Would a Radeon 9100 PCI be better than onboard?

[BCinSC]

Have a Dell 2400 P4/2.53GHz, 865GV chipset, and 512MB PC2700 RAM, but no AGP slot. Connected to Planar LCD with analog. Deus Ex played OK, but would this PCI card with DVI do better?

 

[CraigRT]

i'd say so.. the 9100 is actually quite decent, esp. for the price.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Anything > Intel Extreme Graphics.

- M4H

 

[BCinSC]

Better than a 7000VE or MX440 I assume? Is 9100 DirectX8.1?

 

[Matthias99]

Yes. Dear God Yes.

The 9100 is actually a RADEON 8500 core with very minor improvements (it uses newer RAM and I believe it runs a bit cooler). It's noticeably better than the 9000Pro (which is essentially a downgraded 8500), which puts the 9100 a notch or two below a GF4Ti4200, but way above almost any other PCI graphics card. Some NVIDIA makers *did* produce some GeForceFX 5600 PCI cards (somewhat better than the 9100), but they're scarce.

It's a DX8.1 part, but not DX9 (the 9600 and up are DX9 cards).

 

[DewDood]

Yes, a lot better.

 

[Harvey]

Any decent vid card will improve your performance because the onboard video uses some of your system RAM. Unless there is no setting in your CMOS to disable the onboard video, a separate vid card will free up that RAM for system use.

I about lost my lunch when my sister and brother-in-law bought a Dell 2400. If you look at the motherboard, the holes for the AGP connector are there, but those fcktards were too cheap to include it. b :disgust:

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Anything > Intel Extreme Graphics.

- M4H

Don't I know it. I have some systems with Intel Extreme Graphics at work and they are really awful.

 

[mrgoblin]

It does say ati on it so immediately its better than the NV thats in your onboard slot. Gf2's are sooo poo

 

[BCinSC]

I bought 2 of the 2400s because they were so dang cheap and I wanted basic systems for wife and mother, but also P4 crunchers for SETI and FAD. I find myself using this one (wife's) more often as it's now the only computer at home, thus the need for better graphics. Just ordered the 9100 from overstock.com per techbargains.com for $49.99. Thanks for the input.

 

[Ionizer86]

Just make sure your 9100 will have a 128MB memory bus. If the bus is 64MB it won't be any faster than an MX440.

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Just make sure your 9100 will have a 128MB memory bus. If the bus is 64MB it won't be any faster than an MX440.

That doesn't make sense. Do you mean an 128-Bit or 64-Bit bus?

-Por

 

[BCinSC]

Well, order page says 128-bit memory path to 64MB DDR RAM. Checking ATI's site now (really slow)

 

[Ionizer86]

Originally posted by: PorBleemo

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Just make sure your 9100 will have a 128MB memory bus. If the bus is 64MB it won't be any faster than an MX440.

That doesn't make sense. Do you mean an 128-Bit or 64-Bit bus?

-Por

Lol, sorry about that. I mean make sure it has a 128 bit bus, and not a 64 bit bus. 128MB cards always have a 128 bit bus, while 64MB cards sometimes have a cut bus.

 

[BCinSC]

Lol, sorry about that. I mean make sure it has a 128 bit bus, and not a 64 bit bus. 128MB cards always have a 128 bit bus, while 64MB cards sometimes have a cut bus.

I wholly disagree with that statement. Got anything to back it up?

 

[BCinSC]

ATI site does not list a 9100 PCI card. Only the IGP.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: mrgoblin
It does say ati on it so immediately its better than the NV thats in your onboard slot. Gf2's are sooo poo

Thanks for confirming that you're just a zealot fanboy/troll. You can leave this thread now, kthxbye.

- M4H

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: BCinSC
ATI site does not list a 9100 PCI card. Only the IGP.

Not even in Discontinued. Nice.

Rest assured they do exist - PCI Graphics Card Shootout by our very own Mloot

- M4H

 

[Matthias99]

They don't list the 9100, but the 8500 (64 and 128MB) is in the most recent Tom's Hardware video review. I don't *think* there is a 64-bit bus version of the 9100 (those are normally "SE" cards, like the 9200SE or 9600SE), though it probably comes in 64- and 128-MB versions.

 

[Drizzy]

My parents bought an e-machine (I know) computer and it runs so damn slow that I am trying to upgrade some things... one thing I'm changing to use a PCI card (no AGP avail) instead of the onboard video. For some reason I can switch it from Onboard to PCI in the BIOS but it still wont turn it off. The onboard video still runs and the Voodoo 2 I have still wont work. Any ideas?

 

[BCinSC]

A VooDoo2 is 3D extension card only - doesn't have 2D VGA chipset, so you'd have to use onboard or second PCI card.

 

[MangoTBG]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
Yes. Dear God Yes.

The 9100 is actually a RADEON 8500 core with very minor improvements (it uses newer RAM and I believe it runs a bit cooler). It's noticeably better than the 9000Pro (which is essentially a downgraded 8500), which puts the 9100 a notch or two below a GF4Ti4200, but way above almost any other PCI graphics card. Some NVIDIA makers *did* produce some GeForceFX 5600 PCI cards (somewhat better than the 9100), but they're scarce.

It's a DX8.1 part, but not DX9 (the 9600 and up are DX9 cards).

Am I wrong in thinking that the 9500Pro is also DX9 compliant?

 

[Ionizer86]

9500 Pro is an awesome card that does DX9. It's better than the 9600 Pro because it has 8 pipelines. Basically just a very small step-down from the 9700.

 

[RagingGuardian]

I still use my R9100 and it still puts out very playable fps in all my current games. As someone mentioned before make sure the memory bus is 128bit. Alot of companies were making 9100 cards with 64bit memory buses which severely cuts the performance of an otherwise very good card.

 

[Mloot]

Originally posted by: RagingGuardian
I still use my R9100 and it still puts out very playable fps in all my current games. As someone mentioned before make sure the memory bus is 128bit. Alot of companies were making 9100 cards with 64bit memory buses which severely cuts the performance of an otherwise very good card.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you see it), Visiontek is the only company that makes a 9100 PCI, of which every one sports a 128-bit interface, and comes with the standard 250/250 core and memory clock speeds.