low, low end card question G4 MX420 vs MX440

[dxpaap]

Looking for almost free upgrade for old junk system -

Tiger direct has a PNY Geforce4 MX420 64mb PCI and PNY Geforce4 MX440se 64mb PCI for $35 each

which one is the better performer ? MX440?

thx in advance

 

[Schadenfroh]

440, btw watch out for sdram and 64-bit memory busses

 

[dakels]

ya and the SE's are usually better then the normal non SE's.

btw if you want a much better card IMO, newegg.com has ATI R8500's for $65 shipped. Might not be alot different in cost over the mx440 and the tigerdirect price you are talking about is after rebate right?

 

[dxpaap]

Yes, the G4 @ Tiger for $35 is w/ a $35 MFR.

I acctually was looking at the $20 G4MX440 - but realized my old system only has PIC (no AGP). so $15 extra willing to spend on a 3rdary system but not much more.

So is the ATI R8500's for $65 SUBSTANCIALLY BETTER ?? for playing the new Command & Conquer games.

Then again, for $65 I get a R9000pro 128mb - isn't that a better performer then the R8500 ?

from $20 to $35 to $65 - damn that price creepage

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: dxpaap
Yes, the G4 @ Tiger for $35 is w/ a $35 MFR.

I acctually was looking at the $20 G4MX440 - but realized my old system only has PIC (no AGP). so $15 extra willing to spend on a 3rdary system but not much more.

So is the ATI R8500's for $65 SUBSTANCIALLY BETTER ?? for playing the new Command & Conquer games.

Then again, for $65 I get a R9000pro 128mb - isn't that a better performer then the R8500 ?

from $20 to $35 to $65 - damn that price creepage

Yea they are substantially better. Here is a reference chart to get an idea. But yea from $35 to 65 is a big difference but not when a $65 may be much more usable then the $35 one. And you gotta wait for 2-3 months to get your money. Your initial cost will be the same price as buying the 8500 outright. And you're gonna probably pay $8-10 shipping with Tiger closing the $ gap even more. And if you're looking to play C&C generals, a geforce 4 MX will play like crap. An R8500 does much better. The R8500 is even a faster card then the low budget 9000 series. The R8500 was meant to be the high end for its time, the 9000 was meant to be the low end for its time. Even though the 9000 is newer, the 8500 is a better performer.

Also you said your card has no AGP though? So none of this even matters since the 8500 I am referring to is an AGP card. You said you want to play the new C&C games, like generals? If your system doesn't have AGP, it sounds a bit older? I hope you know how high the system requirements are for C&C Generals. The recommended machine is a 1.8ghz processor!!!

 

[Schadenfroh]

real world performance of geforce4mx and 8500

 

[dxpaap]

thanks for the graphs very helpful in compairing diff cards.

Although, I wondering if there is a real observable diff between 160 and 170 fps ?

Also, anyone know what is the best performing PCI card ? arn't all the cards over the last year all agp? So there is really a practial limit (video wise) that I can expect to get out of my old backup system.

 

[jjyiz28]

Originally posted by: dxpaap
Looking for almost free upgrade for old junk system -

Tiger direct has a PNY Geforce4 MX420 64mb PCI and PNY Geforce4 MX440se 64mb PCI for $35 each

which one is the better performer ? MX440?

thx in advance

the 420 uses a 64bit bandwidth bus, while the 440 is 128bits, while the "se" signifies lower clock and memory speeds i believe.
the 420 is half the performance of a regular 440. the 460 is a 440 with higher clock speeds only.

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: dakels
ya and the SE's are usually better then the normal non SE's.

No, "SE" in computer-speak usually means worse. Like Deus Ex SE was only a third of the game, and MX440SE has slower RAM than the regular 440.

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: Pete

Originally posted by: dakels
ya and the SE's are usually better then the normal non SE's.

No, "SE" in computer-speak usually means worse. Like Deus Ex SE was only a third of the game, and MX440SE has slower RAM than the regular 440.

maybe in some cases but not necessarily in this case. The Geforce 440 SE I believe stands for second edition or special edition. In the case of the Geforce 4 MX, its usually a faster ns RAM used, possible increase in core clock, 8x AGP, and sometimes better cooling.

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/gf4mx/index4.html

 

[rogue1979]

A regular MX440 usually comes with 4ns ram chips. The MX440SE usually comes with 5 or even 5.5ns.

 

[Mingon]

A regular MX440 usually comes with 4ns ram chips. The MX440SE usually comes with 5 or even 5.5ns. [/Q

Try 7ns - but most o/c to 400mhz and match the non se's. They wont win any speed contests but are capable cards in directx 7 based games

I have an unidentified mx440se in my gaming / divx box while my ti4600 is being repaired.

 

[bluemax]

First, the MX-440 is faster almost regardless, but beware of some "SE" cards with 64-bit bus instead of 128, and SDR instead of DDR.

Second, PCI! PCI! PCI! PCI! PCI! PCI! PCI! The Visiontek is about the only PCI Radeon 9100 I know of and if I'm right, it's more than $65US. It's a decent lil' PCI card if you get the DDR version. Fanless (silent!) too if you don't plan to overclock it!

 

[Pete]

That Chaintech SE looks to be an exception. Most MX440SE's I've seen advertised in CompUSA circulars and the like are slower and cheaper than regular ones. Don't forget PNY is a budget/mass-market brand, so I'd expect them to offer the cheaper one.