Please help with decision.

[alby4ever]

Ok here's the problem. I have an ATI Radeon 7000 which I just bought a week ago but I'm going to return it soon. The reason for this is because (some fault is mine) I found out that it was based on ATI's lowest Radeon chipest called Radeon VE. And the one I bought was just an upgraded version with DDR memory. They won't even list the specs on the box!! Well anyways I'm going to return the card and buy a better budget graphics card. I'm just a casual gamer who plays once in a while when I'm not busy, but I need an OK card that will last me for a year or two. I'm not going to spend more than $110 for a graphics card so I've narrowed my remaining choices to either a Geforce2 MX400 or a Geforce4 MX420 or should I just keep the Radeon? Anybody with any of these cards (besides Radeon) can you tell me what they're like? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. =)

PS: the only specs for the Radeon 7000 is one that states the fillrate at 1.6 gigatexels/sec. Is that decent?

 

[spanky]

$110 would easily get u a gf3 over on FS/FT

example 1
example 2
example 3

good luck man!

 

[rbV5]

I'd look at the ATI RADEON 8500LE 64MB DDR CRT/DVI/TV ,Dual Monitor support DVIS+CRT only, BULK for $99 +$9 shipping, these things have been shipping with 3.3ns hynix memory. The one caveat is that the dual head will support only CRT + DVI (the DVI>VGA adaptor won't work). MUCH better than your VE, great value.

 

[memories2002]

nothing can beat the ATi Radeon8500 LE as far as value for money goes.. you will get the 275/275 radeon8500 [unlike the LE which is 250/250] at newegg..for 99$ US...checkk up newegg, as well as pricewatch.com
try to stay away from an mx-based solution.

(i myself am stuck between a radeon 8500 128mb DDR + 'free' Belkin Nostromo n50 gamepad [www.buy.com] for $174 OR a 128mb DDR GeForce4 ti4200 with 4ns memory. [250/250] for $200 [newegg.com]

 

[spanky]

if u r just a casual gamer... then go with what the others have suggested... the 8500le. it's a more well rounded card. is u care more about gaming then anything else... go with the gf3. i just picked up a gf3 cheap from fs/ft... it's definitely faster than my 8500. but i do find the 2d of the 8500 crisper

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: spankyOO7
if u r just a casual gamer... then go with what the others have suggested... the 8500le. it's a more well rounded card. is u care more about gaming then anything else... go with the gf3. i just picked up a gf3 cheap from fs/ft... it's definitely faster than my 8500. but i do find the 2d of the 8500 crisper

How much faster?

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: spankyOO7
if u r just a casual gamer... then go with what the others have suggested... the 8500le. it's a more well rounded card. is u care more about gaming then anything else... go with the gf3. i just picked up a gf3 cheap from fs/ft... it's definitely faster than my 8500. but i do find the 2d of the 8500 crisper

How much faster?

at max res 1280x960... i'm getting 80fps on the gf3 (8x anisotrophic filtering & quincunix enabled), and on my 8500... i get like 60 fps (2x anti aliasing & 16x anisotrophic filtering). the gf3 is faster... but the 8500 is prettier... i'm torn between two cards

 

[BarMan]

look at the reviews of the G4 MX series and you'll change your mind quickly!
that entire series is not worth the money, you should just get the what rbV5 said:

I'd look at the ATI RADEON 8500LE 64MB DDR CRT/DVI/TV ,Dual Monitor support DVIS+CRT only, BULK for $99 +$9 shipping, these things have been shipping with 3.3ns hynix memory. The one caveat is that the dual head will support only CRT + DVI (the DVI>VGA adaptor won't work). MUCH better than your VE, great value.

excellent choice for the low price, unless you want to spend more on a G4 TI4200, them you should go with that. No MX, MX is bad!

 

[nemo160]

i'd reccomend either a geforce 3 ti 200 or the radeon 8500 le
stay away from the geforce 4 mx series..they are not direct x 8 compliant parts..they are closer to updated geforce 2s than real geforce 4's or even 3's, their feature set is weak for gaming
gf3 ti200 or radeon 8500le are much better choices