Slightly OT...gaming video card question

Yeah I know I'm kinda OT here but I know there are some gamers here and I
need some video card advice.

Here's the deal. A while back I built my new PC with DVD authoring in mind
so it just has the bare minimum for what I need for that.

Now my old machine (XP2100, 512 meg, Soyo Dragon) is just sitting over there
and I'm starting to miss my games although I'm not a heavy PC gamer. I
mostly game with my consoles but I do miss some PC games.

So here's the question, and keep this in mind..the machine currently has a
GeForce2 Pro that I bought a while back. What is the best, moderately priced
gaming card (around $75) that will be an improvement over what I have?

I see the GeForce FX and ATI 9000's are around $65..are they a major step up
from the GeForce2 Pro?

Keep in mind I'm not a heavy gamer..the newest game I have is GTA3 and I
mostly have older games like Sprint Car Racing, Nascar 2003, the Sim/Tycoon
type games, and some other stuff.

Since I'm willing to spend only $75 or so, should I bother or just keep what
I got?

Thanks!

the best ull get would be radeon 9000 for like 75....but it isnt too
powerful of a card...you should spend about 140 and get geforce ti4200 or
higher...a 75 dollar card will not do much for gaming at all...

"Pug Fugley" wrote in message
link.net...
Yeah I know I'm kinda OT here but I know there are some gamers here and I
need some video card advice.

Here's the deal. A while back I built my new PC with DVD authoring in mind
so it just has the bare minimum for what I need for that.

Now my old machine (XP2100, 512 meg, Soyo Dragon) is just sitting over
there
and I'm starting to miss my games although I'm not a heavy PC gamer. I
mostly game with my consoles but I do miss some PC games.

So here's the question, and keep this in mind..the machine currently has a
GeForce2 Pro that I bought a while back. What is the best, moderately
priced
gaming card (around $75) that will be an improvement over what I have?

I see the GeForce FX and ATI 9000's are around $65..are they a major step
up
from the GeForce2 Pro?

Keep in mind I'm not a heavy gamer..the newest game I have is GTA3 and I
mostly have older games like Sprint Car Racing, Nascar 2003, the
Sim/Tycoon
type games, and some other stuff.

Since I'm willing to spend only $75 or so, should I bother or just keep
what
I got?

Thanks!

"Rabramson1" wrote in message
...
the best ull get would be radeon 9000 for like 75....but it isnt too
powerful of a card...you should spend about 140 and get geforce ti4200 or
higher...a 75 dollar card will not do much for gaming at all...

Thanks. So you think I would just be better off sticking with my GeForce2
Pro for now? At this point I'm not concerned about having the fastest card,
but I want it to do okay for my older games. I realize it's limitations, but
I know nothing about the new cards on the market today. My GeForce 2 Pro was
near the top of the heap when I first got it...2 years ago? Heck I forget!
Seems like from what I'm reading the new GeForce FX cards are not really any
faster.

"Pug Fugley" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Rabramson1" wrote in message
...
the best ull get would be radeon 9000 for like 75....but it isnt too
powerful of a card...you should spend about 140 and get geforce ti4200
or
higher...a 75 dollar card will not do much for gaming at all...

Thanks. So you think I would just be better off sticking with my GeForce2
Pro for now? At this point I'm not concerned about having the fastest
card,
but I want it to do okay for my older games. I realize it's limitations,
but
I know nothing about the new cards on the market today. My GeForce 2 Pro
was
near the top of the heap when I first got it...2 years ago? Heck I forget!
Seems like from what I'm reading the new GeForce FX cards are not really
any
faster.



Go to ebay.com
Find a non-LE version of a Radeon 8500. 64megs will do fine.
Wonderful card for around $65 or so.

Either that or go to www.futurmark.com and go into the Community forums and
look around.

"Sean" wrote in message
news:SUc5b.254555$cF.79900@rwcrnsc53...

"Pug Fugley" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Rabramson1" wrote in message
...
the best ull get would be radeon 9000 for like 75....but it isnt too
powerful of a card...you should spend about 140 and get geforce ti4200
or
higher...a 75 dollar card will not do much for gaming at all...

Thanks. So you think I would just be better off sticking with my
GeForce2
Pro for now? At this point I'm not concerned about having the fastest
card,
but I want it to do okay for my older games. I realize it's limitations,
but
I know nothing about the new cards on the market today. My GeForce 2 Pro
was
near the top of the heap when I first got it...2 years ago? Heck I
forget!
Seems like from what I'm reading the new GeForce FX cards are not really
any
faster.



Go to ebay.com
Find a non-LE version of a Radeon 8500. 64megs will do fine.
Wonderful card for around $65 or so.


That might very well be an option. But is this card honestly $65 faster than
a GeForce 2 Pro 64 meg?

"Pug Fugley" wrote in message
link.net...
Yeah I know I'm kinda OT here but I know there are some gamers here and I
need some video card advice.

Here's the deal. A while back I built my new PC with DVD authoring in mind
so it just has the bare minimum for what I need for that.

Now my old machine (XP2100, 512 meg, Soyo Dragon) is just sitting over
there
and I'm starting to miss my games although I'm not a heavy PC gamer. I
mostly game with my consoles but I do miss some PC games.

So here's the question, and keep this in mind..the machine currently has a
GeForce2 Pro that I bought a while back. What is the best, moderately
priced
gaming card (around $75) that will be an improvement over what I have?

I see the GeForce FX and ATI 9000's are around $65..are they a major step
up
from the GeForce2 Pro?

Keep in mind I'm not a heavy gamer..the newest game I have is GTA3 and I
mostly have older games like Sprint Car Racing, Nascar 2003, the
Sim/Tycoon
type games, and some other stuff.

Since I'm willing to spend only $75 or so, should I bother or just keep
what
I got?

Thanks!


Do you plan on buying any newer games? If not, are you having problems with
the games you currently have? If they play smoothly on your current setup,
then I would say stick with what you got. An FX5200 or ATI 9000 would be an
improvement, but I couldn't say if it's a $70 improvement as I've never
owned a geforce2. I recently upgraded from a 32 meg TNT2 ultra to a 128 meg
Ti4200 ($120) and it was a huge performance increase. I probably should have
waited for the FX 5600 ultra's to come down in price, but by then, something
else would have been on the horizon. I kept telling myself that when the
ti4200's got down into the low $100's I would get one. There are some decent
video card reviews over at tomshardware.com, take a look at those.

SoF


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"Pug Fugley" wrote in message
news

"Sean" wrote in message
news:SUc5b.254555$cF.79900@rwcrnsc53...

"Pug Fugley" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Rabramson1" wrote in message
...
the best ull get would be radeon 9000 for like 75....but it isnt too
powerful of a card...you should spend about 140 and get geforce
ti4200
or
higher...a 75 dollar card will not do much for gaming at all...

Thanks. So you think I would just be better off sticking with my
GeForce2
Pro for now? At this point I'm not concerned about having the fastest
card,
but I want it to do okay for my older games. I realize it's
limitations,
but
I know nothing about the new cards on the market today. My GeForce 2
Pro
was
near the top of the heap when I first got it...2 years ago? Heck I
forget!
Seems like from what I'm reading the new GeForce FX cards are not
really
any
faster.



Go to ebay.com
Find a non-LE version of a Radeon 8500. 64megs will do fine.
Wonderful card for around $65 or so.


That might very well be an option. But is this card honestly $65 faster
than
a GeForce 2 Pro 64 meg?


http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1024

Here's a review. (old) It adds in a GeForce 2.

Remember, with the newer cards "faster" is a broad term. Faster HOW? My
Radeon 9700 Pro might only be 30% faster in Quake 3 than my older Radeon
8500, but if i add in 4xAA and 8xAF, its a lot faster with more features
added into the mix! A lot of cards can run pretty much anything 30+ frames
per second. But not all can do it with 4xAA and 8xAF applied. And there's
also Directx 8.1 compatibility, as well as Directx 9.0.

And a GeForce FX5900 versus your GeForce 2....well, there is no comparison
when considering new games. But for your older games, how fast do you want
Quake 3 to run? anything above 60FPS is pretty much unnoticeable....wether
it be 90FPS on your GeForce 2, or 250FPS on the GeForceFX.

As for $65 faster than a GeForce 2...i'm the wrong guy to ask that question.
I don't mind spending $350 upgrading my video card. Also, sell the GeForece
2 for ~$30 on ebay, then its only $35 to upgrade.

Also, a radeon 8500 is faster than a radeon 9000. Don't ask why, ATI was
just stupid that way.

will do fine.
Wonderful card for around $65 or so.


That might very well be an option. But is this card honestly $65 faster
than
a GeForce 2 Pro 64 meg?


http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1024

Here's a review. (old) It adds in a GeForce 2.

Remember, with the newer cards "faster" is a broad term. Faster HOW? My
Radeon 9700 Pro might only be 30% faster in Quake 3 than my older Radeon
8500, but if i add in 4xAA and 8xAF, its a lot faster with more features
added into the mix! A lot of cards can run pretty much anything 30+
frames
per second. But not all can do it with 4xAA and 8xAF applied. And
there's
also Directx 8.1 compatibility, as well as Directx 9.0.

And a GeForce FX5900 versus your GeForce 2....well, there is no comparison
when considering new games. But for your older games, how fast do you
want
Quake 3 to run? anything above 60FPS is pretty much
unnoticeable....wether
it be 90FPS on your GeForce 2, or 250FPS on the GeForceFX.

As for $65 faster than a GeForce 2...i'm the wrong guy to ask that
question.
I don't mind spending $350 upgrading my video card. Also, sell the
GeForece
2 for ~$30 on ebay, then its only $35 to upgrade.

Also, a radeon 8500 is faster than a radeon 9000. Don't ask why, ATI was
just stupid that way.


Now I remember why I got away from computer gaming and bought an Xbox and a
Gamecube!

"Pug Fugley" wrote in message
hlink.net...
will do fine.
Wonderful card for around $65 or so.


That might very well be an option. But is this card honestly $65
faster
than
a GeForce 2 Pro 64 meg?


http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1024

Here's a review. (old) It adds in a GeForce 2.

Remember, with the newer cards "faster" is a broad term. Faster HOW?
My
Radeon 9700 Pro might only be 30% faster in Quake 3 than my older Radeon
8500, but if i add in 4xAA and 8xAF, its a lot faster with more features
added into the mix! A lot of cards can run pretty much anything 30+
frames
per second. But not all can do it with 4xAA and 8xAF applied. And
there's
also Directx 8.1 compatibility, as well as Directx 9.0.

And a GeForce FX5900 versus your GeForce 2....well, there is no
comparison
when considering new games. But for your older games, how fast do you
want
Quake 3 to run? anything above 60FPS is pretty much
unnoticeable....wether
it be 90FPS on your GeForce 2, or 250FPS on the GeForceFX.

As for $65 faster than a GeForce 2...i'm the wrong guy to ask that
question.
I don't mind spending $350 upgrading my video card. Also, sell the
GeForece
2 for ~$30 on ebay, then its only $35 to upgrade.

Also, a radeon 8500 is faster than a radeon 9000. Don't ask why, ATI
was
just stupid that way.


Now I remember why I got away from computer gaming and bought an Xbox and
a
Gamecube!



Some people have the stomach or wallet for it, others don't. For me, its
bad, because I'm an enthusiast when it comes to technology. Expensive
hobby, I know. =)

Also, a radeon 8500 is faster than a radeon 9000. Don't ask why, ATI
was
just stupid that way.


Now I remember why I got away from computer gaming and bought an Xbox
and
a
Gamecube!



Some people have the stomach or wallet for it, others don't. For me, its
bad, because I'm an enthusiast when it comes to technology. Expensive
hobby, I know. =)


I right there with you, just not on the video cards

I was an early adopter of laserdiscs, DVD's, and then DVD recorders and
because of that I do buy the lastest and greatest processors, motherboards,
and RAM but I keep sticking with my Sapphire/ATI VIVO card for that. I'm
wanting to put together a gaming machine, but it's very confusing now. I had
a 3dfx Orchid Righteous 3d, then Canopus/3dfx Pure 3d, then a 3dfx Voodoo 3.
3dfx bit the dust and I got my GeForce2 Pro. Back then it was simple, just
get the fastest card. Now ATI has 100 different models, the 8000 is faster
than the 9000...Nvidia has 400 different cards...MX, Ti, FX...A Geforce2 Pro
is faster than a GeForce4MX but not a Ti and both beat the FX....GOOD GOD!
What happened to having a simple scale of cards!?!!!?!?!