

how much $$$$ is in the budget?

 

[EvilllBilll]

Well .. the budget is kind of low... its around 70$ to 80$ canadian.
List of game he plays:
UT
Half-Life
Age Of Empire
StarCraft
and maybe some DX8 games

But like I said, he's not a Frames per second psycho

 

[Schadenfroh]

a geforce4 mx pci is in that price range.

 

[Blastman]

I checked a local shop here (Canada) and only found 2 PCI cards ?

AOpen GF2 MX400 SDR 64M PCI... $89
ATI Radeon 7000 64M SDR PCI ...$119

Neither of those cards is really good enough to do even light gaming IMHO. Decent PCI cards are hard to find and will probably cost a lot quite a bit more than even $100CAD.

Here?s Mloots review of a few PCI cards.

forums

 

[EvilllBilll]

My current computer (until I buy my new comp in june) has a GF2 MX400 and I can run a lot of game. Including UT2003. Ok it doesn't run the game at 30FPS but thats not the point. He will not use his computer to run high graphic games.

I think the Radeon 7000 will be fine for is use. I only wanted ta have your opinions on this card and I can see its not so godd hehe.

Well I'll post back the result.

 

[eklass]

Originally posted by: EvilllBilll
My current computer (until I buy my new comp in june) has a GF2 MX400 and I can run a lot of game. Including UT2003. Ok it doesn't run the game at 30FPS but thats not the point. He will not use his computer to run high graphic games. I think the Radeon 7000 will be fine for is use. I only wanted ta have your opinions on this card and I can see its not so godd hehe. Well I'll post back the result.

i agree with you. even my geforce2 mx could play bf1942. sure the res was 800x600 and the details were medium-low, but hey, it played

hell, even RtCW played at a decent resolution and detail settings quite well

 

[JCK86]

I have a Rad 7200 32m PCI that works about the best you'll get from that bus - US $79.

 

[Schadenfroh]

just curious, is a radeon 7200 the same as the original radeon? btw, if you were going for a 7x00 radeon, i would go for a radeon 7500, if you can find a PCI version.

here is a rundown of them. the geforcefx 5200 should fall somewhere between a geforce4mx and a 9100 in real world benchmarks. i think there is going to be a geforcefx 5200 pci

9100/8500>9000>geforce4mx>7500>7200?>7200>7000

rundown of directx compatablility
7000 is direct x6 (no hw T&L)
7200, 7500, geforce4mx are direct x7
9100/8500, 9000, are Direct x 8
geforce5mx/5200 whatever you call the thing is directx 9


a few benchmarks

 

[Jeff7]

If you want to choke your PCI bus (or so I imagine would happen), I saw a PCI GeforceFX advertised at Best Buy last week.

Can't say I know too much about mid-range cards. I like my eye candy turned up and minimum 70fps. I see the Radeon 7x00 recommended for stuff like this though; I think my dad's PC has an AGP Radeon 7000. Haven't run many benchmarks on it though.

 

[Lonyo]

A TNT2 will run UT/HL/Max Payne (DX8 game).
So a GF2 or later should be fine for OK frame rates.

 

[EvilllBilll]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
A TNT2 will run UT/HL/Max Payne (DX8 game).
So a GF2 or later should be fine for OK frame rates.

Thats what I think also. My PII350 @ 466 run these games without problems with a generic GF2 MX so I'm shure that his PIII 733 will be able to run them with the Radeon 7000.

 

[zimu]

Originally posted by: JCK86
I have a Rad 7200 32m PCI that works about the best you'll get from that bus - US $79.

not true. try 64MB DDR on a radeon 9000, also PCI. works much better

 

[zimu]

Originally posted by: EvilllBilll
My current computer (until I buy my new comp in june) has a GF2 MX400 and I can run a lot of game. Including UT2003. Ok it doesn't run the game at 30FPS but thats not the point. He will not use his computer to run high graphic games.

I think the Radeon 7000 will be fine for is use. I only wanted ta have your opinions on this card and I can see its not so godd hehe.

Well I'll post back the result.

DO NOT GET THE 7000! it sucks so bad!! i had it for about 2 weeks, had to return it. its a terrible card.

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

Out of your price range, but the VisionTek Xtasy Radeon 9100 128MB PCI video card is $129.99 at www.tigerdirect.com