Old school PCI cards

[BobDaMenkey]

I'm looking to get a PCI video card for my P3 800mhz system, to free up some of the precious RAM that is being consumed by the onboard video. I haven't gotten any other sticks to work in it, so it's stuck with 128mb at the moment.

But I'm measuring the differences between three cards:
GeForce 2 mx
GeForce MX 4000
Radeon 9200SE

From AGP versions the 9200 is the clear winner (Tom's VGA charts 3) and is only a few $$$ more than the competitors. I just wanted to see what the opinons of Anand goers were.

The system is probably going to end up being used as a Linux box, so I can learn how to use the OS, after being a windows boy all my life. So drivers > performance really. I'll probably end up using Debian, although Smoothwall(I think it was) was suggested as well.

The mobo I have doesn't have an AGP slot, that's why I'm looking at PCI. None of the P3 mobos I have, have AGP slots, well working mobos at least.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Radeon 9100, beats all those you mentioned.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
Radeon 9100, beats all those you mentioned.

You do realise that 9100's are integrated graphics solutions right?

I dont have the proper equipment or know how to pop my Intel graphics chip out and put one of those suckers in, sorry.

 

[TStep]

PCI Roundup
It's getting a little dated, but useful none the less.

edit:spelling

 

[CyberZenn]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
Radeon 9100, beats all those you mentioned.

You do realise that 9100's are integrated graphics solutions right?

I dont have the proper equipment or know how to pop my Intel graphics chip out and put one of those suckers in, sorry.

Nope - they are available as seperate cards too. Search Froogle for "radeon 9100" (btw the 9100 is a renamed radeon 8500 - same core different marketing spin). They are the fastest PCI cards you can get at that low price level. If you are willing to spend more, the Geforce FX 5600 and 5700le are worth considering.

 

[Hikari]

Yeah, this is the best PCI you can get now, if you can afford it:

http://db.jaton.com/asp/search.asp?nump...str=84248KL-T128MA0&searchfield=itemid

5700LE PCI. Even has 128bit memory I think.

 

[Appledrop]

may as well just get the cheapest, quietest one you can, since PCI performance will SUCK whatever the card is. for linux, id go for the cheapest, fanless nvidia pci card you can find.

 

[CyberZenn]

I was looking for a "high end" pci card a few months ago, and this appears to be the best you can get:

http://www.amamax.com/gefx5712ddr1.html

FX 5700le w/ 256mb @ 128-bit

It's not cheap, but if you are stuck with PCI and want to best you can get, this is it.

 

[ribbon13]

Given the system in your sig, what's the p3 for?

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
Radeon 9100, beats all those you mentioned.

You do realise that 9100's are integrated graphics solutions right?

I dont have the proper equipment or know how to pop my Intel graphics chip out and put one of those suckers in, sorry.

I Realize that it is an integrated component, but I also realize that it is a stand alone PCI card and AGP card. gasp! it comes in a 128MB flavor as well.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

Originally posted by: TStep
PCI Roundup
It's getting a little dated, but useful none the less.

edit:spelling

edit: was reading a bunch of other things after opening this, thusly some of my comments have been voided again thanks for the links, and sorry for dissing the 9100.


My bad on the 9100.

I'm still leaning strongly to the 9200 64mb. No fan, and decent performance. It's only like $15 more to get one over a GF 2 or MX4k, with a notable performance increase.

This system is actually the quietest I have, it only has the power supply fan. My secondary system has 5 fans, and my main has 9 fans. Sound isn't a terrible issue obviously, as my computer room has a nice hum to it.

I'll probably end up getting the 9200 unless someone can provide a link from a reputable dealer with a PCI 9100 for sale. Newegg doesn't carry them, and I got burned hardcore after dealing with a non newegg vendor. Monarch and ZipZoomFly are the only others I will give a lot of thought to, outside major OEM builders which wouldn't sell components anyway.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Given the system in your sig, what's the p3 for?

Going to be using it mostly as my new gateway to the internet.

My network is like this :
Cable modem > Main rig(in sig) > Switch > Secondary rig(1800+, 1024 PC2100, 80gb main, 40gb secondary drive, will get the 4800 when I get a good 6800) and other computers that come for LANs.

Now I'm stuck as to weather or not I should slap Linux on it and get a 9200, or if I should go 2k and the 9100, because it might actually be able to play old games. I'm very much leaning to the 9200/Linux because my second rig will be able to play the games my group plays at LANs much much better than this would.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
Radeon 9100, beats all those you mentioned.

You do realise that 9100's are integrated graphics solutions right?

No, that's the Radeon 9100 IGP. ("Integrated Graphics somethingsomething")

He's talking about the discrete Radeon 9100 chipset (RV200 GPU? Something like that.)

Btw, ATI's Linux drivers, I've heard, aren't the greatest. If you are seriously considering Linux, then I would suggest an NV solution over an ATI one, for that reason alone.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey
My bad on the 9100.
I'm still leaning strongly to the 9200 64mb. No fan, and decent performance. It's only like $15 more to get one over a GF 2 or MX4k, with a notable performance increase.

I have one. Trust me, it's not a "noticable performance increase". It's actually pretty darn slow. (Mine is the 128-bit non-SE model too.) Don't buy it with the expectation that it is any kind of a "gaming card" whatsoever. It's got nice dual-head support though. It is quiet, since it has no fan. Plus, it is also pretty cheap. I've seen 9100-based PCI cards for sale at Microcenter, at least they had some when I picked up the 9200. The 9100's were more money.

 

[MarioBros]

Sorry, I'll have to side with the Geforce 2 MX on this one!

 

[BobDaMenkey]

After further thought, another GeForce 2 will join in the scrap heap. I'm going to be running Debian on the sucker, and eventually hope to get Shorewall to work right on it.

The Ati having suxor linux drivers will push me back to nVidia for, yet another card. I've had 3 different GeForce 2's, an MX4000(for my parents machine) a GeForce 4 Ti 4600, a 4800Se, and am in the process of getting a working 6800GT (fighting with RMA departments trying to get a good one).