Gainward or 7500

[Tullphan]

For the casual pc user who plays an occasional game, would one notice the difference between the Gainward GeForce3 & the ATI Radeon 7500 & would it be worth the extra $70 difference in price?

 

[scoobydooby]

On your rig page it says you have a geforce2 ultra. Is that true? If so why would you upgrade?
Scoob

 

[Tullphan]

Why not?
Honestly, I guess I like to stay one step behind in technology...wait for the new stuff to get the bugs worked out, then snatch them up when they're "outdated" and replaced.
I've heard people comment on the excellent display of the ATI and the overclocking ability of the Gainward. I ain't saying i'm gonna sit here & play games all day or watch movies all day, but I want a card that will be the best all-around card for that & I don't think the one I got is.
One more thing I don't understand is why these GF2 Ultras are still selling on Pricewatch for what one could get a GF3 for. Wassupwiddat?

 

[scoobydooby]

Well, I guess it's not a bad idea but I think you should at least consider the geforce4's. I think the 4200 for under 200 is looking like a nice deal. Judging by your rig it looks like you overclock which would lead me to believe the TI200 would be the best bet for you out of those two choices since it can get up to TI500 speeds. I don't know much about the 7500 though. It would probably be worth it to wait a few weeks to see what the prices look like after the G4's are out though. I would imagine the TI 200 would drop in price and then it would be even more attractive . Hope that helps.
Scoob

 

[scoobydooby]

To sum up what I just said and to get my 200th post :
Since you don't seem too dissapointed with the 2d of your geforce2 then there isn't much reason to get the 7500 over the TI 200. What I think you should do is look for the best bang for your buck which right NOW is the Gainward TI 200 since it supposedly has the best 2d. However in a few weeks the Geforce4 4200 will probably be the best bang for buck in which case you should at least consider it. Hope that helps.
Scoob

 

[Pete]

The 7500 will be a negligible upgrade to a GF2U. Of the new cards, I'd consider the GF4Ti4200 the absolute best deal, if it comes out at $200. I have a feeling it may retail $50 higher, though--being only $20 more expensive (from the prices at Tom's HW) than a GF4MX460 may make the latter card obsolete on arrival.

Do any of the games you play run too slowly for you? If so, then consider upgrading. If not, then wait until you need to upgrade. If I were you, I'd wait until the Ti4200 is at a price you can afford. Especially if you want the bugs worked out, as the GF4 is a reworked (read: new & improved!) GF3.

The GF2U is the same price as some GF3Ti200's because the fast memory is the most expensive component.

 

[Tullphan]

I'm not really wanting to spend the $156 for the Gainward, but I would IF I knew it would be a DRAMATIC increase over the $98 7500.
The card I have now is what came with my system. I do other things more on my pc than play games...i'm NOT a hard-core gamer. If I new the ATI would be a better all-around card AND the Gainward wasn't worth the extra $70, then i'll go with the Gainward.

Don't like Best Buy?

 

[scoobydooby]

Look at this. It shows that in the default bench of 3dmark2k1 the 7500 picks up about 500 pts over the G2 ti(should be similar to your ultra). I think 500 pts is fairly meaningless. Hell I picked up 1500 pts just by overclocking my vid card and tweaking a little bit. I'm not really sure how much the 7500 overclocks but I think at most you'd see a gain of around 1000 pts. Which I don't think would even be worth an upgrade. However if you get a ti 200 and overclock it you're going to be in the 7500 range which is quite a big jump(~3000 pts). You stated that you're not a hardcore gamer so do you mean your ultra is working fine for you or do you need more power? Or do you think it's 2d is lackluster? I don't quite understand why you would want to upgrade to a 7500.
Scoob

 

[sash1]

If you have the Ultra, its useless to upgrade to the GF3 or 7500, even the 8500 for that matter. Stick out for the GF4 to lower in price and then buy. Or just wait for the next big card, your Ultra is fine.

 

[Rand]

<< Look at this. It shows that in the default bench of 3dmark2k1 the 7500 picks up about 500 pts over the G2 ti(should be similar to your ultra). >>



I wouldnt use 3DMark 2001 to compare the cards, since 3DMark will pretty much invariably show any DX8 hardware supporting card to score extremely well. As 3DMark won't let any non DX8 card to run the Nature demo it's not really a fair comparison between the GF3 Ti200 and the R7500 because the GF3 is allowed to run an extra test which pretty much guarantees an extra 1000 points or so, while the R7500 automatically gets 0 in that test.

I'd agree the GF3 Ti200 is definitely a pretty decent step up over the R7500, but since he seems adamant that use only wants to spend the extra money if it's a "DRAMATIC increase"... which IMHO it isnt. And since he's not a gamer the R7500 should suit him quite well as it's a more well rounded card then the GF3.