Video Card Suggestions

[ModelMaker1]

Hi,
I'm looking to update my video card from a voodoo 3000 32mb AGP card to maybe a nVIDIA FX 5200 128MB DDR VGA TV DVI 8X AGP NE. (or something similar)
I have a chaintech 7AJA2 socket A board with the folling specs:
1.0 ghz
windows 98
200/266MHz FSB
VIA KT133A
Video: AGP2X/4X
390 or so RAM

my question is will an 8x agp card work?
and if not could you suggest a 128mb card that will work with this board. Some suggestions for a motherboard that supports 8x agp would be appreciated also. Thanks!

[Tweb]

Not bad card but you might wanna go up to a more powerfull card, at newegg.com you can get a FX 5900 non ultra for under $200 an if u have some glide games you can also get a FREE glide rapper for the FX cards at http://www.glidos.net/, I still play Red Baron 3D an it looks just as good as my old VD3 card but with awsome FPS as compared to the voodoo.

8x AGP cards are backwards compatible > 4x - 2x
My MB is only 4x AGP but my FX 5900 8x works like a charm @ 4x.

[Someone Stupid]

Sigh, look at the rest of his system, a 5900 or even a 5700 would be overkill. Why is almost everybody that is left recommending nvidia's FX series braindead ATM?

MM: A G4 ti series card would be a more logical upgrade if you wish to stick to nvidia. It runs as well as the 5200 FX in D8.1 (maybe better actually) and in D9 the 5200 isn't strong enough at all to really run D9 games with D9 features enabled. As for the 5900 aforementioned, you would need a complete system upgrade to justify the purchase. Save 100 to 130 dollars and pick up a 75 dollar G4 4xxx Ti series card which would be the highest I'd go with the system you have.

[iceblue]

A Ti 4200 would work, but the CPU wouldn't allow the fullest potential of the card. At this moment, however, it is still the best buy in that price range.

[Plaster]

His system may not push the ti4200 to it's limits but it will certainly benifit from it. I scored over 6000 in 3dmark 2001 with a ti4200 64mb in an Athlon 1GHz system. It had SDRAM and the same Via KT133A chipset. The two previous cards were a V3 2000 (scored about 900) and a GF2ti (scored about 1800). Just keep the res at 800x600 or 1024x768 and the ti4200 will work fine. It will be a monsterous improvement over your current card.

As for the 5900? It probably won't even work in that PC.

[bob05]

I hafta agree with everyone else, the Ti 4200 is a good bet: http://www.amamax.com/ingeti12ddr8.html :t

[Death To Mel]

I disagree the 5900 would work just fine in that system and in the future as you upgrade your CPU you won't have to worry about the video card. Sure it will be bottle necked by the stats of your system now... but dispite what people say, the better the video card the better performance you will get. Just the bottleneck won't let it perform to the full extent it could.

Regards: Richard

[bob05]

Originally posted by Death To Mel
I disagree the 5900 would work just fine in that system and in the future as you upgrade your CPU you won't have to worry about the video card. Sure it will be bottle necked by the stats of your system now... but dispite what people say, the better the video card the better performance you will get. Just the bottleneck won't let it perform to the full extent it could.

Regards: Richard

Didn't think about that. If you plan to upgrade soon, go with a 5900. If not (or you just want to save money) go with a Ti 4200. :t

[Someone Stupid]

Read Beyond3d.com and educate your brain. He'd have to upgrade the 5900 after about a year's time anyhow. As of now all PS 2.0 instructions are broken down to 1.1, trilinear filtering isn't an option, and other optimizations have been made. If he's gonna blow a wad of cash for a card he won't need to upgrade soon ATI is the route to go. When teh NV40 come out then nvidia will have a D9 solution, as of now they have a D9 solution that can't run D9, but can' run 9 as 8.1.

Nvidia responds to criticism well, the G4 wasn't programmable enough, the FX was overly programmable (to the point it hurt it as cuts to shaders had to be made). I'm sure they'll have that fixed and their next release teh 6000 will be a fine card, just the current FX series can't handle true D9 under D9 pathways especially once you start throwing AA/AF at them, sorry but that is fact. Read up on how the cards work and you'll see why it would be a bad investment for the future per se.

The 4200 is overkill but it is the best option for him.

[ModelMaker1]

Thanks for the info to my video card woes. I have decided to upgrade my system and retire this board to my kids pc. I have searched several sites looking at boards and want to make sure i get something that will support the video card i would like to install. There are sooo many choices(sockets, slots etc..). I might need to post this in motherboards since my problem is now a motherboard issue instead of video but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[RamonGTP]

If you're upgrading the entire system... Can't go wrong with an ATI 9800 Pro