Advice needed - ATI MAXX - good buy or waste of time

[cyderpunk]

Hi there,
I need some help choosing a budget vid card.
I am building a Duron 600 computer on the FIC mobo (hoping for more speed!...)
Question, I have seen the MAXX (OEM) for £75 UK pounds, which is about the same/a little less than a TNT2 card. I've seen this benchmarked much faster than the TNT2
I run '98 and Linux (SuSE 6.4), and I need info on reliability/compatibility of the card.
I want a card that will work at the end of the day, so do any of you have/know of any issues with this card, or can you recommend a better buy for the money.
I don't usually go for ATIs since they have a bad rep, but...
Running voodoo3 2000 on other PC...
Doesn't need to be state-of, just fast and compatible...

any help appreciated,
cyder

 

[ssjgokou1]

if you have a voodoo 3, then don't bother.

Get a GF2MX or a v4 4500 later on. Unless you could find the maxx for a really cheap price

 

[cyderpunk]

Apologies for the confusion, the voodoo3 is on another PC (and staying there)
I need a cheap card for this new machine, MX and V4 out of price range for this PC.
Need advice on (in)compatibilitly of MAXX VS TNT2 M64(poss. proper TNT2),
The MAXX appears to be really cheap approx £20 ($30) more than the TNT2 M64), but is it a good idea?

cyder

 

[Robor]

I could be wrong but doesn't the MAXX have issues with Win2K (as in it doesn't work)? I know you're running Linux but it's something to consider. If I were buying a budget card I'd get either the V3/2000 or wait a little bit and get the new GeForce2 MX. If you don't want to spend that much on the MX I'd get the V3/2000 over the MAXX. I don't use Linux so I can't speak for drivers on either card.

Rob

 

[cyderpunk]

Thanks for the post Robor, when I saw the price of the MAXX, I went straight to the ATI drivers page, and guess what, no W2K support.
This kinda scares me, as they appear to have dropped support for this card
Latest drivers are also unsupported ('98).
Hmm, I don't really want an ATI due to their drivers "fixing" benchmarks on previous cards, and bad general rep in gaming world, but it "seems" a bargain...
I think I may be doing some self-analysis here...If it seems too-good-to-be-true, it's probably sh*te! :Q

cyder

 

[apoppin]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=192312

 

[ssjgokou1]

apoppin, how's your geforce?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Dude- do NOT waste your time on a MAXX. I tried one out for a few days and found that the legends of uneven framerates+jerky gameplay are true. Worse yet, in UT, D3d, when I would move textures on the walls would distort. Standing still, far off buildings would shift. The planets on the "Facing Worlds" map distorted. :-(

I had a SDR GeForce before my GTS, would take that any day over MAXX.

 

[apoppin]

ssjgokou1, thanks for asking. The Asus 6600 (SGRAM) is overclocked to the max and working very well. It is a noticeable step up from the Rage Fury 32 with better detail and more Frames per sec. It should hold me fine for the next six months or so when the next generation of games require a better vidcard.

(It is especially sweet since I traded something I no longer needed for it. I probably would have bought the MAXX otherwise.)

 

[cyderpunk]

Thanks people, question answered, I knew it was probably a bad idea...
The points go too....oops sorry wrong forum

 

[tonyou]

Well, I think I could offer a little bit of my opinion regarding the ATI Rage Fury MAXX after having had experience with 10 different video cards within the last year....

Some background information: I use Windows 98 second edition and like to play FPS, RTS, and racing games at 1024 x 768 x 32-bit color if possible. I have an iiyama pro 450 19-inch monitor, in which I set my desktop resolution to 1280 x 960 x 32-bit color at 85Hz. Most programs I use are web and graphics related.

The Rage Fury MAXX in overall gaming performance (remember, I like to run in high resolution with all details turned on) is faster than all TNT/TNT2 cards, all Voodoo3 cards, and the Matrox G400 MAX. In video playback, I like ATI's solution the best. In 2D speed, only the Geforce's are faster, Rage Fury Maxx, G400 MAX and Voodoo3 are about the same. In desktop and gaming image quality, Geforce, Voodoo3, and Matrox are better. Compatibility was never an issue for me after the latest Win98 driver update. The Rage Fury MAXX is also one of the coolest running (it came with high quality heatsink/fan) card I've had.

Overall, I would pick the Rage Fury MAXX over other cards right now in the $100 range if I had to choose again.