What's the best Vid upgrade with P3-550, ATI+Voodoo2??

[radman]

I have a P3-450 (OC'd to 558, runs well. My current video setup is a Rage 128-16meg AGP with a Voodoo2 card.
This has served me well, I'm not big into games but I like playing once in awhile.
I saw a buddy's system P2-400 with a generic TNT2(regular OEM) card. UT looked and ran better than mine. He ran it at 800x600 and 1024x768 ... 32bit. I only can go 800x600 - 16 bit with the V2. The ATI (direct x mode) looks ok, but is unplayable even at 800x600.
Should I ditch my current setup and get a TNT2 (ultra??)

I've heard Voodoo 2 in SLI is another possibility.. 16 bit only... Will I notice a difference...

(Keeping up with the Jones' is hurting the pocket book).

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks

[a Bill]

SLI will give you the next higher resolution but that's about it. For similar money you can get a V3 2K or a TNT2 card depending on what you use the system for. ATI kind of stinks for 2d and really stinks for 3d, but that is just my opinion based on what I have seen with my own ATI cards, others might be happy with them. I have a few computers and I use the V3 3500, V2 SLI and Savage Sx something or other 32 meg card http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif those and two ATI cards. I miss my Matrox card, maybe I'll get a G400 for 2d work.

[Spencer]

I would go for the TNT2 Ultra. ATI does suck for 3D and your V2 can't do it all obviously. If you can find a standard TNT2 that isn't an "M64" version, get that and overclock it to Ultra speeds. Alot of the standard TNT2's are nuttered to a 64bit bus instead of the 128bit bus in the Ultra's and the eirlier TNT2's. That's what the "M64" stands for. I had a Creative TNT2 card that ran fine at ultra speeds (150core/183mem) with a card cooler. Good luck. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[BadBen]

You could get a Geforce DDR, the price sould go down soon. I have one on my P3 550 and my UT FPS at 800*600 are 40-65. I used to have a Viper V770 Ultra (TNT2 ULTRA) but it died
http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif My FPS were 25-50 at 800*600.

[radman]

Thanks guys. I think i'll get the TNT2 ultra.
I saw a card with a "TNT2 Vanta" chip are these like the M64's??

[Ruahrc]

radman-

I have been looking around for video cards to upgrade my system as well (I am doing a total revamp: MB, CPU, etc.). Originally I thought upgrading to a TNT2/Ultra would be a good choice since it is still pretty good but not super-expensive. Then I checked the prices, and found that the price difference between TNT2's and the GeForce SDR was so small it was next to nothing (Like $5-10). If you can scrap up a little extra cash, the GeForce is a much better card and that is what I am going for. Anyone agree with me?

Ruahrc

[RobRich]

Ruahrc is right one, as the GF-256 SDR boards can be found for under $130 US. Consiering that a good 32meg TNT-2 Ultra still sells for $80-110, go ahead and get the SDR board. It has higher fill rates, and offers advanced options like hardware T&L.

I would recommend a Viper2, but I give up s3 providing a good quality hardware T&L enabled driver set. It ashame, as these cards can be found for rather cheap prices.

Good Luck,
Robert Richmond