Good card?

SirThom

New Member
I found a ATI AGP RADEON 9000 PRO 128MB DVI/TV-out for $92. I have a 1333Mhz AMD, 512MB RAM, and an NVIDIA Quadro 2 MXR/EX. Is that a good card for that price and my setup? How big of an upgrade will it be? Most of the 3D games I have don't work, unless its 3+ years old. Should it work better than my old one?

Thanks,
Tommy
 
9000 pro is a crippled 8500. If you're not despirate I'd wait till after the R350, or possibly the next generation. If you can't wait, a 9500 non-pro can be converted to a 9700 with a driver hack.
 
Well, I don't want to dump a jillion bucks on a video card, and I am despirate.

How about a radeon 9100 or a 128MB Geforce4 Ti 4200 AGP 8x DVI TV-out?

-Tommy
 
Radeon 9100 is actually the same card as an 8500, but I'd probably take it over a ti 4200 if I planned to use AF at all.  Also, remember that unless your motherboard supports AGP 8x, that feature is useless because you wont be able to take advantage of it(even if you do, I don't think it gave much of an increase).  You have to keep in mind, if you buy computer equipment that is cheap, you'll just have to upgrade more and you might even spend more in the long run.  I used to buy low end to save cash, but now I figure there is no point in doing so.  If you're strapped for cash, you might not have a choice, but after taxes my card was about $293(that's CANADIAN prices a month ago), and with the conversion it's become a card worth $110 more.  The before tax price of a 9500 non-pro is only about $240 CDN if you know where to look, which is about the same price as a Ti 4200 8x, and is a MUCH better card.

I've not been too impressed with nVIDIA's overpriced cards lately, especially after the GeForce FX fiasco.  I used to want nVIDIA cards, but why would you pay more to get less?  Grab a 9500 non-pro with the 9700 PCB and 128 MB RAM and do the conversion, you'll be glad you did.
 
Ok,

3DMark '03 says that my motherboard only supports up to 4X AGP. Will the card work at 4x?

3DMark '03 also told my that my score is only ~150 and only one of the tests were compatible. Will I get a better score and will more tests open up?

Thanks,

Tommy
 
Yes and yes. 3D Mark 03 is not a good benchmark really, but in comparison I got over 2000 with my system, and the main difference is our video cards.

By the way, I can't seem to respond to your MSN messages. Add me to your list and we'll go from there
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By the way, you're going to need riva tuner or another program to hack the drivers.  I found it difficult, despite having instructions, and had to get my friend to help me.  Good luck if you want to try this!  It's worth it if it works though let me tell ya
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