Help me choose video card for P3-800 MHz

[kaimeng]

Hi all,

I own a P3 800 MHz machine, 256 Mb PC133 Ram and ATI Radeon 32 Mb DDR video card.
I want to upgrade my video card to ATI Radeon 9200SE or ATI Radeon 9600SE. How will my video
performance be affected??? The ATI Radeon 9200SE is real cheap now. I may be getting it before I upgrade my whole rig in about 2 years time. Will there be significant improvement in performance if I
upgrade to ATI Radeon 9200SE without upgrading my processor??? I play game at 800x600 resolution
mostly. Thanks a lot!

 

[vshah]

a radeon 9100 is actually faster than a 9200. an upgrade to any of the video card yo mentioned will definately max out your processor at 800x600, but the 9100 is still a better card. the 9600 would be overkill.

-Vivan

 

[kaimeng]

Wow, thanks so much!!! I wonder where I can get my hands on ATI Radeon 9100??? I have only heard
of ATI Radeon 9200SE and non-SE version. By the way, for my rig, is the SE or non-SE version a better
bang for the buck??

 

[jhurst]

I would go after a Ti4200 instead of a 9200se.....about the same price range

 

[SneakyStuff]

I would also go for a GeForce 4 Ti series card for that comp. Look into the 128 MB Ti 4200 cards.

 

[kaimeng]

I have benchmark my rig with 3DMark2001SE and it has a score of 2536 for
a normal test, that is, 1024X768 32 bit , Anti-aliasing off, D3D Hardware T&L,
compressed textures. May I know how my computer performed? If I change the video card,
how much difference can I see in my 3DMark2001SE score??? Thanks once again!

 

[Pete]

I hit ~4800 in 3DM01SEv330 at 10x7x32 w/8xAF with a Radeon 9100 (250MHz core and DDR memory) on a P3-700@866, 384MB PC124, Abit BH6. A 9100 should provide a nice boost, but I'd also look into a GF4 or even a very cheap 64MB GF3. I'd recommend 128MB DDR on the video card, but if you insist on pinching pennies, you can get by with 64MB and lowering texture quality in-game. It's probably not worth paying any extra for a 128MB card with a rig as slow as yours, and a used GF3 should go for no more than $30 by now.

 

[Soulkeeper]

he could just get that new ati chipset with the integrated radeon 9100 graphics, a cheep P4 , and two sticks of 256mb (the cheapest he can find if he wants, or maybe just one stick of mem). This would turn his purchase into a whole system upgrade for 250 bucks or less

 

[kaimeng]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies, but I just wanna get a new graphic card. I notice that 9200se memory
interface is 64 bit and 9200 memory is 128 bit. How will this affect their speed on my P3 800 MHz.
What difference will I see in my 3DMark2001SE score for 9200 and 9200se??? Thanks.

 

[Pete]

64-bit memory means essentially half the bandwidth and thus half the framerate in memory-bandwidth-bound settings. At 10x7x32, I'd guess a 9200SE will score about half that of a 9200.

 

[Soulkeeper]

yeah go for the wider mem bus
that's pretty much one of the most important things to look at besides which card maker to buy from

 

[kaimeng]

Hi,

Thanks. I have another problem. I heard there is some problems with certain AGP cards using
a different voltage(3.3 V or 1.5 V). If you placed the video card with the wrong voltage into the AGP
slot, the computer will fry it. Is that true??? I think I'll go for the Radeon 9200 non-SE card but I dont know
whether the voltages match. My Radeon DDR 32 Mb work perfectly for me. Can I assume that Radeon 9200
will work??? That is, it is the same voltage??? Thanks!

 

[Pete]

Your MB is definitely AGP 2x (3.3V), and possibly AGP 4x (1.5V). Just look for a card that's specified for an AGP2x MB. I know a Radeon 9100 works at AGP 2x and 4x, and it'll be a faster card than a 9200.

 

[faye]

wow, finally i find somebody is still using a Pentium 3 generation CPU.

hahaa, i have a P3-700@980, same as ur rig i guess. I am using R9100 128mb, and i am very satisfy about it. if u can find it, get a Ti4200 64mb or 128mb. 4200 is faster but for me my R9100 is still rocking.!!

 

[BFG10K]

Keep in mind that even with a GPU upgrade your CPU is far too slow to run many of today's games acceptably.

 

[faye]

for me, i know no matter how powerful the videocard is, my cpu is the bottleneck.

I only use this PC for web browsing and wordprocessing.. so i guess it is more than enough... People sometimes just want things to go even smoother but of course for a cheaper price. ...

anyways... get a R9100 will be fine for you or ti4200 , but don't bother getting GeforceFX 5600 5500 series..

 

[Marsumane]

I agree. Maybe even an 8500 if u can find one cheaper then the alternatives. But personally id get the GF4 Ti 4200 128mb card