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Fastest PCI gfx card?

GoodRevrnd

GoodRevrnd

Diamond Member
What's the fastest possible PCI gfx card for today's games that isn't a complete waste because it is choked by the PCI box? Yeah, yeah... I know this is an oxymoron but I think we have a case of oem i815 chipset + cheap user here. I think they want to play Battlefield 1942 (yes, it made me laugh too). So what's the best option? Should he just opt for the PCI Radeon 7000 or TNT2, or is there something better? I thought I saw MX4's and other better stuff out there by second tier board manufacturer's but I don't remember who or where to get them.
 
This is always an interesting debate. I honestly, think that the Radeon 9000 Pro would win out, simply because of the DX8 engine, but others say that the PCI bus will limit it so greatly, that the non-T&L Voodoo5 PCI, which never really could take advantage of the AGP bus, would beat it out. But, my money's still on the R9000 Pro. Thats what I think.
 
I thought of something else that might be helpful... anyone have any good links to agp vs. pci benchmarks? The more recent the hardware the better, and I'd prefer it be mroe inclusive on the pci side than the voodoo5's.
 
I think the fastest PCI boards are the either the Hercules 9000 PCI or the new AIW VE, based on the Radeon 7500. The Hercules board is faster than the Powercolor 9000 PCI and is priced accordingly:

Herc. card

The Herc. card is also huge, so keep that in mind if you have a small case. It is clocked at 250/400 and according to all evidence, cannot be overclocked.


Rage3D did a review of the AIW VE here:

AIW VE review

Their test pc has almost identical specs. as mine, and the numbers they posted are very impressive for a PCI card (plus you get all the extra features). It spanks the crap out of my Powercolor 9000 PCI (PC 9000 PCI's are clocked at 250/380 and also cannot be overclocked). The AIW was clocked at 260/500 (nice!) and they were able to overclock it pretty well.

NOTE: The AIW is being priced at right about $120-130 in most stores, but CompUSA currently has it for $129, with a $30 Mail in rebate, so your final price will be $99. Not too bad.


If you want to go Nvidia, then the fastest card is probably the MX440 PCI. You can find a number of vendors selling this card at Pricewatch:

link

Just search in the video card section for MX440 PCI. These cards will be a little cheaper than the Herc. 9000 PCI or the AIW VE.
 
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