How anyone recomend the V5500, even with the low price?

[Haervii]

I was interested, but I looked at some benchmarks here at Anandtech, and the voodoo 5 under performs the GF2MX in just about everything, except unreal at high res. I have a small monitor, so would a G2 MX be a better idea, even though the price gap is small?

 

[RoboTECH]

oh lordie, lordie, lordie

anand is using old drivers, and doesn't bother to go into the drivers and make tweeks

believe me, ALOT of people are recommending the 5500

look around the forum and you'll see.

the 5500 obliterates the MX in everything except perhaps 3dMark2000

if you have dx8 and 1.04, you'll own the MX and the DDr, and be right on the heels of the GTS in q3

 

[MrChicken]

The V5 5500, yea who would want one.
It's freaking huge...
It takes alot of power...
It works with every game...

Oh, that last one looks like a good reason to me. Must be why I kept mine.

Buy one of them and then decide if you're happy with it. If you are, then keep it. If you arent, try the other one.

 

[madthumbs]

To be fair, 3dmark is not a good basis to weigh a video card decision on. It is good for comparing system performance among similar systems or determine the effects of optimising or tweaking. If a card doesn't support a feature of the default benchmark, it gets a "0" for that category.

 

[bluemax]

If you're running on a smaller monitor, you're also running a lower resolution. Can anyone guess where I'm going?
FSAA.
Yep... Instead of running super-high res, just turn on FSAA 4x and get smooth edges even in 640x480 or 800x600 and still get good frame rates. 3dfx has the best FSAA out there. Period.
Smoothest, prettiest, and fastest (FSAA) - that was enough to seal it for me. I'll be getting one very soon.

 

[hans007]

i still dont get why anandtech wont use the 1.04s. They are official for gods sakes. I'm not talking about 1.04.1's just the 1.04s. In his recent budget card roundup, he's got the gf2 mx and the radeon sdr using their newest fastest beta drivers, and the v4 is using the 1.01 because they were the ones in 3dfx's beta section even though the officials were newer. I think its totally biased, and well i emailed the guy who wrote the comparison. I mean i have a v4 and its not a horrible card, had a v5 too. Anyways, i think they should be at least fair, use the fastest drivers for everything.

 

[RoboTECH]

hans, I gave up on anandtech for video card reviews

their CPU and mobo reviews kick ass, but anand's site is one of many that seem to have a hardon to bust on 3dfx

god knows why.

i have gotten into near flamewars with both sharky and anand, and all i wanted to do was get them to actually use the cards the way they are used by the users

god forbid.....

 

[BW]

The mx is not faster than the 5500 Haervii. The 5500 is way faster as Robo said with the new drivers and it set up properly. I think that the way games are going that even without a T&L unit that the 5500 will play anything for atleast a year. Ofcourse i wont wait that long to upgrade as i have a habbit of getting the newest video cards just to see how i like it.I havent got an ultra yet but im thinking about it real hard.I may have one tomarrow or next week.

 

[RoboTECH]

no doubt

people are GROSSLY overrating the ability of the Radeon and GeForce's T&L

DX8 supports programmable T&L, NOT the hardwired stuff that the Radeon and GTS use. Their T&L units won't do a whole lot for them.

doesn't do anything for them in anything other than 3dMark2000 as it is.

now, before Ben gets all worked up, I am NOT ripping on HW T&L. It's gonna kickass when implemented properly.

But developers showed just how much they liked the current generation of T&L by how much support they gave it.

Microsoft showed how much they liked the current generation of T&L GPU's by changing the type of T&L they're going to support in DX8

and nvidia is going to show how mcuh they REALLy think of their present T&L implementation

here's a hint. NV20's T&L unit will be NOTHING like the GeForce's.

so for those of you that think you'l have longer "useability" with an MX because of T&L, well....I don't mean to rain on your parade....

 

[BFG10K]

Well originally the major thing against it was the price, or more specifically the price/performance ratio. Now the price is excellent for the performance you are getting.

It pretty much beats the GF2 MX in any fillrate limited situation although the MX still holds the lead in CPU limited situations when running T&L enhanced games.

At this point I really can't decide whether to wait for the V4 to drop in price or just get the V5.

Hans007:

I mean i have a v4 and its not a horrible card

I assume you are running the new 1.04 WHQL drivers then? What sort of performance levels do you get with the V4? Dave mentioned in another thread that the new drivers supposedly boost performance a lot. How about some HQ Quake 3 benches? I'm especially interested in 640 x 480 x 32 and 800 x 600 x 32 scores.

 

[hans007]

i have the card, and i have the 1.04s, i dont play quake3, but counterstrike does play noticeable faster than before. I dont play quake3 for one reason. Its a crappy game. The game has absolutely no content, its just boring, no variety, and crummy maps too. I do have a quake3 CD (burned duh, i wouldn't buy that horrible game) , so maybe just for you i'll run benches, and i'm not lying. Now what version should i run , i dont wanna spend a lot of time on that. Plus keep inmind i'm in win2k, i dont think its supposed to make a difference anymore, maybe tommorrow i'll post some benchmarks.

 

[RoboTECH]

At this point I really can't decide whether to wait for the V4 to drop in price or just get the V5.

BFG, if I were dead right now, I'd turn over in my grave after reading that

of course, if i were dead, it'd be pretty tough to read, wouldn't it

D'OH!!!!!

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Well I think the v5 is a better buy because you are basicaly getting 2 v4's and not paying 2x the price. I dont know how much v4's cost today but im pretty sure they are not under the 90$ mark.

 

[Haervii]

Thanx guys! Where can I go for a decent video card review? :disgust:

Well, can I just mosey over to Staples and buy one for $135 or do I have to buy it online. I don't see the V5 at the STaples web site...

 

[SuperGroove]

Man...I just paid $200 for this card not more than a month ago. Shinto. It's a great deal...I love my card, and I came from an SDR GeForce. The V5 5500 may not be as fast as my old SDR GeForce (155/210), but it plays every game, looks great 2D/3D wise and has supreme stability.

for $135...you really can't go wrong.

Paul

 

[DominoBoy]

<< &quot;V5 5500 may not be as fast as my old SDR GeForce&quot; >>

That's a joke right? The V5 5500 is much faster than the SDR GeForce.

 

[Haervii]

Agreed, good deal, but how do I get it? I really have searched thouraohly at Staples.com and I don't see it! And if I get it from buy.com, thats a WHOLE 10 DOLLARS MORE!!!!!

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

<< WHOLE 10 DOLLARS MORE!!!!! >>


10 bucks is a half a tank of gas. If you don't have the time or patience to pricematch with staples, just pay the extra $10.

 

[Haervii]

Yeah, I was being sarcastic...whoa, an Anandtech Mod said that, really? Hmm, those guys are non-nonsense sort of people!

 

[BFG10K]

Hans007:

but counterstrike does play noticeable faster than before.

At high resolutions or low? Or both?

so maybe just for you i'll run benches,

Well I don't want to trouble you too much. I didn't realise you are not a Quake 3 player. If you don't have it installed don't worry about it.

and i'm not lying.

I know you're not lying, that's why I asked for your scores.

RoboTECH:

My hardrive is very close to my AGP slot and I doubt there is enough room for the V5 to fit in. I don't want a PCI video card and I don't want to move my hard drive.

 

[Wingznut]

BFG, if you feel like getting out a ruler... The V5 measure just under 11&quot; long.

 

[BFG10K]

Wingznut PEZ:

BFG, if you feel like getting out a ruler... The V5 measure just under 11&quot; long.

Yes, thankyou for that. I was about to ask someone that very question. You read my mind.
In fact when I order my new CPU and put it in I can take the time to do a measurement. If it fits I'll get it.

 

[RoboTECH]

BFG, if you feel like getting out a ruler... The V5 measure just under 11&quot; long

hahaha....wussy.

Mine is over 12&quot;

nyah-nyah

~~~~~~~~

 

[BFG10K]

Mine is over 12&quot;

You're a dirty old man RoboTECH!