My friend needs a PCI video card

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FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
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I've tried to convince him that PCI has reached it's physical limits, but he's gotta work with what he's got, which is a motherboard that has no AGP slot. He's a gamer, so we're looking for good 3d accelleration, good framerates, and hopefully good quality.

Here's what he's got:
A crappy Gateway desktop computer. Has a baby ATX board with only PCI slots
He's upgrading to a decent case, so he can fit more cards in there (his desktop case wouldn't).
It's a Pentium III 933MHz processor, and I believe he has 512 MB of SDRAM.
He's running WinMe right now. I'll probably put Win2000 or XP on there for him.


I'm pretty knowledgeable about AGP cards, but when it comes to the PCI market, I don't know much.

What are the best PCI cards on the market today? Where can I find a review of PCI card lineups? What would you recommend for a PCI card?
 
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Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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There's a PCI Radeon 9000 from PowerColor, that's about as nice as it gets. CRT+TV+DVI, 64 MBytes DDR RAM, fanless.
 
Deeko

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
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The voodoo5 was a pretty sweet card in PCI, primarily due to the fact that it isn't a true AGP card, so the transition to PCI hardly affected its speed. In PCI, with that processor, a faster card isn't gonna do you a whole lot of good anyway.
 
kylebisme

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
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yai have a v5 still in my second rig but i wouldnt recomend one as suport is next to nill and the day is comming when new games just wont run right on the thing, some games already have issues. the processors fine for most anything he would be looking at video card wise (and therefor grapics setting wise) anyway. also there are some pci geforce cards out there i think would be as good if not beter than the 9000 but then again i havent seen much for benchmarks on them so im realy just guessing there. heres a link to a list of some on pricewatch anyway.

honistly though if hes a gamer and tight on cash i would recomend scraping the mobo for one with lower end agp and a card to match instead of a new case and pci card. granted you would have to find a baby board to fit in the tower or just run it testbench style but at least games would run well on it and thats the most important part anyway, at least for a gamer.
 
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DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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Since he has the full case, maybe pick up a used or cheap socket370 mobo? intel 815ep chipset can be found new for $70-80 (Gigabyte) and used in FS/FT for $40-70 depending on brand.

If you compare prices of PCI vs. AGP you're paying $20+ more for the low-end cards, and the high-end aren't even available.

But if your friend doesn't have around $150 for a used mobo + used GF3, the voodoo is a good "cheap" choice for at least W98Sx and Win2K, and there are GF4mx and Radeon PCI cards as well (newegg.com carries a few)
 
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FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
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Well, the problem is he HAS to buy a new case. He can't fit any more cards into his desktop case. So he's gonna put down $60 for a good Antec case, and then he wants to buy a PCI video card. It's kind of hard to honestly recommend an upgraded mobo, and this is why: He's using a P3 933 right now. If he spends $70 on a new mobo, it'll still be a slow computer by today's standards. And he doesn't want to spend a lot of money on a new AMD combo. He'd also have to buy a video card after that, too. However, if he doesn't buy a new mobo combo right now, he'll be stuck with a PCI card. And then, when he gets a new mobo/processor, he'll have to buy an AGP card. Kinda sucks.
 
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AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
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:D Without a doubt the Rad9000 is the best PCI solution. GF4MX and Rad7500 are also both decent choices if you need a PCI card now but can't get hold of a Rad9000. GF2MX really aren't worth it as GF4MX420 and Rad7500 cream it in perf, image quality, DVD playback, TVout and dual display!
 
kylebisme

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
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are you telling us that he has a soundcard. modem, eithernet card and a bunch of ancent scsi scaners and stuff hooked up to to that gateway baby board and cant spare to give anything up to open a hole in the back of the case? how many did they give him anyway, only 5?


ohh ya and AnAndAustin, any chance you could tell me where to find benchmarks on the 9000pci or even a place selling them? i got interested to hear that there is something beter than a geforce mx in pci these days but am hard pressed to find anything but preview stuff of a 9000 pci on forgien sites i find though google. no prices on pricewatch or pricegrabber and no reviews at my local techy haunts that i have found at all. i would realy like to know how much beter it is and how much more it costs for future reference.
 
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FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
768
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Snowman, the desktop case is so tiny, the only card he could fit in there was an ethernet card. The babyATX board came with onboard sound, video, and modem. everything was really crammed into that case.


And where can I find good prices on the Radeon 9000 PCI and the Radeon 7500 PCI?

Also, I can get him a Radeon 7000 PCI 64MB DDR for under $60. Is this card any good?
 
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AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
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:( TheSnowman, unfortunately it's very hard to locate a review of the Rad9000, they all seem to focus on the Rad9000pro. From clock speed alone 9000 would most likely be about 20% slower than the PRO version BUT do expect a very good o/c on most Rad9000, you may need to add a fan to the GPU though. I've seen quite a few reviews of the Rad9000PRO and it easily beats the GF4MX cards and also has DX8 too! I don't think the Rad9000 is officialy out in PCI form yet, but it should be VERY soon, anyway here's some reviews:

Tech Report Rad9000pro review (inc GF4TI, Rad8500/LE, GF3, GF4MX440/460 & Rad7500)
AnAndTech Rad9000pro review (inc GF4TI, Rad8500/LE, Parhelia, GF4MX440/460 & Rad7500)
Firing Squad Rad9000pro+o/c review (inc GF4TI4200, Rad8500/LE & GF4MX440/460)
HardOCP Rad9000pro review (inc Rad8500 & GF4TI4200)

:eek: Rad7000 is also known as the RadVE:

TomsHW RadVE review (inc Matrox G450 & GF2MX)
AnAndTech RadVE review (inc GF2MX, RadSDR, V4, Matrox G450)
X-Bit RadVE review (inc GF2MX & Matrox G450) - go 75% down the page

;) The Voodoo5 is getting very long in tooth now and isn't a great deal better than a GF2MX or Rad7000 (esp for hw T&L) let alone a GF4MX or Rad7500!

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)
 
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FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
768
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Thanks for the links, guys, that helped a lot.

Klah, I'm definitely eyeballing that link for the GF4MX440. That's a good price.

Now, I'm on a mission to find a Radeon 9000 PCI card. ATI's site specifically says they will NOT make a PCI version, but that a third-party company might. If anyone finds a PCI version of the card, let me know! Thanks!
 
kylebisme

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
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unfortnatly i was hopeing for reviews on the standard 9000 and specificly in pci form just for reference but i supose ill just have to wait on that one. i do understand the point about the clock speed difference and overclocking possablities, i just fond hard numbers. anyway, thank you to both of you takeing the time to post those links regardless though.
 
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FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
768
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Got a case for him today, and he decided he wanted the card right now, so he's getting the GF4 MX440. Thanks, guys :)
 
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Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
9,640
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Just for the record, Hercules are making a PCI R9000 too. It's not fanless though, but in return may be higher performing than the PowerColor part.
 
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FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
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Yeah, I had actually checked out their site, but couldn't find any info about pricing or availability.

He went for the MX440. I sure hope that company comes through; resellerratings wasn't so hot on them. At least his mobo went in just fine tonight.
 
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