Which PCI card under Win2K - GF2MX or V4 ?

[bex0rs]

I'm looking to build a portable LAN box that will use an 810e chipset motherboard in an In-win FlexATX case. AGP is not an option, as I have not found a suitable 815 FlexATX board. With that said, which PCI card will perform better under Win2k - the Geforce2 MX or the Voodoo 4? The only game / benchmark I care about is Quake3, and to me raw FPS is more important that eye candy or image quality (ie. I'll be running at 16 bit with most details off). So, which card would be better for my situation? Thanks.

~bex0rs


No V5 because the case is not big enough

 

[rbV5]

Why not a V5 5500?

 

[trikster2]

Why not V5500???

Lack of driver support. Some tribes2 users are get 8/9 fps and the dynamix says they can do nothing because 3DFx is dead.

I'm in the same dilema.

Really wish Anandtech would do a PCI roundup, there are 3 threads on PCI cards on the first page of the video forum and not a single good answer.

Your choices are:

3DFx: If you are only playing quake you may be OK for a while. Q3 seems to work fine and who knows when Q4/doom will come out.

ATI Radeo SDR 32mb: Unfortunately only DDR PCI card I can find is for the mac. SDR card is for business with some features disabled.

GEForceMX: Creative and Hercules both list 32MB (SDRAM?) versions on their website, but good luck finding them. Inno3D is the only company that has full featured GEForceMX cards and they are actually available. You can get anything up to a 64MB PCI with Twinview (dual monitor). Unfortunately reviews for this relatively unknown company are sparse. Another thread listed Axxion whoever they are.

Matrox G450 PCI: Announced Mar29 who knows when it will ship. Matrox has a history of announcing, releasing very little quantities then discontinuing PCI versions of there cards.

Then of course there is the onboard i810 video! I'm using it with EQ right now as my 3Dfx Voodoo2 has been crashing the game like crazy.

 

[bex0rs]

Updated with reason for no V5. So with this in consideration as well, is the V4 PCI under Win2K the best option?

~bex0rs

 

[TravisBickle]

actually I don't like either of these cards. have you measured the case against the V5 dimensions?

 

[bex0rs]

Actually, I haven't done any comparison measurement and I was just assuming it would be too big. All I have to work with is a case that will accomodate an add-in card as long as my FlexATX board, namely 7.5 inches (19 cm), so if the V5 PCI will fit I would definitely consider it. However, another potential issue that may arrise is with power. The case's 145W PS will need to be able to handle my motherboard (which has everything integrated), a P3 733, and this video card. I would definitely consider the V5 if all these things could happen, but if they can't, is the V4 the next best choice? Remember, this is under Win2K, so driver quality matters too. Thanks for the input so far.

~bex0rs

 

[TravisBickle]

this bit caught my interest and I looked it up on Google. each VSA100 (V4/5) chip uses 15W, and the dimesnsions are 9.6 x 4.2 inches. the PIII draws 19W:
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/sspec/p3p.htm (saw this earlier this week).
your HD probably draws 7W on average @7200rpm.
I'm sure you have power to spare, it's up to you. the V5 is quite sought after believe it or not, and you wouldn't lose too much on it to resell it now. what I do know is that the pci MX/ V4 are poor relations of more common cards they relate to.

edit bit: i think it unlikely the pci wouldn't fit- people had more problems with the AGP card because it was horizontal with the drive bays. looking inside your case you should find space?

 

[bex0rs]

I just checked and the V5 will not fit my case. For size comparison, I stuck in a PCI Monster 3D II, which measures 8.1 inches (20.6 cm), and it just barely fits. A card that measures 9.6 inches will certainly not fit unless I want to mod my case (not something I want to do).

So are the V4 / GF2MX really that bad. Remember, all I want to do is run Q3 with most details off, but at 1024x768. I've been using a V3 PCI which starts to choke with the jump from 800x600 to 1024x768. If either of the cards will not be a significant upgrade from the V3, then perhaps I'll stick with the V3.

BTW, Future support is not a concern, as this is the only thing this computer will be [ever] be used for.

~bex0rs

 

[bex0rs]

i think it unlikely the pci wouldn't fit- people had more problems with the AGP card because it was horizontal with the drive bays. looking inside your case you should find space?

Due to the way my case closes (it's G3/G4 Mac style where the board is mounted to a hinging side), the V5 will not fit.


Does anyone know of an 815 (or even BX) FlexATX sized motherboard with an AGP slot? That would make this discussion moot.


~bex0rs

 

[bex0rs]

I just found another contender, the Radeon DDR PCI. It appear that this retailer has them in stock, and yes, it's the PC version. Has anyone used the PCI version of this card or have any thoughts on its performance?

~bex0rs

 

[mitaiwan82]

MX all the way...radeon driver performance is questionable...3dfx defunct