Best Video Card For My Weak PII

[912]

Ok I'm slowly trying to upgrade my computer. Don't have much money because I'm in college. I'm sure some of you know how that is.

Well basically here is my setup now.

ASUS P2B W/ PII 450mhz
256MB PC100
27 GB 7200RPM
STB Velocity 4400 TNT-1
SB AWE 64
17" KDS Avitron Monitor
Running WIN 2000 Professional

Ok the only games I play are Motor City Online and Quake 3 Arena I need more FPS! Those are the only games I play but I do some basic work with photoshop and some web page design. I think that my video card is actually holding me back more than my CPU as far as games go. I am going to O/C the CPU some and I need a new video card.

I don't want to waste any money on a card that my CPU can't back up. So basically what is the best card out there that can perform excellent with a PII 450? Would a GeForce 2 Pro be a good choice?

Will a AGP 2X or 4X card work in an AGP 1X slot?

Thanks!

 

[Torghn]

A GeForce 2 Pro would work very well depending on your buget. Most GeForce 2 Pros are over $100, if you want to save a little money you could go with a GeForce 2 GTS or a Radeon 32 both are good cards at a really good price now.

 

[912]

Will the cards like the Geforce 2 that want AGP 2X or 4X still work with my AGP 1X Slot??

 

[techwanabe]

Should work ok. You just won't get the bandwidth benefit of the 2x or 4x AGP spec. IIRC, AGP 1x runs at 66 mhz and gives 256 mbit through put. 2x doubles that to 512 mbit and 4x brings it to 1024 mbit. Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Most real world test show a significant boost when going from 1x to 2x, but only a small fractional boost going from 2x to 4x, because the bandwidth bottleneck changes from the graphics port to the memory subsystem.

Anyway, you should be able to put a 2x card in your 1x port, just wont get 2x speed. Still 1x AGP is better than PCI bus speed.

 

[vss1980]

Why do you say you have an AGP 1x port? The P2B uses the Intel 440BX chipset which supports AGP 2x (unless its been slowed to AGP 1x for compatability reasons) as does the original graphics TNT cards. I think your confusing the AGP version number and speed.

In terms of graphics cards, I'd say a GF2 GTS/Pro is a fair price.

 

[912]

You may very well be right. I just know it was one of the early P2Bs but yea it does still use the sasme chipset I guess I may be confusing the version number like you said

I'll probably wait about 2 more weeks and pick up a GF-2 Pro

 

[oldfart]

A great budget card right now is the VisionTek GTS-V for ~ $65. It is a full GF2 GTS that is clocked lower, but can very easily be clocked to full GTS speeds or above. You can get it from Newegg, but it is currently out of stock (hot seller).

 

[Rickr]

If I were you, I would get a GeForce2MX-400. A young college kid like you needs to save money! I remember those days when $50 would go a long way because it HAD to! So save $50 and get an MX.

You are correct that the TNT is holding you back, not the CPU. Also, AGP 4X makes NO speed improvement period. Your AGP 2X board will be fine.

 

[boyRacer]

Motor City Online??? Wow...how is that?...i know it got released on the 27th but i haven't been able to find it yet...i would get a GF2 GTS... by the time you upgrade your CPU then your videocard will be the one holding you back then. Before my brother got a 1GHz celeron...he had a P2 350@466 and we then put in a Kyro II... i know the Kyro II thrives on CPU speed but the most we got was probably a good 20 frames over a Rage Fury MAXX...not bad... but CS and TO was still choppy...i'm sure a GTS would do a lot better.

 

[oldfart]

A GTS-V will dust an MX400 for the same price.