what's a good video card for a slightly older system?

[Psylocke]

i'm looking for a "budget" video card for one of my older systems.

here are the specs:
AMD k6-2 200hmz
15 " monitor
64mb RAM
-i dont play alot of games but i should be able play quake 2 or 3
-looking for a video card that will last me for awhile (years)

i had these cards in mind.
3dfx voodoo3 3000 16m (alot of ppl are telling me to buy this one)
riva tnt2 32m (dont know much about this card)
tnt m84 32m (heard it was bad)
diamond stealthIII s540 32m (dont know much about this either)

now u know the price range, i need suggestions from ppl that know what they are talking about.

[Warthog]

.....I will survive....As long as......I've got all my life to live....all my love to live........

sorry...just listening to some classics....of which I don't know the words to....

anyway, this should be in the Video Cards forum and I would get the Voodoo.
http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Warthog

[This message has been edited by Warthog (edited 08-19-2000).]

[LordFartbag]

I have always heard the Voodoo cards were best for older systems, particularly k6 as it seems to compensate somehow for the weak fpu.

[Solidus]

I would get a voodoo banshee. they are good cards, and cheap, but getting hard to find. www.SOFTWAREANDSTUFF.COM (http://www.SOFTWAREANDSTUFF.COM) has one for only $35 + $6 shipping.

[OuTpaTienT]

I'd steer clear of a Banshee. The V3 is gonna be your best choice. (& that's coming from someone that hates 3dfx.)

BTW, your CPU must be a K6/200, no such thing as a K6-2/200. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[Dave2]

I wouldn't invest any money in that system. Even with the fastest video card that system would still be too slow for todays games. If you really want to play games on that system a used 12MB V2 would give it the ability to run today's 3D accelerated games despite the slowness. You can probably find a used one for around $30-35.

[skywalker[TSG]]

i would get a old maxtor card
for instance the G220 millenium II 8mb on PCI

great card max res 1920x1600 16bit colour 65hz

[Psylocke]

well thanks for the suggestions.

i think i might go for a v3 3k (despite the review sysopt.com gave it). what about a v3 2k? and nobody talked about the tnt2. i heard the banshee wasn't all that great.

heh, yea i dont think there's a k6-2 200.

btw warthog, i had that song stuck in my mind as well.

[Dputiger]

I'd go for the V3 2K. You'll notice NO difference in performance on your machine between it and the 3K....


Which leads me to my next point. Unless you've got a slow CPU sitting in a good motherboard, I wouldn't bother upgrading this machine at all. A good video card WILL get you Quake II at a decent frame rate, but not Quake III. Trust me: Five months ago I was trying to play Quake III on a K6-266 w/64 Meg of RAM and a Voodoo 2. It'll play, but you won't really enjoy it.

If I were you I'd save up your dollars. Three hundred dollars will get you a Duron, a good motherboard, and a video card like the V3 2K. This is still a low-end system and is video-card limited, but it'll pound the snot out of what you've got.

Oh yes: Stay away from the M64 and the TNT2. Your processor is far to weak to take advantage of the M64/TNT2's 32-bit color mode and the V3 will be faster in 16-bit.

If you DO upgrade your full system the GeForce MX would be a great option for a video card and will cost about $50 more than the V3 after rebate.

[GhostAgent]

I am selling a Velocity4400 (TNT 16mb), someone already offered me $30... so if they change their mind I'll sell it to you if you want it.

[Psylocke]

well i think i kinda have to buy a v3 2k now since i just found out this crappy motherboard doesn't even have an AGP slot.

i was planning on networking some working computers together (hopefully a good experience). i'm trying to get this system working at a tolerable level.

[KAknight]

S3 cards are great in older systems. I'm not sure oif the price though.

[Axel]

I run both the agp and pci version of the voodoo 3 2k cards and haven't had a problem. Take that with a grain of salt as I play strategy games which don't require a bunch of speed.

I've got one in an AMD 266 system - that's the PCI card and the other in a pentium 550 system. Got both off Amazon for a reasonable price.

Plus, if you ever get the extremely wild hair to add a DVD to that system ( As DAVE2 said - that box ain't really worth it ) the video card will do it.

Another thing which will make a difference is the quality of your monitor. I'm running HP Ultra 1280 17" monitors on mine and they look great to me - bought them used for $80 ea.

[Psylocke]

thank you all again for helping.
i will probably buy a bigger monitor or a LCD in the near future but it won't be used for this computer.

[fpcorsair]

I have put several 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 cards in PCs for folks. I know there are better cards but for the money (and the slower system) this is the one of the fastest cards out. The Voodoo 3s come in AGP & PCI formats so your good to go. I am runnning a K6III 400 and a V3 2K AGP. My friend is running a K6II 550 with a Diamond S540 Extreme (he says it's 32MB on the card). My 3d test scores are consistantly much higher even though he is running 150MHz faster than I am. (Kinda ticks him off too!) you can get them for around $80-90 with a $30 rebate. The latest drivers 3dfx has made are by far the best yet. So...my choice is a no-brainer...3dfx Voodoo3 2000!

[Dewey-Steve]

I'm writing this on a p200, 96mb ram, v3 2k oc'd to 166 (w/heatsink and fan), 12x CD, 15 gig hd, mx300 and 10/100 lan card. It works for UT, Q3A, and hopefully SOF (it should), but I have spent lots of time tweaking it. Still, such a machine as he talks about is quite possible with that setup, although I would recommend more ram. with a super 7 mb you should be able to get newer,faster ram as opposed to the old edo stuff I have. I would go with the v2 2k becuase all it is is the v2 3k with a lower clock speed. simply add a $7 fan from a 486 fan/heatsink combo from radio shack and it'll be fine. Even Best buy sells the v2 2k for like $70, so a cheap used one should be well, cheap.

[HfdWolfPack]

On my old Gateway w/ an integrated 8meg stb velocity (no AGP) I used a Voodoo3-3K PCI and it ran really good. So Id say go with it.I think it was like $99 w/ a rebate.I forgot cause I returned it and went and got a real Mobo with an AGP slot(unlike gateways cheeeeaaapppp integrated junk)

[This message has been edited by HfdWolfPack (edited 09-01-2000).]