geforce 3 or geforce 4 Ti4400? help!

[SandTiger]

My curent system.
Amd 700mhz..
300odd megs of ram
and a crappy voodoo3
OS: windows ME (shiver)

I am not sure which video card to get.. im Pretty sure im going to get the gf3 here in town for about $185 (with tax)

I can maybe find the gf4 ti4400 online for.. $270ish

Now.. my question is this.. which video card do you think i should get.. i was trying to keep my purchase at $200 or less. But if its really going to make a difference i will spend more. As i dont know when the next time i upgrade will be. Also, i am not sure when the processor will be upgraded.

The only real game i am playing right now is jediknight 2. And lucasarts doesnt show the ti4400 as a supported vid card under windows ME as of yet.. anybody running this with out any problems?

Last question is.. anybody know of a really good online company that has inexpensive prices i can order one of these. Thanks for your help!

[Grentarc]

Performance wise... you wont see anything different in frame rates... image quality... might be better with the GF4... what GF3 you getting... the Ti200.. .straight GF3 or the Ti500... either way, you will get the same frame rate with a GF2 Ti or GF4 ....

[ironik311]

Welcome to Sysopt sandtiger!

There is another thread posted here (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103188) that may help you decide. I'd stick with a gf3 as your processor is a little slow (relatively speaking) and I don't think you'd see any appreciable difference with the gf4.

LOL at the "shiver" for ME... not the best for gaming. Can you install 98se?

[SandTiger]

No.. im stuck using ME.. its not my computer(familys) Im too broke to actually build my own. I have one.. but the PowerSupply is shot.. and its too slow to bother fixing.

Edit: I am gonna get the plain ol regular G3. And this is an awesome forum.. never would have found it if i wasnt looking for a new vid card.

[JeffD]

Hi SandTiger,

IMHO.....based on:

-- your system configuration
--you don't seem to be made of money
--you've been running with a Voodoo 3 for a while now so it's unlikely you're a frames per second freak or are running every game possible at 1600x1200x32 with FSAA

Let me suggest the best bang for the dollar in various price ranges are:

(prices taken from www.newegg.com )

Low end:
VISIONTEK XTASY 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 32MB AGP for $48
GeForce4 MX 440 MX-440 for $95

Mid Range:
GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GeForce 3 Ti200 64MB Power Pack Golden Sample, ( 4ns 64MB DDR. ). TV-Out. Retail Box for $135.00
or
ATI RADEON 8500 64MB DDR retail (275 core) for $154
or
Verto GeForce3 64MB DDR for $165

High end:
Wait until May for the GeForce4 TI 4200 128M DDR which may retail for a little under $200

Newegg is one of the best online places to shop. Just check out their rating at:

http://www.resellerratings.com

So narrowing down the list really depends on how much money you REALLY want to spend, what kind of games you're playing and what kind of performance upgrade you're expecting.

Example:

The GF2 performance is a BIG jump from your Voodoo 3. Not bad for under $50. Now mid range the best bang for your dollar is the Radeon 8500 retail for only $154.....it will not only be more than fast enough for gaming but have solid 3D and 2D image quality as well. Finally, if you're willing to spend $200 I would drop the GF3 purchase and wait for the GF4 Ti4200 to arrive since it will be by far the best choice in the $200 price range.

Finally, I'm running Windows ME with a GF3 Ti200 without problems....even though I also have XP. Reasons......some of my hardware is not compatible (ex: Interact Hammerhead game pad) and I also found gaming generally has less hassles in my situation. Also, ME has been kind to me....very stable with no crashing or odd problems...verything works so I have a hard time justifying the move to XP.

Good Luck

Regards,

JeffD

[Ankerson]

Wait until May for the GeForce4 TI 4200 128M DDR which may retail for a little under $200


The Gforce4 TI 4200 will have 64mb or ram, not 128mb. They might release a 128mb version much later, but it will have alot slower ram than the TI 4400 and TI 4600 cards.


I would say the TI 4400 is the best choice out of the GForce 4 cards. If you don't own a GForce 3 right now there is no reason to buy one. Get a Gforce4, or you will end up getting 2 new cards. One now and one in a few months when the new games start comming out.

The new games are going to be based on new engines that will bring the older GForce2 and Gforce3 cards to their knees.

I have a GForce 3 and have run some of the benchmarks based on the new engines and they really kick the GForce 3's tail.

And it doesn't matter how fast your CPU is either.

[InnovaZero]

1. That 700mhz will bottleneck the hell out of a GF4.

2. Those are benchmark engines, not accual game engines (Minus 3dmark2001). Accually engines in the future. (Enhanced Q3 engine, Unreal2/Warfare Engine and Kreeds new engine) all take advantage of GF3's features. (As well as 4 since it's basically a GF3 on massive steroids) Will run any of those games plenty fast enough with max details.

If I where you I would just get a GF3 Ti, save the rest of the money you would use torwards upgrading the CPU or what not.

Now I will say this, if you absolutly love AA, then a GF4 is a very must. It handles AA like nothing before it.

[Ankerson]

Now I just got my GForce4 TI 4400 today. :D

Using the drivers that came with the card it kicked the **** out of my GForce3 card.

Went from 8208 to 11,304 in 3Dmark 2001SE.

And it doubled the scores on most of the other benchmarks based on the new engines.

I will say it again If you don't own a GForce3, don't buy one, get a GForce4 .

The GForce4 TI 4400 is about the same price as a GForce3 TI 500 and it will totaly kill it in games and benchmarks.

Goto Newegg.com and check the prices if you don't believe me.

[SandTiger]

Thanks again for all the help.. Im leaning twords changing my mind again.

I may go with the GF4 ti4400.... but then I would feel the need to upgrade.. or this 700mhz Duron Will bottleneck the Vid card..

But that leaves another question.. What processor and Mobo? and what ram.. DDR? Ive been out of the hardware loop for a while.
Anybody wanna post a link to the motherboard forum if there is a good post there.. i browesed it.. but didnt go indepth yet.

I wont be doing both at the same time. Chances are ill buy the vid card now.. and upgrade the cpu/mobo in a few months.

And one question that still wasnt answered.. Anybody have windows ME.. a GF4 Ti4400 and play Jedi Knight 2 alright? Perhaps i should take that to the games forum.

Thanks for all the help :)

[Beeblequix]

It's always easier to spend other people's money...

Ankerson, here's the link to Tom's site regarding 128 m G4 4200 cards:
<http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/02q2/020409/index.html>

The 64 meg versions will have a faster core & memory than the 128 meg ones. For a G3, 128 meg doesn't have very much impact, but the G4's like 128 meg. The Geforce 4 ti 4200 sounds quite alluring at $179 and $199.

I'd venture a query for you: what kind of games do you plan on playing with your new video card? Your cpu is sufficient to play Serious Sam, Unreal Tourney, any flavor of Quake, RTCW, Deus Ex, MOHAA, and a ton of others. Before any of you flame me for that comment I must state that I ran all these and so many more on my old PIII 667 with 256meg ram and a Geforce256sdr card , so I know the CPU will meet requirements. I must admit that I don't know if Sandtiger meant Duron or Athlon. That poor old Voodoo is what's choking the system up. My old Geforce 256 did stutter during forest scenes and the Omaha Beach scene in MOHAA, therefore I turned down details a bit.

Something you should be aware of is that your new Geforce 4___ will scale much better with a faster cpu, meaning that if you compared that card on two systems, yours and a much faster Athlon XP or P4 system, your performance gains won't be as much for you (speaking of it as a ratio) on your old system compared to that Athlon XP 2100+ you've had your eye on for a few months (come on, admit it:) ).

I liked InnovaZero's idea about getting a Geforce3ti200 and saving the rest toward the purchase of a new system. Yeah, he hit it right on the head. Moreso, if you don't really have any graphically intense games you'd do yourself a favor by not overspending for your needs/wants. Post back with a LIST of games you play and wish to play.

I personally have an MSI g3ti200, and it's great. It plays all my games nicely. My 3dmark 2001 score is 7000+ with dets 23.11 and around 6800+ with dets 23.12 based on an Asus a7v266-e and Athlon 1700+, with no overclocking (actually just setting the cpu in the bios to manual instead of auto gives me an extra 11mhz) and ddr ram latency set at 2-2-2-5.

B.Quix

EDIT: you know, I was working on this during breaks at work, so I hadn't yet seen Sandtiger's last post. *DOH*

Okay, now that I'm spending your money, get an Asus board as they truly are the best mobos around. MSIs aren't too shabby either. Tom and Anand both have good mobo comparisons at times. Right now there are a ton of options for chipsets, especially for the AMD processors. I went with the Via KT266A chipset as it was, at the time, the highest performing one. Recent releases by SiS and Via with DDR333 support look tantalizing as they run their memory bus at 166*2Mhz, providing for higher bandwidth. SiS's chips are interesting because they're formed into an integrated north/southbridge on ONE CHIP, reducing costs substantially. I'd personally stay away from the Pentium 4 (flames welcome) as I don't find as high a VALUE in it as I do in the AthlonXP line. Get, if you can, high quality ram from makers like Mushkin, Crucial, or get FREE DDRRAM like I did from a rich friend. :D I don't really even know what kind mine is (although I think it's Infineon), but I'm happy with it because it handles standard mobo settings but at cl2 even though it's only rated at cl2.5. BTW, cl = CAS latency. The lower the better.

I'm absolutely certain that my setup will handle Jedi Knight 2 flawlessly, so I don't find it necessary to purchase a G4 at this time. But since I'm spending your money for you....

[BigBlue66]

Here's a GF4 Ti4400 with 128DDR for $263 plus shpg:

http://www.accessmicro.com/productinfo.php3?ProductId=VGAMTAG8871020

[Ankerson]

Here is another GForce4 TI 4400 128mb DDR for $243 plus shipping.


http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1471&DEPA=1

[Ankerson]

Beeblequix,

It's not that we are spending their money, because we aren't. ;)

I just wanted to add another option into his choices. The cheapest isn't always the best choice in the long run, almost never is really. What happens is the person ends up spending twice the the money later when they end up buying the card they should have gotten in the first place.

Happens all the time.

[SandTiger]

Originally posted by Beeblequix
It's always easier to spend other people's money...

I'd venture a query for you: what kind of games do you plan on playing with your new video card?


I Plan to play just about every game i can get my grubby little hands on. I am a Major FPS (first person shooter, not frames per second) demi-god. But i will play just about anything. With the exception of true role playing games or MMPORG's. But anything else goes.

[Dave Myers]

Sand,

For relatively unbiased reviews of hardware, try any or all of the following:

www.anandtech.com
www.tomshardware.com
www.xbitlabs.com
www.motherboard.org
www.extremetech.com

I wouldn't go to any manufacturers web sites except for the purpose of checking out the FAQ section for a product. If there is a bible of info for problems with the product, you may want to reconsider purchasing it.

In a nutshell, you have to ask yourself how much do you want to spend. Once you know that, get whatever fits your needs. You could build a decent performing system for about $500 if you recycle your old components and OS. Like some of the other posts here, I have had good experience with newegg.com. I wouldn't buy top of the line anything, since it will cost $100 less in 3 months. I think that's a law for tech economics.

BTW, I have heard nothing but horror stories about ME. Go to the windows update page at microsoft.com and download whatever updates are avalible.

Good luck

D

[SandTiger]

Thanks for everybody's help. I have decided what I am going to do. I am going to buy the Geforce 4 Ti4400. I dont know when though. In a month or two i am going to rebuild a complete system. I will be out of college for the summer and will be getting more hours from work$$$$. My other hobby will be put on hold (DVD's and my home entertainment system :)) untill i get a new computer built. I may buy all the the components at once.. or the the vid card first then the rest after. I will not be getting top of the line.. as its overpriced.

I am now going to start a new thread possibly in the motherboard forum, to get people's opinions. Im gonna read a backlog of posts first to see if what i want is already posted.