Radeon line: Need some explainations

[ahsia]

Okay, I know this is pretty old stuff, but I am looking to replace my old Rage Fury with something that will at least run the latest 3D games and give some decent performance. Since 2D and DVD support is important to me, I am looking to the Radeon line. Here are my questions:

1. I see all these different versions of the Radeon DDR. There's the VE, LE, and the ones that are just Radeon DDR. What are the differences between all of these?

2. What is the difference then between the VE, LE, vs. the Radeon 7000?

3. What about all the things I heard about hacking the Radeon LE or VE?

4. I am assuming that Radeon would be a better choice than the GeForce2 line because of the superior 2D quality, right?

5. Assuming Radeon is what I should get, which Radeon should I get to do what I need? I am looking to play games like CS, Ghost Recon, Serious Sam, and 2D games like Starcraft and Civ III.

I know that is a lot of questions, and if there is something sites that explains all this, a link will do. Thanks for you time!

 

[merlocka]

1. I see all these different versions of the Radeon DDR. There's the VE, LE, and the ones that are just Radeon DDR. What are the differences between all of these?

The Radeon SDR, DDR, 64, and 7200 all share the same chip (R100). The differences are the memory types (SDram, DDR, etc). The VE uses a watered down version of the R100 which has half the rendering pipes and half the memory bandwidth. The LE is a version of the R100 which has HyperZ disabled. It can be enabled through registry tweaks to make the card perform exactly as a regular Radeon.

2. What is the difference then between the VE, LE, vs. the Radeon 7000?

The VE and 7000 are the same, with the exception of some possible dual-head configurations... not 100% sure. The LE is a Radeon with HyperZ disabled.

3. What about all the things I heard about hacking the Radeon LE or VE?

The hack is for the LE. Read Anands review.

4. I am assuming that Radeon would be a better choice than the GeForce2 line because of the superior 2D quality, right?
If 2D quality is a high priority the Radeon cards are a safer bet than nVidia. nVidia (especially the GEforce2 line) 2d quality can range from vendor to vendor.

5. Assuming Radeon is what I should get, which Radeon should I get to do what I need? I am looking to play games like CS, Ghost Recon, Serious Sam, and 2D games like Starcraft and Civ III.

Radeon 7500 or Geforce3 Ti200 are the best bang-for-the-buck cards available IMO

 

[mss242]

here is a little help, but not much:

1. VE < LE < radeon ddr
The VE has only 1 pixel pipeline whereas the LE and the radeon have two. The VE however comes with dualhead support. There are also slight clock differences.

2. The VE=7000. The LE offers better performance than both.

3. I believe that you can hack the LE to make it equal to the radeon ddr.

4. Yes, you are quite right.

5. If you want the tv out capabilities, then I think you may have to go for the radeon DDR as it is difficult to find an LE w/ tv out for good money. If you don't need that feature, then the LE is probably cheaper, but you may have to "hack" it to make it perform like you want. The sweet spot in the market in my opinion is the 64meg DDR VIVO. You get really nice performance, great 2D, and the card will hold value pretty well because it has the VIVO capabilities. I saw them going in the FS/FT forum for about 80 bucks shipped.

that is my 2 cents. hope it helped.

 

[ahsia]

Another question then:

What is the Radeon 7200? How does the 7200 figure in with the Radeon LE, 7000, and 7500?

 

[Blurry]

The RADEON 7200 is just basically the radeon sdr except it uses 64mbs of SDRAM (not improvement) and ATI needed this card to compete with the Geforce 2 MX in the budget market.

The Radeon LE and the 7500 will "kill" the Radeon 7200, however the 7200 "is" noticeably faster than the VE due to its extra rendering pipeline, hyperz, T&L, and better core.

 

[ahsia]

<< The sweet spot in the market in my opinion is the 64meg DDR VIVO. You get really nice performance, great 2D, and the card will hold value pretty well because it has the VIVO capabilities. I saw them going in the FS/FT forum for about 80 bucks shipped. >>



My thoughts exactly! I have been holding off in getting this card because I wanted to use that card in the gaming machine I am saving up for. I wanted a card that would give me enough 3D performance, along with VIVO capabilities. But it's taking me longer to save up for a gaming machine, and I am starting to get desparate in wanting to play some games on my PC. That is why I am looking into something to hold me over until I save enough for my gaming machine.

I will look in eBay and the for sell section for a Radeon 64mb VIVO card. If I can get it for less than $100, I'll do it. Otherwise, I will still look into the Radeon 32mb DDR, I think newegg.com has it for less than $50.

BTW, thanks to all the quick replies!

 

[The_Lurker]

The best bang for buck right now is undoubtable the Radeon 8500 right now. Just as fast as the GeForce 3's, much more future proof than the R100 core, and can be had for around $150. They're great stable cards, that will last you a while.

 

[ahsia]

<< The best bang for buck right now is undoubtable the Radeon 8500 right now. Just as fast as the GeForce 3's, much more future proof than the R100 core, and can be had for around $150. They're great stable cards, that will last you a while. >>



If I am going to get a high-end card, I want VIVO capabilities. So it will either be the Radeon 64mb VIVO, or the AIW 7500.

 

[Keen314]

<<

<< The best bang for buck right now is undoubtable the Radeon 8500 right now. Just as fast as the GeForce 3's, much more future proof than the R100 core, and can be had for around $150. They're great stable cards, that will last you a while. >>

If I am going to get a high-end card, I want VIVO capabilities. So it will either be the Radeon 64mb VIVO, or the AIW 7500. >>


I'd suggest getting an 8500, then pick up a TV tuner card. I myself decided to get a regular 8500 over the 8500DV, and I'm using a TV Wonder to watch TV. However, the TV Wonder has some problems right now with the 8500/TV Wonder combination under WinXP (I hear nvidia's cards have the same problem, tho'. I wouldn't know, I went from a Voodoo 3, what a nice increase that was! ).

 

[ahsia]

<< I'd suggest getting an 8500, then pick up a TV tuner card. I myself decided to get a regular 8500 over the 8500DV, and I'm using a TV Wonder to watch TV. However, the TV Wonder has some problems right now with the 8500/TV Wonder combination under WinXP (I hear nvidia's cards have the same problem, tho'. I wouldn't know, I went from a Voodoo 3, what a nice increase that was! ). >>



I don't exactly want TV capabilities. I want video in/video out capabilities. The AIW is really not what I am looking for, but seeing as ATi don't have cards with VIVO anymore, that is what I am left with. 8500 is not worth it for me. Great card, but I don't need something like that.