Did I make a mistake? Soon Upgrading from Voodoo 3 2000 to RADEON 7000 64M DDR AGP

[Phil165]

Those damn numbering scemes!, Well I've made some visual/audio upgrades to my computer and updated a few parts (case, speakers etc). I haven't been in the computer video scene for a while and decided to upgrade my now shitty Voodoo 3 2000 on my Athlon 1.4 system. So I searched newegg and ordered a Radeon 7000 64ddr which I supposed was faster than a Radeon 32 sdr which was an already a good card.

I haven't receved my new card yet but after doing a little research I think I discovered that the 7000 is not what I though it was. I paid about 45 for it I think...should I RMA for a different card?

By the way I play PC game once in a while, ussually multiplayer games played on campus, I also want good DVD out on the system. But I mostly use my machine for 2D, programming graphic design etc.

Did I really make an upgrade?
card lnfo:
ATI OEM RADEON 7000 64MB DDR AGP TV OUT BULK
Specifications:
Sapphire Technology RADEON
Graphics Controller: RADEON 7000 graphics processing unit (GPU)183/183
Memory Configuration: 64MB DDR, 64-bit memory
Maximium memory Interface :3.2GB/s with 200MHZ
Connector - 15-pin VGA connector
S-Video/composite connector
3D Acceleration Features
HYPERZ technology
PIXEL TAPESTRY architecture
VIDEO IMMERSION technology
Twin Cache Architecture
Operating Systems Support Windows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP
32-bit 2D resolutions up to 2048x1536

http://www.sapphiretech.com/7000/7000-141.htm

 

[max105]

if you want to play games in the future, try to cancel and get an 8500/8500LE card. For $45, i don't think that's a bad deal or upgrade. But with the standards of video cards nowadays, you might want to get something better for games.

 

[Phil165]

Truth is im on a budget, $50..sad but true. How good is this card? what is it comparable to?

 

[Actaeon]

From what I understand, it would be comparable to a GF2GTS w/ 64mb...

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: Phil165
Truth is im on a budget, $50..sad but true. How good is this card? what is it comparable to?

It'll perform roughly mid-way between the GF2 MX200 and GF2 MX. ATi's latest drivers have enabled full DX7 hardware T&L functionality on the R7000 though, so it might actually be a bit faster then it once was.

It's got quite decent 2D visual quality, and exceptional DVD playback performance/quality.
3D Gaming performance is mediocre, if your looing at doing any sort of intensive 3D gaming then the R7000 definitely will not be adequate. It'll handle basic gaming and low res 3D fairly well though.

If your only playing games occasionally, or your satisfied with 640x480 for 3D then it'll do decently enough.
it'll handle older games perfectly well, and is certainly faster then the old V3 2000.

For occasional light gaming it'll do you fine, and should be excellent for your other requirements.

 

[BFG10K]

The board is quite nice except if you aren't a lightweight gamer. Then you should definitely look at something much faster.

 

[Goi]

The Radeon 7000 would be a noticable upgrade from your Voodoo3. You won't be getting remotely close to cutting edge graphics performance, but for normal Windows usage and light 3D gaming it should do fine. The Radeon 7000 is formerly known as the Radeon VE. Personally I have a Radeon VE 32MB running on a Athlon Tbird 1.4GHz as well(I use it as a HTPC though), and it plays Q3A at 1024x768 pretty ok with moderate graphics settings. I'm not getting 100+FPS, but it works and it pretty smooth, definitely faster than my Celeron 850/Voodoo3 3000 setup that I'm using now, so we're kinda in the same boat. If you could get a GF2 for about the same price, jump on it...it would outperform the Radeon 7000 handily. If not, and you only have that much to spend...its not that bad a buy.

If you wanna know where it stands, go over to http://www17.tomshardware.com/graphic/02q2/020418/index.html and check it out. Look at the Radeon VE since its basically the same card.