Radeon questions.

[mcbiff]

The latest price drops make the Radeon 64 mb VIVO pretty tempting. But I have a few questions I'd like answered before I take the plunge.

1. Win2k drivers, are they any good?
2. How is the power consumption? More or less than a GF DDR?
3. Would it be a worthwile upgrade from my current ASUS V6800 Deluxe?

Thanks in advance.

 

[NeonFlak]

I have not had a problem with the win2k drivers. Power consumption? Really low, the radeon is one of the coolest running cards in ages. Depends, if you really want to get a new graphisc card then get it. Newer graphics cards will be coming out soon of course they will all be expensive as hell so that last one is totaly up too you. If it were me and knowing how my radeon performs I would get it.

 

[hclarkjr]

i just recently upgraded from same video card you have to retail radeon 32 meg and do not regret it one bit. but i am running WinME so can't answer that part of your question. and as for the power consumption, it is much less than the geforce. ask taz4158 in video forum for his thoughts on Win2K drivers, i believe they have been improved over last few weeks. hope this helps you out.

 

[Thump553]

I have a Radeon 32 MB DDR. My comments:
1) Win2k performance is nearly as good as 98SE with the latest beta drivers. No longer a reason not to buy Radeon.

2) 2d performance under Radeon is superb-far better than any Nvida. Remember that most of your computer usage will probably be in 2d.

3) Power consumption very low for Radeons-note their puny (or nonexistant) fans & HS, but even so they don't even get warm. I'm sure its far less than the DDR.

Whether this is an upgrade or not is up to you-your present card is pretty nice-unless you are unhappy with what you have I would wait for the next generation to see-we are probably talking less than a month at this point.

 

[oldfart]

I remember seeing a post somewhere that a Radeon uses about 9 watts.

 

[mcbiff]

How bad is the performance? Is it comparable to a GF2 GTS?

 

[Zero]

I'll try and find the reviews/benchmarks for this card...I remember seeing reviews where the Radeon 64mb VIVO beat out the gf2gts in 32bit mode(barely) at all resolutions(I think). But the gf2 gts spanked every card on the planet in 16bit mode though.

Zero

 

[vexter]

Zero is right but I have too add, who wants to play in 16 bit color if you dont have too. With my crappy GFMX 32 is just too much of a performance hit. The Radeon acually gains a bit in 32bpp. And that price. I bet if u wait a month you'll see a similar price drop in the GF gts. I seen one for 179 last night. Remember how nvidia peeps cracked on 3dfx for not haveing 32 bit now that radeons better the say but what about the 16 bit. Take the original advice of the geforcers and get the best 32bit performer you can afford which is the radeon

 

[gcliv]

I'm running Radeon and Win2k. I don't know who keeps putting out crap about problems with Radeon and 2k, because I have never had an ounce of trouble. And I'm overclocked to boot! I went from 166/166 mhz to 187/187, and I even have the slower Samsung memory! I wish there was some kind of temperature monitoring thing tho.

 

[tjdavis1138]

I don't believe the Radeon is as fast as the Geforce2 cards, but the picture quality in Windows and the vibrant colors in games more than makes up for it.

I also ran one in Win2k with no problems.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I did extensive research on this. The Radeon 32DDR runs around 5-8 watts with the fan which uses 3 watts. Without the fan, the Radeon runs around 2-5 watts. This info is from ATI. In other words, the Radeon sucks about the same amount of juice as a GeForce2MX, if not a little less.

 

[Noriaki]

Hey do you guys think it would be safe to run a Radeon 64MB Vivo without the fan (but with a heatsink)?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Why do you want to do that, Nori? You could try it, but maybe underclock it as well. I wouldn't do it. ATI put it there for a reason.

 

[Taz4158]

Hi McBiff,
There are some fairly accurate benchmark comparison between a 64 meg GTS and a 64 meg Radeon here:
Click
There are faster Radeon drivers now than they used in the testing. Switching from the GTS to the Radeon was the single finest upgrade I've done in over 20 years of computing.

 

[BigLance]

The Radeon is faster (32 bit is what counts) thatn the GTS. The Radeon looks better. I have Win2k, works great. Great VIVO, very nice features !! Awesome DVD too. GREAT all around card, and your right, the price is very cheap. Wish I'd have gotten mine that cheap !

 

[Napalm]

From HardOCP review of the Radeon:

Now, you're talking to a guy that has an NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ultra in his main box. I have a V5-5500 in the "other" computer. . . I know about performance, I know about quality FSAA, etc. I can recommend the Radeon on MANY levels, but it comes down to a matter of choice. Right now, the Radeon is the best "BLEND" of performance / features / value on the market today. Yes... you can pick up a "faster" video card. Yes... you might be able to find one with similar features - but you won't find BOTH in one card. If you are a fairly serious gamer, but can't live without good DVD / Video playback, this card is definitely for you. The prices now are fantastic and the performance is there. . . What are you waiting for?

I could not have said it better myself.

Napalm

 

[Taz4158]

I've been saying that for 9 months!