Somewhere on teh intarwebs deimos wrote:
On 12/31/2010 1:20 AM, ~misfit~ wrote:
Hi folks.

I've decided that I *really* have to sort out my collection of
crap... errrr.... my computers and parts. Therefore I'm building as
many machines as I can from my spares collection and taking the rest
of the hardware off to be recycled.

I have a couple of 'integrated' motherboards ranging from PIII to
Skt 775 / C2D. I also have a couple of low-end AGP cards and also
two PCI (not 'e') GeForce 2 / 32MB cards. I'm trying to sort out
which systems would benefit from the PCI cards. Obviously I don't
want to put one in a system that has equal or better integrated
graphics. I was just wondering, dows anyone know of a simple graphics
benchmark
utility that I could use to find out which systems would benefit? I
have various '3DMark' programmes but they're all large and, for my
porpoises, overly-complex. Also, as I intend to sell these systems
as simple 'internet / email' machines I'd rather not install a huge
programme that takes 15 minutes to run, then uninstall it. Orphaned
.dlls and all that.... So, the question: Can anyone recommend a small,
simple and fast
graphics benchmark that would suit my purposes? All machines will be
running XP. The ultimate app for me would be a 'portable' graphics
benchmark tool that doesn't have to be installed, that could be run
from a USB stick. TIA, and happy new year. :-)

To solve this one you don't even really need to benchmark it; the
performance of most Intel integrated graphics chipsets is well known
versus an old stanby like the GF2.

For example; on the P3, I'd bet you have like an i815 or similar type
chipset. That's only about as powerful as an original RivaTNT; so
stick the GF2 in without a doubt (even if it is PCI). Plus it'll
have faster VESA modes anyway.

For the C2D; you might be dealing with the X3100 or something; and
that's a more capable chip that's "almost" DX9 level and still beats
the GF2 in capabilities. Not to mention that you might only have one
or two PCI slots in that board to begin with.

Otherwise the old standby for that generation of graphics cards was
without a doubt 3dMark 2001. It scaled well for CPU speeds, so it was
useful even years later to compare total system performance.

Thanks deimos, I appreciate your reply.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also
into you." Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche