low end radeon poll...

[spanky]

which card would u pick? system is for websurfing, office apps, watching vcds & dvds, and very light gaming (the person really only plays like "the sims" type games).

 

[bluemax]

The Radeon SDR will greatly, GREATLY outperform the Radeon 7000 "VE".
Twice the pipelines and the HyperZ optimization do a LOT for gaming!

 

[skyking]

Not on your poll, but my vote goes to voodoo 5 5500 PCI

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: skyking
Not on your poll, but my vote goes to voodoo 5 5500 PCI

i have a voodoo5 (agp tho) and i refuse to get rid of it.

 

[AnAndAustin]

RadeonVE (aka 7000):

AnAndTech RadVE review (inc GF2MX, RadSDR, V4, Matrox G450)

TomsHW RadVE review (inc Matrox G450 & GF2MX)

X-Bit RadVE review (inc GF2MX & Matrox G450) - go 75% down the page

FYI Voodoo5:

AnAndTech Voodoo4 review (inc V5, GF2MX, GF2GTS & Radeon SDR/DDR)

AnAndTech Voodoo5 review (inc GF1, GF2MX, GF2GTS, TNT2, V3, V4 & Rage)

TomsHW Radeon reviews (inc GF2MX, GF2GTS, GF1 & V5)

Tech Report Voodoo5 review (inc GF2GTS, GF1, TNT2)

Of course the thing that lets the Voodoo cards down the most is that driver support is up to independents so after Win98 or in modern games expect problems. Also they use a LOT of power, in AGP form are 3.3v which is not compatible with most newer mobos and are now seriously old offering GF2MX400 or GF4MX420 type perf. On the plus side they run the ancient GLide games, lose little in going from AGP to PCI, have great IQ and can do semi-decent AA too. Even so don't forget how little Rad7500, GF4MX or Rad9000 cards can be picked up for and all those do come in PCI form. For the uses you suggest the GF4MX or Radeons would seem best as they have hw to help decode DVDs and offer good IQ too. What CPU will the prospective system have?

 

[aircooled]

SDR

 

[imported_zenwhen]

SDR

 

[Peter]

Radeon SDR is the faster card in 3D (not by much thanks to the slow memory). However, Radeon VE is dual head capable, which you'll find nice when using the TV-out. Besides, the once very slow 3D performance of the VE part has been improved quite a lot with later drivers that un-cripple it to use all its hardware. (Older drivers artificially made it even slower than it had to.)

 

[bluemax]

True, but I've noticed a LOT of Radeon 7000 (VE) cards NOT having dual-monitor these days!

If you can use dual-monitor and aren't a big gamer, go for the very nice VE. You'll still get crisp 2D and nice DVD.
If you want to play some games, the Radeon SDR will perform quite a bit faster. Plain and simple.

 

[bluemax]

Thought I'd add.... considering the user and his applications (only light gaming) I'd consider something FANLESS to keep their system quiet! I know it's a little more money (but not much) those GF4MX-440 SDR/DDR cards are under $50 and fanless too.

You'll still get good 2D quality and gaming will be better (by far!) than both the two cards here. You can even get TV/Svid and/or dual monitors. That's a lot of good stuff for only $50!

EDIT: Like THIS one! Okay... $56 is a bit more money, but it would satisfy them much, much more if they ever get a copy of Warcraft III or something.

 

[DarkKnight]

I have a Voodoo 5 PCI and a radeon SDR PCI and the radeon is faster

 

[Killrose]

You can get those SDR Radeons for about $28 new at Newegg. And they come with fans which I don't think the VE's do.