under $70 pci video card, what to get.

[rnimz]

Ok, heres the deal, I am a poor college student and the software company that I work for just died so I am prety much out of a job for the moment. I won't go into why I have never really had the need for a 3d card as I like to play turn based stratagy games. However UT has finaly caught up to me and now I am left sitting here using software rendering at 512x380x16bp with all of the detail turned to low just to get 23 fps. Besides UT the only 3d game I play is X-Wing vs TIE F. I really do only have $70 to spend on the card, but it is ok, as that will just get dumped into my second machine in 6 months when I have cash to blow on an upgrade. I have been considering just getting a savage4 pro based card because of MeTaL and S3TC, and they are dirt cheap. If anyone has any suggestions as far as what to get even better where to get it for cheap I would greatly appreciate it, keep in mind it must support win2k and I am basicly only concerned with UT performance, ie I would like to play at 1024x768x16 at around 30fps at medium settings. Thanks.

Edit: It must be PCI, I have a dell workstation and the video is built in.

 

[hans007]

you can get a voodoo3 2000 pci for that price, maybe even a v3 3000 pci. That is probably your best bet especially since you are playing UT

 

[Eug]

With your description, the ONLY option is the Voodoo 3.

Get yourself a V3 2000 PCI, some Krazy Glue, and a 486 fan. Overclocked to V3 3000+ speeds, it will give you one of the fastest speeds out of ANY card in the world at 800x600x16 in UT. (At 1024x768 it's still pretty good too although I'd stick with 800x600.)

 

[rnimz]

thanks, anyone know where I can pick up a pci voodoo3 2000 for under $70 bucks?

 

[yellowperil]

Staples has it for $99.99. Use one of the $25 off $75 coupons from a deals site (not allowed to tell you where, check the Hot Deals forum), and the $30 rebate from 3dfx good until 9/30/00. Unfortunately, stock availability looks about 1-2 weeks (check the rebate terms to make sure you can make the postmark date), and you have to pay sales tax, but shipping is free. Comes out to $44.99 + tax, all said and done.

 

[oldfart]

Amazon.com has it in stock for $85. About $5 for shipping. techbargains has a coupin $20 off $100. You will need to buy something else in the electronics section for $15 to get the coupon to work. Total = $85 card + $15 for other thing + $6 shipping -$20 coupon - $30 rebate = $56, and you have the thing you bought for $15 also!
or
They have the V3 3000 PCI for $109 + $6 shipping - $20 coupon - $30 rebate = $65. V3 3000 is a better card. Higher speed ramdac, faster clock, and a MUCH larger heatsink.

 

[hans007]

if you want to get one real cheap a lot of peopl ein the "forsale/trade" forum that are upgrading have them. I've seen a v3 3000 pci go for $60 shipped there. Yeah they are used, but its the same i guess.

 

[rnimz]

oldFart, thanks for the tip, I just ordered the v3 3000 from amazon, hmmm, $65 total ain't too bad, well I will now anxiuosly await the arival of my voodoo, until then its back to 512x380. Thanks for the help every one.

 

[oldfart]

Gald it worked for you. Thats a great deal on the card. Make sure to get the latest drivers here:
You will also need to be sure to have DirectX 7 installed. You will love UT in Glide mode!!

 

[MasterMind]

Same question here but I haven't decided on what to get yet. I'm adding a PCI vid card to my Dell GX1 box at work so I want to keep it under $100.

The V3 2000 is around $90 but only has 16MB of RAM. I'm also considering a Creative Tnt2 for $75 w/ 32MB.

I know the V3 kicks ass in Glide but wouldnt the 32MB of RAM be a better choice for D3D games like Tomb Raider?

 

[Dark4ng3l]

In the speeds you are geting 32 megs is useless(thinks 64 today) the only way you could use 32 megs on a tnt2 is with 32 bit and high resolution(1024x 768)witch would be unplayable.

*edit*
toomb raider runs on pentium 1 machines so I think it uses 4-8 megabytes of textures MAX

 

[Vegito]

Kick ass.. was gonna get the buy.com @ 110 with 30/150 off - buying a modem, other junk... now i get it for 110-20(gift certificate) - 30(rebate) for a new guy..

 

[MasterMind]

OK I havent played in 16bit since MechWarrior.

My workstation is running on a 17" @ 10/7 but my old Tnt2U had no problem running HQ at high res. on my home machine.

The choice's for me are:

Creative Tnt2 - $75

V3 2000 - $90

V4 4500 - $130

Inno? MX - $130?

I would like the cheaper of the bunch but I've never seen a review of a PCI Tnt2 card. I'm still not convinced that 16 is better than 32.

 

[rnimz]

the pci TNT2 is not a regular TNT2, I know some places say that it is, but I was also interested in it and so I spent quite a while looking it up, and well there is NO TNT2 PCI card, the cards that are PCI are TNT2 m64 (which means the memory bus is cut in half) and are basicly crippled, the savage4 is like that too, which probably slows it down too. But as far as I can tell, especially with the help of everyone here the voodoo3 is the way to go if you don't mind giving up 32 bit color and especially the 3000 is faster than anything in its price range, I am happy I can get one for $65 all totaled, though you have to act soon, cause the amazon.com deal only goes until the 23rd and the 3dfx rebate only goes until the 30th

 

[duragezic]

Last I seen, you can get a eVGA MX for $108.

Check Pricewatch.

 

[Vegito]

Quick Question...

The V3 PCI from amazon that I ordered, 3DFX said it has a heatsink but no fan. And warranty is void if HS is removed.

I have my G400 & CL TNT2 ultra on tennmax lasagna.

Is it even worth it to put one on a V3 ?

 

[duragezic]

A 486 fan should fit so you won't have to worry about removing the hs.

 

[oldfart]

The heatsink on the V3 3000 is pretty big. The 2000 HS is quite a bit smaller. If you are going to overclock it, you may want a fan on it. Otherwise, its fine.