Help me decide

[Sweeper]

System:
Looking for a video card and I just can't make up my mind. Had the ATI Radeon 64meg DDR w/vivo in my hands last night but just couldn't bring myself to buy it. Why? Just want to make sure for that money I will get what I am looking for. I like the idea of video in and out. Would like to increase my framerates but that isn't all I am interested in. I would like nice clear 2D visuals while just surfing or working on the pc as well as clear, smooth 3-D gameplay both visually and framerate wise at 1024x768 + res. Driver friendly. Want to be able to run Quake III, Unreal, without glitches at 1024x768 or higher res. Also, would like to run 32 bit true color instead of 16 bit. So I leave my choice up to you. And the GF3 is to much for my pocket book. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif
System I have now is:
AMD 850 MHz Athlon/T-Bird(not overclocked)
256 PC133 Ram
Maxtor UDMA66 7200rpm 13.6 HD
MSI K7T Pro 2A M.B.
Geforce 2 MX
Sound Blaster Live (value)
Creative 52x CD-Rom
Sony 8x4x32x CD-RW
Sony Trinitron Multiscan E400 19" Flatscreen
Boston Accoustic speakers with sub-woofer.
Thanks,
Sweeper

[Hellmund]

Is the GF2 Ultra in your price range? It'll give you the highest framerates your likely to get without a faster processor. I'd estimate you'd get about 50fps to 60fps on 1600X1200X32 on Q3. A T-bird 1ghz and up can score about 91fps on that resolution with an ultra. From what I understand only the matrox cards have excellent 2D. The radeon and geforce line all tend to have lower quality to the matrox but still have clear crisp displays. Unless you absolutely have to have crystal clear 2D the Radeon and Geforce 2's all are about on par. I'd say the Geforce card would give you better drivers and less trouble as NVIDIA is really quick releasing new drivers and ATI tends to be a little sluggish. The radeon is a great card and will beat a GTS at greater than 1280X1024X32. The Ultra though can beat IT at everything but is more expensive. Hope this helps.