Matrox or GeForce & more

[fellone]

Hi guys,

Newbie here...just wondering if a Matrox G400Max or a GEFORCE DDR is feasible for a non 3D gamer like me ? I'm not into CS, Quake 3D ... but into games like StarCraft, C&C, Diablo2...

Is a G400 Max too outdated ?

One more thing...a PIII 700E or a PIII 800E with a price difference of almost $200 ... which is better in terms of performance ?

My system config is as below:

PII300
192 MB PC-100 RAM
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 20.5 GB
SoundBlaster Live Digital

Please shower me with your advices ! Thanks !

 

[RayEarth]

G400max is pretty old, better to wait for the G450 with DDR, or even a G800, don't know when either G450 or G800 will be released, but if the dates are close enough i would say the G800. mostly people complain about problems with geforce & athlons, 3dfx or ati's poor drivers with the rage128, but you hardly see any problems from matrox, i have a creative labs tnt2 ultra & with the latest drivers it still has problems, & it also has problems supporting about the features in ff8 even, i don't plan on wasting any more money on my new cpu but i do plan to change the video card when the g800 is out. I would also say a 700E is better for price & overclocking to 933mhz is very easy if your motherboard supports 133 fsb & you have pc133 ram.

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

umm if you play stratagy games then a fast cpu is a must. what ever video card you get won't really matter.

 

[Goi]

He's right, what you need is a fast CPU and not a video card. Any old video card will do. If you're on a budget, a V3 2000 will do, or a GeForce2 MX should cost around $150 when it comes out(pretty soon I heard). The G400 MAX will soon be discontinued and replaced with the G450, so that's another choice you have.

As for CPU, I think a P3-700E cB0 can pretty much hit the same speed as a P3-800E, so I'd get the 700 and save some money.

 

[ET]

If all you play is 2D games, you can get a $25 card. It depends on what monitor you have and resolution you plan to use, but if it's not more than 1280x1024, an ATI XPERT 98 (Rage XL version) or G200 would be enough. Certainly anything later generation card (except that I hear that Savage based cards have pretty slow 2D).

IMO it's never worth getting the most expensive CPU. Even without overclocking, you usually pay a lot for a little more speed, when at the high end. But that's just me...

 

[fellone]

Thanks guys, think I will be getting a PIII 700E....as for the graphics card, I'm still wondering what to get...

 

[tonyou]

Fellone, actually video cards do matter in the newer strategy games now. If you tried Total Annihilation Kingdoms before then you will know what I am talking about. Not only is that game heavily dependant on CPU power, it also uses quite a bit of video power.

On my roommate's PIII 800MHz computer, there is a noticeable difference in framerates when using a Riva TNT and a Matrox G400. Basically, don't get a card that is too old or cheap. Some previous generation cards that are good for 2D games are Matrox G400, ATI Rage Fury Pro, and Voodoo3's. We haven't tried the GeForce yet, but I would I assume that it's pretty good also.

But everybody that responded to you are right on about getting a good CPU, it's still the most important aspect of your machine. If you can overclock, then I would say get a PIII 700E and pump it up to 900MHz!

 

[fellone]

Kewl...then I had better find a good PIII 700E to o/c it...hehe..

But again, stumbled at which video card...I thought of not getting any older generation cards since this new vid card will have to last me for at least 2-3 yrs before I upgrade it again...

Any suggestions, guys ?