Value Upgrade - Performence wise

[TheCorm]

Greetings,

What sort of performence boost do you think can be gained from doing the following:

Original - Intel Pentium II 400, Riva 128ZX 8mb and 128MB (PC100 cas3)
New Spec - AMD Duron 800, ATI Xpert 2000 32mb and 128MB (PC133 cas2)

I know the Xpert 2000 is a great card but I am thinking that is should still give a fairly noticable performence boost over the old Riva 128.

Cheers,

Corm
nb: upgrade for a friend, not my rig.

 

[Moz]

I would say a fairly large improvement, in raw horsepower itself. I don't know too much about the Xpert card, but you sure you wouldn't be better off looking into a MX, Radeon LE or even a GTS? Depending on what OS he is running you might also want to just grab 256MB (regardless of OS actually, however moreso if you are running NT/2000) which you can get for around $100 these days anyway.

 

[arod324]

Depending on what OS you have:
98 or ME:go with the Radeon DDR LE ($85 shipped from www.newegg.com).
Windows 2K: GTS for about $170 or an MX for about $90-100.

 

[BFG10K]

Your CPU upgrade will give you a big boost but you'll be largely fillrate limited by your Xpert unless you run games at low resolution/low detail settings.

Unless you get at least a GF2 MX or a Radeon LE, you'll be video card limited with that system. Also touching pre-Radeon video cards from ATi is a bad idea.

 

[Hawk]

don't get the Xpert, doesn't do much, wasn't a good card. With a 800, you should at least get a MX or a Radeon LE, like the others have been saying.

 

[hans007]

a radeon LE is probably only $30 or so more . also you can reuse the ram from the old system, it wont run as fast, but if you were really pressed for cash, just use the money you would have spent on ram and get the LE upgrade over the xpert2000

 

[Taz4158]

I have to agree with everyone. The XPERT is a very nasty card if you do any 3D gaming. It has the typical good 2D but you'd be far better off with the LE.

 

[TheCorm]

In the end I have gone for the Radeon VE, only a touch more than the Xpert 2000 and has dual monitor support plus video out plus it doesn't suck at 3d gaming.

Still can't touch the Geforce 2MX but a good value card.

Corm

p.s: whats a Radeon LE???

 

[hans007]

a radeon LE is a regular radeon ddr card, but with no fan on the heatsink, and on a PCB with no ATI markings. Its made with the same layout, and is probably made in the same factories, just like creative lab's geforce OEMs. Hyperz direct3d is disabled but can be enabled in the registry. It also is clocked at only 148/148 vs 166/166 for the ones with fans and ATI markings, but power strip can easily boost this to 183 - 200 mhz without extra cooling

 

[Angus]

for $40 different betwwen RagefuryPro and Radeon32/RadeonLE, is it better to buy the Radeon.
i want to upgrade my old computer and i find a Reatail RagefuryPro for CDN$99 after $60, do you think i should buy a RageFury Pro or Radeon32/Le?

My old computer is K6/2 300 and 128SDRam plus 8MB ATI Xpert98 AGP2x and ATI-tv ISA
will the Radeon or RageFury Pro support my old ATI-TV?

 

[BFG10K]

Also avoid the Radeon VE.

 

[arod324]

DEFINITELY get the Radeon DDR LE over the RageFury Pro. ATI has ABSOLUTELY no driver support for the latter, because it is a "lost cause" IMHO. They are trying to "ignore" the past, and work on Radeon drivers. The Radeon DDR LE is a great card with the BEST performance/price ratio IMHO.

 

[TheCorm]

I think the Radeon VE should be fine, the RIVA 128 that's in there at the moment plays most games okay, it only starts to slow down when playing the more modern games in multiplayer.

I know it won't be anything like a GTS and won't even be able to keep up to my MX but I think the performence/price ratio is good.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

TheCorn:
DON'T DO IT!!!!! BACK AWAY FROM THE VE!

Dude, I don't know what thos POS cost, but you can get a Leadtek GeForce 1 SDR for $69 +S&H on a pricewatch.com dealer.
That damn VE only has 1 freaking pipeline, so we're talking 166mpixel fill rate! This is Voodoo3 level performance!

If you play games AT ALL, do not do this. Why no one else here is helping you on this amazes me. Do you people want to see this guy throw his money down a rat hole?!

I have had a GeForce SDR, and it's a damn fine card. It's performance will BLOW AWAY that VE, or the just as bad expert. Leave ATI alone unless you are going at least to the 32 SDR.

I have owned/used in the last 15 months:
Prophet SDR/Anni2 GTS 32MB/Prophet2 64MB/Prophet2 Pro 64MB (current)
ATI Rage Fury MAXX/Radeon 32DDR/Radeon 64VIVO
I have some idea how "modern" vid cards run games, do not want to see you ripped off by ATI on the VE.

 

[arod324]

I think you should not get the Geforce SDR, because it is slower than both the Geforce2MX and Geforce DDR, and is not that much cheaper. However I think that the Radeon DDR LE is your best choice. It is now only $82 shipped from www.newegg.com and will beat the Geforce MX, Geforce DDR, and Geforce SDR. It will come close and beat the gts in some of the high resolution 32 bit color tests. But I think this is a PHENOMENAL deal, because it is half the price of the cheapest GTS's around. THe cheapest GTS I can find is from microbarn.com and it is about $160 or so.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Arod:
I'll buy that. I don't think the very slight performance difference between the SDR and MX would be noticeable, and the MX is $10-$20 more, but it would be a better card.
ANYTHING is a better card than that Radeon VE. Jesus. 1 pipeline on a 2001 video card.

 

[XGamer]

Hes right, Why would you want such an old card as the Geforce1 sdr? The very cheapest card I would get is a Geforce2 MX, they are only $79, and are significantly faster than a Geforce1 sdr. Why would you want to waste yer cash on something already outdated and slower? : /

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Xgamer:
Unfortunately, you have grabbed the mothballs, and not the good crack rocks. SIGNIFICANTLY slower?! OK, let's see:
http://www1.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1266&p=9
Woohoo! Q3 10X7X32 38 vs 43fps (MX) That 5 fps will make the difference! You wouldn't be playing Q3 at this res anyway, look at the 8X6.

http://www1.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1266&p=18
Hmm, pretty much a wash at UT.

Also, $79 is 10 more than $69, and no one considering a VE is loaded....

Beyond that, look at his freaking post- are you going to say the SDR is worse than an Xpert or VE? Sheesh, read this stuff before making a fool of yourself.

 

[TheCorm]

Thanks guys, thankfully the VE was not in stock so I am cancelling it and getting a 3D Power Geforce2MX + TV Out, only £10 more too, after looking at the reviews and reading peoples opinions, this seems like a better companion for the duron.

Cheers muchly,

Corm

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Xgamer:
Sorry about the sarcasm. I was drunk as a goat and feeling bucky.

Corn:
Good move.

 

[TheCorm]

I have decided that TV out is not really need so it's only costing £1 more, it's an oem version.

Corm

p.s: corn lol

 

[duragezic]

I would've went with the Radeon LE (then overclocked it to retail speeds and enable Hyper-z ) but the GF2 MX is good too.

 

[XGamer]

Its ok Jethro, I dont get upset from clueless idiots on the internet calling me names.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Nor do I XGamer.