Need Hardware Recommendation

[moreau]

Ok.

I am contemplating upgrading my work vid card, and since G400 is AGP only, (the 440FX chipset didn't come with AGP slots ) I'm at a bit of a loss.

You see, here at work we are right on the backbone, and so I get screeching internet access. Also, even though my hardware is old, it is a dual PPro, which in Q3A I figure should be able to hold its own, except maybe in the biggest frag fests. But a celery 400 w/my g400 at home does decent, even with normal settings at 800x600.

So, do I, gasp, consider a pci voodoo3? rumor has it they've improved their 2D quality enough to make it a reasonable choice.

Thoughts are greatly appreciated.

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Home System:
G400 DH 32MB, PD 5.30, bios 1.5-22, TGL 1.0
RR-G, VidTools 1.51
Win98SE, DX 4.07.00
Celeron 400@500, Asus P3B-F 1.01A, Bios 1004
256MB PC100, CTX VL710, SBLive Value, liveware 3.0
Promise Ultra66 w/1xWD136BA + 1xWD205BA

Work System:
Dual PPro 200 w/256k cache, Intel Providence PR440FX w/onboard UW SCSI, bios # 1.00.08
128MB 60ns buffered asyncronous ECC DRAM
9.1GB IBM Ultrastar 18ES UW SCSI
Number Nine Imagine 128 Series II, 4MEG
Hitachi SuperScan Elite 17
WinNT 4.0 SP6

[moreau]

Not that I ever play games at work...

[Scytale]

Since you are running NT4 at work (where moreau doesn't ever play games, no sir), a Voodoo card like the V3 will probably be the best choice if only because of GLide.

[Jorden]

Why not stick in (your) (an) old G200 PCI??
Even with its 8Mb I got to 1024x768, even in games, which you don't play at work, sure

Just an option!

Jorden.
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Got an ATi?? Ouch....

[paulcs]

I found the 2D quality of the Voodoo3 to be more than acceptable, and better than the TNT and TNT2. (Just my opinion. I haven't seen the GeForce.) In fact, when the board first game out, people were surprised by the 2D quality. I got the feeling 3dfx was surprised as well. I didn't see or hear anything about this from 3dfx until people started complimenting them about it.

It's not a Matrox board, however, and I think you'll notice the difference. I don't know how good the V3's NT support is. There is no "official" W2K support, as far as I know, although hack are available.

Just to get this back on topic, has anyone seen a G400 and a PCI Voodoo3 in the same machine? TurboGL is probably out of the question, but it might be a good solution for those who just don't want to play UT in D3D or have a lot of Glide based games.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 04 February 2000).]

[Jorden]

Well, Paul, since he's got no G400 at work, you kinda missed his point of asking

Re-read his work-combo, please??

Jord.

[Bohrn]

Throw in a couple of V2 12meg cards. In SLI with your good quality 2D card, you would have a great setup. Especially when multiprocessing in games comes to the forefront. These V2s are cheap now and you get glide,d3d and ogl. I like my G400 better, but if ya gotta go PCI, do it.

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AsusP2B ,iCeleron525(7x75), 128megs PC100, G40032megSH, Yamaha PCI sound, 2 small HD's, 42X Sony CDrom and 98SE w/shutdown patch, PD 5.41 w/Turbo MCD and beta ICD

[DosFreak]

I can't believe someone recommended a G200 8mb over a Voodoo3???!!! SOMEONE here is really obsessed with Matrox cards! Come on people someone asks for a recommendation of a video card and you recommend a G200 over a Voodoo 3!!! Geesh. Anyways I'm using a Voodoo 3 AGP on a PIII-450 in NT4 at work right now. Unreal Tournament runs fine in glide and Quake 3 runs good too. Ummm...or at least that's what I've heard.

I am now a Voodoo freak! I have a Matrox G400 SH OEM 32m AGP in my home computer.

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C:\DOS
C:\DOS\RUN
\RUN\DOS\RUN

[DosFreak]

Ooopppss....I meant I am NOT a Voodoo freak!! heheheh. DEFINETLY NOT!

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C:\DOS
C:\DOS\RUN
\RUN\DOS\RUN

[DosFreak]

Ooopppss....I meant I am NOT a Voodoo freak!! heheheh. DEFINETLY NOT!

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C:\DOS
C:\DOS\RUN
\RUN\DOS\RUN

[DosFreak]

Ooopppss....I meant I am NOT a Voodoo freak!! heheheh. DEFINETLY NOT!

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C:\DOS
C:\DOS\RUN
\RUN\DOS\RUN

[Scytale]

Yeah, we got the message

[Thundrchez]

As much as I hate to say it, the PPro has passed by its glory days for gaming. It just can't keep up good enough for today's more intense gaming such as Q3A or Unreal Tournament. I have never played around with a dual cpu PPro board, and theoretically Q3A supports dual cpu under NT, right? Maybe Q3A will be a bit better, but do not expect super spectacular framerates.

My experience with a G200 under NT4 with Q3 was not too good. The framerate was good at points, and awful in other points, and this was on a dual celery 333 oc'd to 92MHz FSB.

I've played UT in win9x on a PPro 200 + V3. Not so fun.

In the best bang for the buck level, an oem PCI V3-2000 might be your best bet to crank out a few more fps.

[impact]

V3, especially with the Wicked-3D drivers. Screaming fast. There is usually no problem hitting 90 - 100 fps. And on a decent inet connection, I think you're gonna 0wn!

[Livius]

If Q3 or UT is the reason for your question than don't get a G200. I have one overclocked at 120/160 on a Celeron 500 and it's lousy in both games. Either add a Voodoo3 PCI or a couple of V2's. My SLI setup is more than decent in both cases.

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Celeron 500, Soyo 6BA+ IV, 128MB PC100, Mill G200 SDRAM 8MB @ 120/160, V2 SLI, SB Live!, Quantum FB CX 10GB UDMA 66