gf4 4200 128mb vs. gf3 - is it worth the upgrade?

[gplracer]

I currently have a geforce 3 that I am happy with. I noticed that Best Buy has the BFG for only $90 after rebate. I have seen the benchmarks. I just want some opinions. Is it worth it to me to upgrade? I build computer on the side and can sell my Geforce 3 to someone so the difference is not that much. Thanks!!!

 

[Bovinicus]

The performance gain you will get is not that great, but significant nonetheless. However, the 2D quality and DVD playback will improve when moving to the GF4. If those features are important to you, then it might be worth it. If it is purely for the performance, I would just wait until newer cards become cheaper. There will be more good deals to come along.

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: Bovinicus
The performance gain you will get is not that great, but significant nonetheless. However, the 2D quality and DVD playback will improve when moving to the GF4. If those features are important to you, then it might be worth it. If it is purely for the performance, I would just wait until newer cards become cheaper. There will be more good deals to come along.

2D is debateable and heavily manufacturer dependent, so I'm not sure I would conclusively say he's guaranteed to see better 2D visual quality. I totally disagree that he will see any difference in DVD playback though. The DVD playnack implementation hasnt changed at all between the GF3/4.... performance is incrementaly faster but feature/quality wise it's identical.
The GF4 MX however has a vastly superior DVD playback implementation relative to the GF3/GF4 Ti.

You'll get a decent performance increase but it would be huge. I'd say your better off waiting a short time longer, or saving your money for the R9500Pro or a mainstream dirivative of the NV30 if you prefer to stick with nVidia.