Which one: Kyro II and 128mb of ram, or a GF2 Pro?

[acexg1]

Topic says it. On my budget, soon I can either afford a Kyro 2 and 128 mb's of ram, or get a GF2 Pro 64 mb card. I am using a Duron 750 (on an Iwill KK266) and I currently have 128 megs of PC133 ram. I would like nice image quality, but speed in games is very important to me, after dealing with my current vid card. There is one other big thing: I want good driver support, especially after having to deal with ATI's lack thereof. Thanks for any opinions.

 

[PotNoodle]

I would imagine it depends on what you do most on your PC.

Extra RAM is always handy - especially when you are doing lots of CPU/Memory intensive tasks (such as video and image editing etc.), and I would imagine that with the likes of WinXP 256MB of RAM will soon become the defacto standard (not necessarily the requirement, but probably users preference).

With the GF Pro you'll get higher 3D performance most of the time and good compatibility; but with KYROII you get the same amount of RAM, good 3D performance (although T&L titles may take a hammering with that CPU), possibly better 2D (dependant on what the GF Pro card you would choose), and better 3D IQ (certainly in 16bit, but many have been lauding the general quality of KYRO over others - this is an example).

KYROII does seem to be having some issues with some game titles currently, but Videologic are listening and are releasing drivers every couple of weeks at the moment.

Tough choice. Personally I would go with the KYROII and 128Meg, but that?s because of the type of stuff I do most on my PC; your CPU makes the choice a little harder as well.

What videocard are you using currently?

 

[Ironduke]

Firstly the issues the guy above has mentioned have been solved within a few weeks, also the kyro beats the GF2 in many games.

THE KYRO2 is the best bang for your buck!

 

[acexg1]

PotNoodle, I am ashamed to say this, but I am using an ATI All in Wonder Pro. It has 8mb of ram, and its not even AGP! It struggles to run Half Life at 640x480, so just about any card will be an improvement.
As for what I do, its usually gaming... Halflife(and mods), xwing Alliance, Unreal Tournament, Diablo 2, Starcraft, Red Alert 2, etc., along with some internet surfing and the occasional playing of mp3's. I want a fairly nice card that will last me a while. I went broke last month getting this pc, and in it everything was new except for the ram (high quality Crucial) and the lousy AIW. I will NOT go ATI again after my bad experience with this card and lack of driver support, as you can see with my little problem over here.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

With a Duron 750, I think I would pick up a Radeon LE or a GTS. The Kyro 2's performance tends to suffer at below 800 Mhz. I love my Kyro 2, but I don't relly think it is the card for your system.

The case for a Radeon LE -
I know you said that you weren't considering an ATi... I urge you to reconsider. ATi's support has drastically improved for the Radeon series... new drivers are coming out all the time. It really is nothing like the ATi of old. It is soooo cheap for what you get performance-wise, provide you hack it to a DDR.

GTS -
The GTS is the de facto gaming standard. However... you'll lay out quite a bit more $$$ for not a huge difference in performance over the Radeon LE.

It's up to you, but I'd pick up a Radeon LE, pocket the difference, and save your hard-earned jack for a CPU upgrade in the future when the T-birds frop in price with the introduction of Athlon 4. It is coming.

 

[acexg1]

I'm still scarred from my experience with this AIW Pro. I don't think I can convince myself to go with an ATI card.

I think what I might do is go with a 32mb GF2 GTS. I saw one for $114 recently at newegg.com.

 

[Archknight]

Since you will have the cash for the KyroII and don't want to go with the ATI Radeon LE.

First, I would say another stick of 128MB RAM would do good for your system.

Second, I would suggest the KyroII over the GF2. Since you are not used to high resolutions, both cards will do wonders at first. No matter how the GF2 might faster than the Kyro2, you will be satisfy with both cards performance. As for the 2D quality most claim KyroII have better than GF2 even Anandtech review mentioned about it. Since you coming from a ATI, you will see big difference going to the GF2. Don't think that 2D will not bug you, I thought so too and I am completely wrong.

For the price of KyroII now + a stick of RAM will most likely equal to average price of a GF2pro.

 

[BFG10K]

I'd probably get the RAM and the Kyro2. With those two items you get the most value for your money. Also the next generation games and OSes will pretty much require 256 MB RAM to run well.

 

[acexg1]

k, thnx for the input guys.

EDIT: Ok, pretty sure I'll go for the Kyro 2 now. Found it for $116 at newegg. Then maybe I'll get that stick of crucial ram. Thanks again.

 

[PotNoodle]

? PotNoodle, I am ashamed to say this, but I am using an ATI All in Wonder Pro. It has 8mb of ram, and its not even AGP!?

Bah ? no reas to be ashamed of a vid card!

?It struggles to run Half Life at 640x480, so just about any card will be an improvement.?

Yeah, this is what I was getting at in asking that ? whatever you choose should be a pretty good improvement one way or another.

? Ok, pretty sure I'll go for the Kyro 2 now.?

Seeing as you are pretty much settled on KII now you may want to look in on this thread which has some suggestions for circumventing some Diablo 2 issues with KYROII.

BTW ? are you looking to replace the TV functionality of the card?

 

[acexg1]

Ok, thanks, I didn't realize it had issues with D2.
No, I'm not going to get another tv tuner. I don't really need the recording capabilities, and for just watching it I have a TV 10 feet away.
I did not purchase this video card, as if I had, I probably wouldn't have gotten one with a tuner. It was given as a gift to me by a relative, back when I had NO 3d accelerator.