PCI vid card

EdipisReks

Platinum Member
Sep 30, 2000
2,722
0
0
i need to get a PCI vid card. a v5 5500 won't fit because of a stupid case protrusion, so i am stuck with either a v3pci or a v4. i know that the v4 gets better frames than the 3 in most games (harOCP's v4 review), but is it worth the extra $40 (assuming i buy it retail)?

thanks for your help!
--jacob
 

novice

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2000
1,169
0
0
If 32 bit color is worth $40 to you, then go for the voodoo 4. I don't think it is all that much faster than a voodoo 3 3000, but it should look a little nicer. Understanding of course, that there will be no future driver updates, since Nvidia is not going to support the old 3dfx cards. I still think that the voodoo cards are the best option for the "AGP challenged" among us. I have a V3 3000 PCI card in one of my systems and it has worked well for me.
Chuck
 

Raybies

Member
Jul 6, 2000
32
0
0
Office Depot is closing out the V4 for about $90 and the V3-3000 for about $80, only $10 difference. Use the $15 off coupon in this thread to bring it down to $75.
 

psloan

Senior member
Dec 27, 2000
268
0
76
Would getting a v4 over a v3 make a difference with PCI and a pII 300?

--pat
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
2,998
126
EdipisReks, what CPU do you have? Unless you have a very fast one, the performance difference between a V3 and V4 is non-existant. If the price difference between the two cards is very small, get the V4. Otherwise get the V3.

psloan:

Would getting a v4 over a v3 make a difference with PCI and a pII 300?

No, none at all. Your CPU is waaaay too slow.
 

EdipisReks

Platinum Member
Sep 30, 2000
2,722
0
0
i have a cely 400 right now. i did have a cely 366@550, but it broke for some reason. as soon as i find one, i will be back at 550.

thanks!
--jacob
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
2,998
126
i have a cely 400 right now.

Then you should definitely get a V3, unless the V4 is only slightly more expensive.
 

EdipisReks

Platinum Member
Sep 30, 2000
2,722
0
0
well, i think i may have found a new cely, so i'm hoping that the extra 150 MHz and the 100 MHz FSB advantage will help. i am also really looking forward to seeing aliens vs. predator in FSAA (i can't get enough of that game!)

--jacob
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
2,998
126
well, i think i may have found a new cely, so i'm hoping that the extra 150 MHz and the 100 MHz FSB advantage will help.

I doubt it. I have a Celeron 500 and I'm nowhere near to pushing my V3 to its limit, unless I run at 1024 x 768 resolution. Celerons are very slow CPUs for 3D gaming compared to P3s/Durons/Thunderbirds.

i am also really looking forward to seeing aliens vs. predator in FSAA (i can't get enough of that game!)

The V4 is too slow to run games with FSAA. Unless you've got a very lightweight flightsim or racing game, you'll have to turn it off. You really do need a Voodoo5 to run FSAA at any decent speed.
 

EdipisReks

Platinum Member
Sep 30, 2000
2,722
0
0
it depends on the game. with 2x FSAA, a v4 more or less matches a v2. all of the games that i would play with FSAA (such as AVsP) run beautifully with a v2. i don't think that it will be a problem with what i am going to play with. also, i just checked some reviews, and it appears that the v4 handily out performs the v3. for instance, at HardOCP, the test was done on a celeron 533 (66 MHz FSB, but with the memory bus set to 100MHz) and the v4 outperformed the v3 by something along the lines of 12-15 FPS in q3a. i think that i will quit asking questions on the forum when i can just as easily get the answer myself by just getting off of my lazy ass :D

thanks a lot for your help!
--jacob