Do I want a Radeon LE?

[MarinoFSU]

I have a PIII 650 running @ 864 very stable with a Voodoo Banshee Blaster Video Card and 128 meg of ram. What type of improvements would I see with the Radeon LE with the hacks in place of course? Would $71 plus S&H be worth the investment? Please help.

Thanks

 

[Killrose]

It is worth the investment, and you will thrilled with it especially going from a Banshee to the Radeon LE (with Hacks of course).

 

[Rand]

Well it depends what you do whether it's worth it but the LE is a pretty significant boost over a Banshee.
I'd say go for it.

 

[AG73]

dude, definitely go with the radeon LE.
AG

 

[BFG10K]

You'll see better speeds and better visual quality. You have a good CPU which is currently being constricted by the Banshee. It's well worth getting the Radeon LE.

 

[MrMojo]

You want a Radeon LE, you want a Radeon LE very very badly.

 

[mitaiwan82]

you want GF3 and not some imitation LE right? that's what i thought

 

[jliger99]

My brother just went from a Diamond Monster Fusion to a Radeon LE. The difference is staggering. A severely better-looking picture and much faster gaming has made him a very happy man.

 

[webley]

How bout going from a tnt2 ultra to a radeon le? Would that be a good upgrade or better to wait?

 

[DClark]

Going from a TNT2 Ultra to a Radeon LE won't offer too much of a performance jump, but the Radeon has so many features that the Ultra lacks (Hardware T&L, EMBM, FSAA, Dot3 Bumpmapping, HyperZ).

Going to the Radeon LE from a TNT2 Ultra would be more of a "visual features" improvement than a performance improvement. The Radeon will start to outperform the TNT2 Ultra when Hardware T&L becomes more heavily used in games.

 

[Himbald]

For over 2 months I researched this ?best video card? issue and I have considered just about every possibility. I almost went for the LE a number of times. I am finally ordering a MSI StarForce 831, GeForce2 Pro, 64MB DDR from newegg.com ($145). It should have none of the incompatibility issues of an ATI card and it will be much faster in every application. For half as much money you are getting much less performance and you could be spending countless hours experimenting with different drivers, tweaking and trouble shooting. I would rather spend twice as much money and have all of that time to actually be able to play the games I?m interested in. nVidia cards simply offer the best performance and the most stability. Even if a cheaper ATI or Kyro II could offer equivalent performance to a nVidia card they will probably NEVER be as compatible. If you want to roll the dice to save a little cash then that?s your business. Personally, I decided not to gamble by paying a little more for fewer hassles.

 

[Toonces311]

Himbald, You probably think *ntel is more stable and compatable than AMD too.

I just ordered an LE. I plan on flashing the bios and adding a fan to make it a true 32MB DDR. Not bad for $71.

 

[Himbald]

Toonces, Wrong smartass -- I have an AMD and I am happy with it. I am not happy with all I have learned about ATI. Too many people have had too many problems for too long.
nVidia was the best choice for me . . . have fun constantly fiddling with your LE (maybe that?s your idea of a good time).

BTW ? Your driving is as lousy as ATIs.

 

[Toonces311]

Hmmm. Lets see, I have:

A 32MB DDR Radeon. Haven't fiddled with that for a while
A 32MB AIW DDR Radeon. Haven't messed with that for three months now.
A 32MB GeForce2 DDR. Just flashed the bios so that print screen would work correctly.

No need to call people names either.

 

[webley]

My tnt2 often only makes 15-30 fps in Quake 3 at 1024x768. Just read the Anandtech review Link has Radeon le getting 60-80 fps at that res which sounds a lot better. Maybe I better consider upgrading to the le.

 

[Himbald]

ASSuming that I was an intel guy by making that smartass comment was YOUR bad. If you put words in peoples mouths you are occasionally going to get lit up.

Can anyone accurately and honestly say that for a wide range of games people are not going to have to switch drivers from game to game to avoid some of those pesky glitches that I have heard so much about on ATI boards?
I don?t think Marino (or anyone) should ?assume? that just because YOU have not had constant problems with your ATI cards they wouldn?t either. They should know that the risk IS higher with an ATI card than it would be with a nVidia card.

 

[Toonces311]

OK last post on this subject. The original post was a question if he should buy a $71 dollar video card to replace a very old Banshee. Obviously, he is on a budget and wants a good value. Your recomendation was to not to buy not only the LE card but to avoid the ATI name. In addition you wanted him to spend double of what he was going to pay and get an Nvidia Card. You recomended this because you studied for a long time and came to the conclution that ATI cards bad, Nvidia cards good.

Which is better? AMD vs. Intel, Ford vs Chevy, ATI vs Nvidia? Who cares! It's Nvidia for you, but for me it is the best bang for the buck. I own both cards I like them both. They both work for me.

Oh yeah, the reason I am ordering the LE card. The LeadTek GeForce2 32MB enhanced is in the bosses computer. He wants me to take it out and get a video card that "won't hurt his eyes at the end of the day." I say great, I get to take the GeForce home and he can have an LE.

 

[AppleTalking]

I don?t think Marino (or anyone) should ?assume? that just because YOU have not had constant problems with your ATI cards they wouldn?t either

Right, just like nobody should assume that just because you think nVidia is better than ATI, they should too. Right?

Basic rule of thumb here, folks: do some research on your own. By all means, ask for opinions on the forum and read what people have to say. But don't base your decision or form your opinions on the basis of what one person has to say.

Nick

 

[Himbald]

<< But don't base your decision or form your opinions on the basis of what one person has to say. >>




That would include what YOU have to say too, right Nick?

 

[AppleTalking]

Exactly, now you get the idea!!

But technically, since you're only one person, I shouldn't believe you when you say that nobody should believe me when I say that . . . oh $%^! I think I backed myself into a corner! Hmm . . . oh well, off to get some ice cream and watch some TV. [Homer Simpson Voice] Mmmmm.....chocolate and peanut butter.......[/Homer Simpson Voice]

Nick

 

[Himbald]

We have something in common. I just consumed a whole pint of Ben &amp; Jerry?s Mint Chocolate Cookie while I was watching Dateline.)

 

[Sandan]

I had the same question and answered it by buying one yesterday.