Geforce3 or Geforce4 for a Athlon 1.33 with PC133 Ram? Let me know what you guys think!!

[JHeiderman]

Hi Guys,
All the reviews now always show XP's with DDR ram. I want to know if a Athlon 1.33 with 512megs of PC133 Ram can handle a Geforce4 Ti4200? With the prices of the Geforce3 Ti200's getting as low as they are and both cards being DirectX 8 compliant I'm curious if I can justify the extra cost of the Geforce4 if my system is going tp be too much of a bottleneck. I understand that yes the Geforce4 is going to perform better at least by a bit but will it perform $70 better?

What I would really like to see are some benchmarks showing a older Athlon with a Ti4200 vs a Geforce3 Ti200. Anands cpu scaling chart was great in the last roundup and It defiantely showed a improved with a Ti4200 over a Geforce3 but I think that was just a underclocked XP with DDR still. Any links to other sites or personal experience would be great!

Thanks,

- J

 

[BFG10K]

Buy the fastest video card you can afford unless you're planning a system upgrade in the near future and need the cash. The GF4 will still do quite well on your existing system plus it'll scale nicely when you eventually upgrade your platform.

 

[chickendinner]

I say GF3 and then when a new like GF5 or whatever comes out you can get that when you upgrade.

 

[Mavrick007]

Depends on how much money you want to spend and how often you do upgrades.
If your upgrades are like once every year or couple of years, go with the GF4. If you want to spend just a bit now and more later when you do a larger upgrade, get the GF3 Ti200, then save up your money and later jump a generation or so, ie. don't get the GF4 at all, but opt for a GF5, Matrox, or new Ati.

The GF3 and GF4 will work better if you use DDR ram but one should not be all that much better beside the fact that the GF4 has a faster processor(ie. the GF3 or the GF4 will not work better than the other cause you don't have DDR).

 

[Instagib]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Buy the fastest video card you can afford unless you're planning a system upgrade in the near future and need the cash. The GF4 will still do quite well on your existing system plus it'll scale nicely when you eventually upgrade your platform.

I am living proof of this. Go for the 4400.

 

[JHeiderman]

Thanks for the reply's guys. I looked at Anands Sub $200 roundup again and even with the CPU scalled back to 800mhz the Geforce4 still had a good lead over the Geforce3. I think the Geforce4 is probably that one I'll recomend. It's for my friends system and he's still running a Voodoo3 2000 overclocked to 175mhz. That card still averages at least 30fps on everygame he's thrown at it at 640x480. He really isn't into all the special effects and pretty pictures.. he's just a hardcore gamer who plays the game for the game.. not for the scenery.

The one thing that is bothering me though is that everyone is selling the Ti4200's with 128megs of ram for $10 less than the 4400's. I was hoping to get a Ti4200 with 128megs for around $170 in a month or so. I've seen Newegg selling refurb 4400's for $180 so I think it's possible.

- J

 

[SCSIfreek]

It all depends on what you do with your computer. If you're a huge hardcord gamer then get the Ti4200. If you're a casual gamer like me, I would jump on the cheapest GF3 and wait til the GF5 or Ati or Matrox. I mean the GF3 can handle almost everything you throw at it.


--Scsi

 

[TimisoaraKill]

Go for the GF3 , is cheap now , 100$ , and will be very good until GF5/R300/Pharelia are out .
The 4200 cost's 180 - 200 $ and is not worth 80-100 $ extra for 10-15 FPS .
Next gen of videocards will be something and not only more GPU speed and shaders .
This card is allready obsolete near to Pharelia and you are better if you wait . The GF3 occ @ 230 , 240 /480 , 500 is awesome buy for 100 $ .
Also with a 1300 mhz CPU the diff . will be allmost "0" , you need @ XP 2000 / P IV 2200 or more to see those extra 10 -15 FPS .
The NVidia/ATI answer to Pharelia will be very agressive .