Old Computer/New Video Card - Opinions?

[Domain]

Lately, I had been debating on a partial "upgrade" (Processor/Motherboard/Memory) to my aging system, but after much thought, I decided to hold out until I can do a top-to-bottom overhaul. So now i'm looking to push what I have to its limits (enough to tide me over for another 5 months).

I was sucessful in finding a PIII 600 processor (the maximum my board supports) to replace my PII 400, and now i'm looking into a possible upgrade to my video card. My current card (an original Geforce 256 SDR) has met my needs for the past few years, although its a little "glitchy" from excessive overclocking (random video corruption problems).

I've been looking at the Geforce2 TI 200's, but i'm really unsure whether or not it would be worth the $$, considering the age of my current system. So, what do you think? Would I see much of a gain with a new card, or am I just hoping for too much? Any other suggestions/opinions?

Also to note... I stumbled upon a card a that was salvaged from a "leased" system a few days ago, which appears to be a newer ATI Radeon (Radeon w/64MB + DVI + Video). I didn't spend much time looking at it, but assuming thats what it is, could this possibly be a worthwhile "upgrade"?

I appreciate any opinions/suggestions/advice,

Domain

----------

My aging system: "S.S. Longevity"

 

[jcmkk]

Since you can get the Radeon for free, I say go with that. I think that your CPU will probably end up being your bottleneck anyway.

 

[Def]

If you're not going to upgrade your CPU/MoBo etc. anytime soon(say next 6 months), I'd say go with something cheaper like the Visiontek GTS-V card(slightly underclocked GF2 GTS, definitely faster than a GF256 SDR).

I'm about to upgrade to a Gainward GF3 Ti200 and I consider my processor and memory to be slow for the card. I'm running on a P3@1050Mhz on a 150Mhz FSB.

You could probably get away with some much cheaper(like $60 or a tad more) and then upgrade to something that would match your new hardware alot better. Graphics hardware moves really fast, and so does game detail. By spending $100 for something you can't possibly max out on your current hardware, thinking that you're buying for the future, you're actually just wasting money that could ultimately give you a higher performing system overall.

If you are planning on upgrading the rest of your system soon, then a Ti200 would be a great buy right now. That Radeon you stumbled across would give about equal performance to a GF2 GTS(or a slightly overclocked GTS-V), so it'd also be a good upgrade. Just make sure it actually is a Radeon and not some Rage128 or something terrible like that.

 

[Domain]

I appreciate the replies,

I'm definately not going to upgrade until sometime in the may/june 2002 timeframe, so I'm just looking for something semi-cheap that might give a little boost to the current system. I thought about the Geforce3 Ti 200 since they can be had fairly cheap, but it would probably be a waste in this system, and when I build my next system, i'll end up putting in whatever "future" card Nvidia releases.

As for the ATI card, I know its a Radeon (Radeon logo on back of card), I just don't know what variety it is....only that its a 64MB card, and it has DVI + Video. I'll drop it in a computer monday, and find out what it really is then.

Thanks again,

Domain

----------

My aging system: "S.S. Longevity"

 

[Muadib]

You should go to madonion and compare results using the online browser in either 3Dmark2000 or 2001. You should have no problem finding results for your current cpu and just about any vid card around.

 

[vlieps]

What about Kyro2 ? I think those cards perform exceptionally well for their price. They cost as much as Geforce 2 MX and are like 2 times faster, at least. Well, not in everything but average. Look in Anandtech main page and search for a review, they seem to be a very good upgrade for low-end CPU systems. And all in all P3 600 is not that much too-slow for todays games. Well, some are highly demanding but 90% will run just fine. I recently got Motoracer3 and that one seems to be very CPU-hungry, since my P3 800 was not really able to handle it. It is playable but not so smooth in some places.
Think about the Kyro2.

 

[Domain]

Thanks for the replies,

Maudib, I hadn't thought about that, its a very good tip, i'm reviewing some of those scores right now. Unfortunately I haven't submitted a 3DMark2001 score (the results were quite dismal), so I can't browse those as of yet.

As for the Kryo II, I'm not very familiar with it, but i'll take a look at a few articles. However, if this Radeon turns out to be good, I'll probably just slap that in there, and call it a day.

Thanks again,

Domain