I am really confused!!

[etay256]

I have a duron 600 o/ced to 900 with a gf2mx.
I want to upgrade my video card because playing never winter night with this system is torturing.
(it's the only reason i'm upgrading)
I don't want to spend more that 150 on this, and i'm not planning on upgrading anything else soon.
Now, it seems like TI4200 is a good choice, but will my system make full use of it? Am i better off by getting
a ati 8500 which is cheaper?
Speaking of 8500, what's the difference between 8500, 8500LE, 8500DV, and god knows what other version they have?
there seem to be a big defference in prices. Some of them cost more that a ti4200 which doesn't really make sense, since
ti4200 is a much better card right?
please help me out.

 

[Mingon]

A geforce ti4200 card will fit straight into you system with no probs, you are cpu limited but should still get good frame rates

 

[AnAndAustin]

4200 is certainly the better card and not only for pure speed but for AA and high quality Aniso too, the only area the Rad8500 cards are superior is generally in TVout. However the Rad8500 cards are a fair bit cheaper and along with GF3 they perform almost identicaly to 4200 WHEN CPU speed is low, esp < 1ghz. So if you really want the best all-round card a 4200 is the one to go for, but if you can live without AA the Rad8500 cards are VERY worth considering. If GF3 are a lot cheaper these are good bargains like Rad8500, esp if the CPU is pretty slow.

Rad8500LE is about 10% slower than Rad8500. The Rad8500-AIW and Rad8500-DV are for those interested in top VIVO etc and are no faster. Similarly GF3 comes in 2 main flavours, GF3TI200 and the GF3TI500, at defaults the TI500 is significantly faster BUT the TI200 o/c's VERY well and generally gives TI500 speed. For all of these cards the actual 3D features/technology doesn't change between the cards, only the clock speeds. The Radeon cards do vary in both features and speed depending upon manu and whether they are retail or oem, so double check if you go that route.

A final note; Rad8500/8500LE is the best card for you to go for and should be about $100 for a 128MB version, 128MB is VERY worth it what ever you go for. The GF3TI200/TI500 and Rad8500/8500LE cards give very little extra perf after the CPU hits about 1.4ghz (Athlon) while a 4200 continues to boost perf, but if a CPU upgrade isn't on the horizon then you'd be better served with Rad8500/GF3, you could even use the rest of your cash to upgrade the RAM etc.

AnAndTech CPU Scaling (See how the cards compare on diff CPU speeds) ... NOTE these are AthlonXP 266FSB clocks so you'll be about 800mhz