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Best ATI card under $50?

J

Joe750

Senior member
I'm looking for a card with TV out (MAME project), and need the fastest card I can get. There are so many options and it's hard to tell which is better. I am looking at Radeon 7000, 7500, 8500, and 9200. Obviously they get faster as the GPU goes up, but I have heard the 8500 is 2x faster than the 7000, but the 9000 and 9200 are only marginally faster. And what is the LE all about? Many questions, many thanks.
 
Go with a 7500 or 8500 if you can find one in that price range. A 9200 is also decent (pretty similar to the 7500 in performance).
 
Obviously the 8500 would be the best, but I don't think you'll find one for under $50. So try for a 8500le/9100, but even one of those for under $50 could be a little hard to find. You might want to check the hot deals forum. There's often deals for these lower end cards.
 
Originally posted by: Joe750
I'm looking for a card with TV out (MAME project), and need the fastest card I can get. There are so many options and it's hard to tell which is better. I am looking at Radeon 7000, 7500, 8500, and 9200. Obviously they get faster as the GPU goes up, but I have heard the 8500 is 2x faster than the 7000, but the 9000 and 9200 are only marginally faster. And what is the LE all about? Many questions, many thanks.
Click to expand...

If it's for a MAME project, do you really need something with 3D horsepower? Remember that the MAME engine does not use the 3D capabilities of a video card. I use a $20 8MB Trident Blade 3D PCI card for my cocktail cabinet (no tv-out -- fixed frequency monitor) and it works like a charm.
 
I as well think finding an 8500LE is probably your best bet
they've been around for a while now, and are still extremely good video cards.
i have one in my 2nd PC and I love that thing.. runs like a champ still.
 
I have heard this a lot, that I don't need a great graphics card for MAME. I am worried about getting a cheapie for 2 reasons. First, the official mame FAQ says that to increase performance get a faster card. Will taht matter with an Athlon XP 2400+? And second, I want to play Mortal Kombat 3, does that use 3d graphics? (Or at least heavy pixel shading?)

Do you think I would be ok with a Radeon 7000 32mb sdram?
 
Originally posted by: Joe750
I have heard this a lot, that I don't need a great graphics card for MAME. I am worried about getting a cheapie for 2 reasons. First, the official mame FAQ says that to increase performance get a faster card. Will taht matter with an Athlon XP 2400+? And second, I want to play Mortal Kombat 3, does that use 3d graphics? (Or at least heavy pixel shading?)

Do you think I would be ok with a Radeon 7000 32mb sdram?
Click to expand...

I don't believe so. As far as I know, MAME doesn't do anything with 3D at all. I'm sure the good folks over at Arcade Controls.com might be able to tell you otherwise. Things might have changed since I built my cabinet in 2000.
 
One thing I forgot, Andy Warne has created a new video card specifically for MAME called ArcadeVGA. It's a customized card based on the Radeon 7000 (which backs up my theory). That card is specifically designed for driving arcade monitors. His website is HERE.
 
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