GeForce3 or Radeon 8500 for an Epox 8KHA+ w/ XP1700

[Stein]

I've been away for a while and need to upgrade the motherboard, memory, chip, and video card. I'm running a Kyro II now and had decided to go with a GeForce 3. However, I've seen good things about the 8500 (but not as good as the GeForce 4 but $$$$).

I've read a lot of problems between the Epox 8KHA+ and the 8500.

Is the combination safe? Is the 8500 better than the GeForce 3? Or should I go with the GeForce 3 due to potential conflicts with the motherboard?

Thanks for the input.

 

[Sunner]

Just for refence, Im running an 8KHA+ and a LeadTek GF3 Ti200@250/250, and Im not having any problems.

 

[Mem]

All my friends including myself are running GF2/GF3 cards on the Epox 8KHA+ with no problems,don`t know about the ATi Radeon 8500 on the Epox 8KHA+.

 

[jamesbond007]

I really don't think you can go wrong with either card, to be completely honest. ATi's drivers are very solid and stable now, so I wouldn't worry about those. The ATi is probably the best bang for your buck, but really, both cards have their ups and downs. If you're running high resolutions, then I'd probably go ATi since they have better 2D at 1600x1200+. There are a lot of people selling their GeForce3s in the FS/FT forum, so you might want to take a look in there. I've seen Ti 500s go for $200 and less!

Flip a coin is what I'd probably do.

 

[Rand]

Personally I'd prefer the Radeon 8500 over any GF3 except the Ti500... and even then it would depend upon what your using it for and I'd often rather the 8500.

 

[Stein]

Bond, do you have the 8500 and the Epox board? If not, why are you so confident that there is presently no conflict? The only reason I doubt you is that the board has several post concerning that combination.

 

[jamesbond007]

I once had my Asus V8200 Deluxe in my EPoX 8KHA+ for about 3 weeks. No hiccups. I have another friend who had a 8500 in his as well. I even know another guy at work with an OEM R7500 in his 8KHA+. Neither of my buddies with their Radeons have called me for any assistance or needed help and they both are using the 8KHA+ board. I for surely did not have any problems with my GF3.

This is why I said you should flip a coin. Both the nVidia and the ATi cards you referenced work great "in this combination".

Have a nice day!

 

[Senior Member]

I'm using the 8KHA+ and an 8500 64 mb; haven't noticed any problems.
(BTW, I'm trading up to a GF4 if you have any interest in my Radeon.)

 

[nRollo]

I used a GF3 on my Epox 8KHA+/Athlon 1600+ for 3 months without a problem.

I bought a Retail Radeon 8500, games would lock up, sometimes WIN98 would lock up shutting down. So I:
1. Fdisk/format/fresh install - no good
2. Try 2 different 4in1 drivers - no good
3. Try it with every card on it's own IRQ, and all on IRQ 11 as they autoconfigured - no good
4. Tried 3 different Radeon 8500 drivers - no good
Nothing was overclocked, video shadowing off in bios, nothing in first or last pci slot. Hmmmm.

Returned Radeon 8500, slapped in PNY GF4 Ti4400. Everything runs great. No problems whatsoever.

If the middle section of this post sounds fun to you, get a Radeon. If playing games sounds fun, get a GF3. The Rage 3d forum is full of posts about this combination.
To be fair, my psu is only 250watts. However, the GF3/4 don't seem to care.

 

[gregor7777]

I'm running the 8kha+ with a 8500 right now with no stability issues to speak of. Runs great, although a little driver manipulation is needed for certain games. Once you find the right one, you're golden.

 

[crash2much]

I tried the 8500 on my Epox for a month, but couldn't get it to work well in some games.
I was sold on the features too, on paper it kicks GF3's butt.
In reality some game ( Tribes2, Alice) turned into slide shows.
Other games would lock up only occasionally (RTCW).
It was extemely pretty,though.
Exchanged it for the GF3 and have not had any problems.
In all fairness that was with the original drivers though.

 

[gregor7777]

Yeah, the original drivers should never have been put into the hands of anyone but the developers. They were garbage. Now there are very good beta's available.

 

[nRollo]

Those betas didn't work for me, or a bunch of other people.

For me, life is too short to be always looking for the right driver/bios/psu/motherboard/etc. to get a VGA to run. It's your time.

IMHO, when I fdisked/had no shared IRQs/installed latest drivers, old games like Kingpin and UT should have just WORKED. I should have been able to shut down Windows.
The fact that I don't have to do ANYTHING to get a GF3/GF4 to work speaks volumes about this issue to me.

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33607616
"under normal circumstances a thread like this should not be posted in the 8500 section but due to the amount of postings we receive and the problems that people are experiencing with Epox boards in relation with the Radeon 8500 graphics card I am making this sticky for a while in the hope that this will help people resolve issues with this combo"

If the moderator of the Rage 3d board says there have been a lot of problems with this combination, you can probably believe him.

 

[PUNKtotalled]

I saw that on the ATI website about the epox 8KHA+/Radeon 8500 bug:



<< A monitor attached to the VGA port on a RADEON 8500 does not exhibit these symptoms. >>



Follow that
link, and you'll see more!

Does anyone have a problem with the VGA connection?

 

[PUNKtotalled]

bump

 

[Stein]

Thanks for the responses guys. Since I like playing games and not debugging, I'll avoid the combination.

I'm looking at investing in an IWill XP motherboard (or EPOX 8K3A but I think I'll avoid EPOX for a while) now anyway. I'm still interested in the 8500 over the GeForce 3 though ..... unless I find a GeForce 3 Ti500 at a similar price.

An yes, I am interested in that used 8500 if its retail. PM me and let me know.

Thanks again guys.