Geforce3 Ti 200 vs. Radeon 8500 LE 128 MB

[Newbie71]

How do these cards compare as far as speed, picture quality, and features are concerned? I am thinking of buying one of them in October if they will still be obtainable. Are they both DirectX 8.1 compliant?

 

[Rand]

R8500, hands down. It's better in virtually every respect.

2D image quality, DVD playback, 3D feature set, 3D performance, TV-Out implementation etc etc.

The Ti200 is a fine board in it's own right with solid driver support, but the R8500's only a few dollars more and is a bit better in pretty much every way.

The R8500 is DX8.1 compliant, the GF3 Ti200 is DX8.0 compliant.
That's hardly anything to worry about though, as the differences between DX8.0 and 8.1 are minimal. DX8.1 is merely slightly more flexible in applying a few effects that could already be done through DX8.0

 

[Disastroman]

I have a PNY GF3 Ti200 I bought last year, and then when the Rad. 8500 64mb was just $149 I bought one of those for the fact that I wouldn't pay $300 for an 8500 when I decided to go w/Nvidia Ti200. (Besides the PNY came w/ Giants and free Ram for $199 in Dec., and I thought that was a good deal then....)
I can tell you first hand that neither card overclocks all that well, the PNY has TV out trouble,and my Radeon 8500 smokes the breath out of the GeForce 3 Ti200. The 3D 2001 Se Benchmarks went from 5674 (GF3)to 6967(8500) immediately using the Catalyst drivers, and the visual quality of the 8500 is noticeably Superior.(8500=54.2 fps in Nature test 4 compared to 32 fps on GF3Ti200) For as low as $149 at Best Buy, The 8500 LE 128Mb is the One To Get! I'm happy with the 64 meg version cause I got the retail box w/ games in May for that price, and that was considered good then.

 

[rogue1979]

I bought a Radeon 8500 LE at newegg for $99. I could never get it running properly in all my games, a big disappointment. It was fast, I hit 8100 in 3DMark 2001, but I was not impressed with the visual quality. I have several Geforce 2's in the house with the low pass filter capacitor mod and they easily equaled the 8500 is 2D and 3D. This little mod makes any Geforce 2 or 3 as good if not better than any Radeon as far as image quality goes. The Radeon has better non-gaming features, but even with the improved catalyst drivers it still is picky to get running right. Sure, alot of people have no problems, but then if you play a wide range of older and newer gaming titles, the Radeon drivers are still not the equal of the Detonators. I am switching to a Geforce 3 Ti 200 for $80 shipped. After implementing the low pass filter capacitor mod and overclocking it, I predict about a 7500 score in 3DMark 2001. I will still have the DX 8 support the Geforce 2 lacks, and equal visual quality for a few bucks less. I will lose 600 pts in 3DMark, but keep the rock solid gaming support I am used to with Nvidia!

 

[AnAndAustin]

GF3TI200 cards are great, and generally o/c to within about 10% of GF3TI500 speeds. However as already said the Radeon8500LE are superior in every way EXCEPT AA perf. The Radeon's AA is a little sharper but it takes a big hit. 2xAA is the best AA mode for a GF3, enabling Aniso gives QxAA better than 4xAA looks. In the US & Canada where the Radeon cards are well priced the Radeon8500LE is certainly the better choice. In Europe & Australia the Radon cards are incredibly and unjustifiably expensive. Neither card will dissappoint and both offer excellent features and perf for the price. If you can afford it a 4200 card is a big improvement, esp if you have a good CPU or are prepared to o/c (300/550 - 300/600).

 

[stevens]

The 8500 is better imo. it is faster and supports dual monitor setup and higher tv out resolutions.