Sit this one out, or Geforce3 to Geforce4 Ti4400

[TrickyChick]

Machine specs:

Epox EP-8KTA3Pro
Athlon 1.4 Ghz (T-Bird)
768MB CAS2 SDRAM
Gainward Geforce 3
TB Santa Cruz sound
IDE RAID 0 (2 40 GB drives)

I'm in the mood to upgrade. I've built 3 machines for friends without buying myself a single piece of hardware. I was thinking to maybe go with a new video card, Geforce4 ti4400, but I'm wondering if I will see much of a payoff with this processor/memory platform. The other thing I could do is upgrade my platform to a KT333 (why go with 266a at this point?). How soon though, until the .13 micron process, and will throughbred work in the kt333, and then what about the vaunted Clawhammer expected to appear in the later half of the year? By then, Geforce 5 will be out, and if I have waited through the geforce 4's, then I will certainly upgrade then.

Ugh.

 

[5150Joker]

Go with the KT333 and wait on the newer nv30 to come out.

 

[Metalloid]

Yes a Thoroughbred will work with a KT333. The core size is being changed but the pins remain the same. I would say it depends on what you want it for. If you are looking to play high resolution, maxed out AA and anisotropic filtering then definetly go with the Geforce4, because a new processor wont help a lot there. If you dont do a lot of hardcore gaming, then new mobo and processor are the way to go. Hope this helps.

By the way: I have a Geforce4 TI4400, an Athlon xp 1900, and an Abit KR7A (kt266a), and I run games like UT with maxed out everything at 65fps.

 

[LordMagnusKain]

keep the video card, keep the CPU/mobo, wait until there is something you want to do but cant. then get something to fix it, otherwise wait.

 

[filmore crashcart]

I'm with LordMagnusKain. I have a similar setup as yours (different motherboard - ak31a) and I know it gets tempting, especially when reading this forum, to think your missing out if you don't upgrade. Honestly though, what can't your G3 not play that is currently out? I did myself a favor awhile ago and stopped messing with benchmark programs like 3dmark 2001 and obsessing about my score. The game market is lagging behind the video card market and I don't see that changing anytime soon. In the meantime, I've stopped playing UT out of boredom, rarley play Q3 anymore and I haven't been that impressed with the usual genre of testosterone laced, low intelligence games that have come out in the last year. So what if the graphics are pretty, is running Q3 at higher frame rates going to make it a more interesting game?

 

[Rio Rebel]

I agree about the framerates, but disagree about the "pretty graphics".

I am enjoying JK2 much more now that I see all the eye candy.

 

[filmore crashcart]

Rio Rebel -

Did you upgrade from a G3? And if you did, what did you upgrade to?

 

[Insidious]

I'm in the same position... I'd love to upgrade, but I don't feel like I'll get much more than the satisfaction

of upgrading for it's own sake right now. (see 'my rig thingy')

Other than benchies, I don't think I'd get much of a different experience with new hardware.

so for what ever it's worth, I'm waiting for a bit.

PS: 'Eye Candy' is so underrated in this forum. It's FUN! Some of us use our PCs (mainly) for exactly that............ FUN!

PPS: For those who need upgrades to support your work....... I not only salute you, but offer my sympathy as well

 

[Rio Rebel]

No, I didn't upgrade from a Geforce 3 (in fact, I upgraded TO a Geforce 3 recently).

I was only making the point generally - it makes no sense to upgrade if you're already getting 60fps to a card that gets 100fps. But it does make sense to upgrade to a card that has more effects or lets you run FSAA at a playable rate.

That being said, I'm sure I wouldn't upgrade from a GF3 to a GF4ti. Not enough to justify it, IMO.

 

[CubicZirconia]

I wouldn't either. I'm grappling with whether or not to upgrade from a geforce 2 gts to a geforce 4 ti4200.

 

[Acanthus]

i have a thread up on the up-and-coming nvidia eclipse (NV30) core, you might wanna check it out.

I would highly reccomend waiting for that chip as it will be MUCH faster and support as high as 64bit color.

 

[BFG10K]

I've just upgraded to a GF4 Ti4600 from a GF3 Ti500 and the performance increase was amazing, especially in newer games like JKII. However in your case if you're not a hardcore gamer like I am then I'd probably advise you to wait for a while.

 

[Insidious]

BFG10K,

Ok, you've got my mouth watering. I am interested in what you are seeing with the upgrade.

I'm not really all that interested in benchies, but would love to hear some details of your experiences (games).

-Sid

PS: feel free to PM if you don't want to put it all here

PPS: Which mfgr. did you choose?

 

[TrickyChick]

Okay, that's what I wanted to know. I'm going to sit this one out, and then wait until the fall (unless, of course, Morrowind turns out to be a total CPU/Vid Card hog worse than Dungeon Siege is). I'm a fairly hard core gamer, but not usually with FPS (although I do like my bit of UT every once in a while). Truthfully, Dungeon Siege plays just fine on my system maxxed out (that's what I'm mainly playing right now, but looking SO forward to Morrowind). I don't hack it out to use 1600X1200, though because then it does crawl. Not that it's really that great of an improvement at that resolution, either. Oh well. The best insight I got was from LordMagnusKain's comment of "wait until it can't do something you want it to do". If I decide that I can't live with Dungeon Siege in "lowly" 1024X768 with 4X FSAA, then I'll upgrade.

Still, it *is* hard to visit here and not want to ! Thanks to all who responded

 

[LordMagnusKain]

CubicZirconia

Geforce2 to Geforce4, that's the upgrade I just did... now I did it because I really think 3dglasses are cool, and I wanted to be able to see the Nature demo in 3dMark 2001, also got to see the cool ocean demo and if you have SE of 3dmark you can see fisheyes.

But in the end I'm much happier with it because I'm running Black & White at 16x12x 4xsAA