Radeon 32mb PCI Questions

Mtnmike

Junior Member
Dec 12, 2001
10
0
0
I am seriously considering purchasing the ATI Radeon 32mb PCI card. I am a little concerned about compatibilty or problems on install.

I have an IBM Aptiva 2170-175 w/AMD K6-2 550mhz cpu, 256MB SDRAM PC100, SIS5595 System board chipset, PCI 2.1 33mhz BUS (no AGP), ACER V75M-UMA system

board, Front side bus 100 mhz, Cache 512KB, Voodoo 3 3000 16mb PCI card overclocked to 183MHZ, 48X CD-ROM, Plextor 1640 CDRW; SoundBlaster Live "XGamer"

sound card, 30GB WDC 7200 rpm primary hard drive, 4GB IBM 5400 rpm slave hard drive, MAG Innovision 17" monitor, HP Deskjet 950c printer, Visioneer 6100 USB

scanner, Intel 3200 USB DSL modem. OS is WIN-ME.


The system board has an 8mb "on board" video (SIS-530). The on board video cannot be disabled and only set to "ON-BOARD" OR "AUTO"in BIOS setup. When set to "AUTO" it still assigns 4mb to the SIS-530. I did manage to get the Voodoo3 3000 PCI card to work flawlessly by setting "AUTO" in BIOS and selecting "disable in this hardware profile" within Windows Device Manager.

I currently have a 145 WATT ATX power supply which I am replacing with a 300 WATT ATX power supply.

Will the ATI Radeon 32mb PCI card work in this system? Should I anticipate problems installing this card considering the inability to completely disable on board video in BIOS. Should I remove my Voodoo drivers, INF files, and registery entries prior to installation or after successfully installation of the Radeon PCI card? I have also been considering the GeForce 2 MX200 32mb PCI card. However, without being able to completely disable "on board" video I understand this card is not an option. I am aware I will not see a great improvement over my current VooDoo3 3000 card; but now that Voodoo is out of business I am looking to use a card which still has driver support ETC, without sacfricing performance. I am not a hard gamer but like a card which will perform when I do play both on and off line.

Thanks
 

Rand

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,071
1
81
As long as your primary onboard graphics within Windows through the Device Manager as you have done then you shouldnt experience any compatibility issues, as the Radeon will take over for the integrated video.

The Voodoo3 actually consumes more power then the ATi Radeon 32MB PCI graohics card, so even with your current 145W PSU you should not have any issues regarding adequate power.
It would be ideal to remove the 3dfx drivers, .inf files and associated registry issues prior to installing the Radeon graphics card, it should be alright even if you don't but as a safety precaution it's always best to do so.

As you stated, due to processor limitations you will not see a very large performance boost over your existing graphics card. Also, the ATi Radeon core is heavily dependent upon AGP's advanced feature set and so the PCI Radeon is considerably slower then the AGP Radeon. Nonetheless it should provide a mild performance gain.

The PCI Radeon is most definitely a preferable purchase over a PCI MX200 as the MX200 is also heavily relient upon AGP's advanced feature set and even in an AGP slot it's only on-par with a V3 3500/TNT2 Ultra... and your card is already overclocked to V3 3500 speeds. In PCI it would actually be slower then your existing V3 3000.
 

Mtnmike

Junior Member
Dec 12, 2001
10
0
0
Rand,

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. If I have any problems I will re-post.