g400max

[Oracle]

i have a 333p2 is this good enough for the g400 max??

oracle

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MUHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!

[Kruzin]

I would go with a regular G400. The Max doesn't show much performance difference at the resolutions you would need to run at with that processor...

[Oracle]

well im planning 2 get a cely 300A and o/c it 2 450/500

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MUHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!

[Oracle]

does the max have fan on it >>?

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MUHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!

[Damien Green]

To be honest, you would be better off getting a low end PIII or Athlon.

The Matrox cards perform far better when used in conjunction with the latest processors - mainly due to the Pentium's SIMD (is that right - memory block cannot remember the acronym) instruction set and the Athlon's 3DNOW.

PIII 450's are relatively cheap now - and in the majority of cases easily overclock to 500mhz or even upwards of 600mhz if you're lucky.

I've have three systems - a Celeron 466 @ 525 a PIII 450 @ 550 and an Athlon 800 @ 800 (no overclocking here - its a network server).

We'll forget about the Athlon for the moment. When I tested my G400 MAX in the other systems - the PIII showed about a 40% improvement when compared to a Celeron of similar speed. This has a marked effect on games - making them far smoother and more playable.

Of course with the Athlon, the results with a G400 MAX are stunning - even though the sheer speed of the CPU means that the raphics card becomes the bottleneck!

[CannyOne]

I'd have to agree with Damien on this Oracle. I've tried similar combos, a C366@550 and a P3-450@558, and the SSE Instructions of the P3 have a remarkable impact. Right now though prices are falling like crazy in the Athlon sector, on both processors and motherboards. You might consider that as an option. However, if you can only afford a newer Celeron and M/B just get the G400 "Vanilla". With luck you will get one that has good RAM and can overclock that to the same speed as the MAX. If your luck isn't that good, you will still have very good performance at lower resolutions.

[This message has been edited by CannyOne (edited 01 March 2000).]

[Oracle]

well being that it may the pent 3 450/500 r still expensive in the uk bout £150+ whic i simply dont have due 2 the purchase of the card... so i will have 2 look for a cheaper alternative BTW i thought the p3 was multiplier locked so how would u overclock it???
and wouldnt i have 2 get 100mhz ram 2 ?+ where can i get processors cheaper ???

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MUHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!

[Snake-Eyes]

The P3's are multiplier locked, and you would need to also have (or purchase) at least PC100 RAM for them (unless you're one of the lucky few with PC66 that will work at 100).

To overclock the P3's, as with most later P2's (also mult. locked), you raise the front side bus speed instead. In the case of the P3-450, it goes UP from 100Mhz to 124Mhz in my box, giving me a final clock speed for the processor of 558. Some have motherboards that support the 129Mhz FSB setting, and have gotten 580 pretty easily, too. And a few really lucky individuals have managed to get the 450 to over 600 (620, if my memory serves).

Anyhow, a regular G400 should work fine for you until your ready for a much faster processor, and like the others said, many of the standard G400s will overclock to the same settings the Max uses anyway.

Good luck with whatever you end up with.

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Ace

[Oracle]

ah but isnt raising the fsb dangerous i killed 1 hd by raing the fsb 2 75/80

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MUHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!

[Snake-Eyes]

On most of the more recent motherboards that allow the FSB to be raised, the PCI mult can be set as well (either independently, or as part of the FSB setting). For instance, on my BE6, I can choose from either 124(1/3) or 124(1/4). The number in parenthesis is the multiplier (of the FSB setting) to use for the PCI bus. Using the 1/4 setting still doesn't give me a standard 33Mhz PCI setting, but it doesn't overclock it either (and it's still pretty close, anyway, at 31Mhz).

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Ace

[Oracle]

ah but i dont want 2 raise tthe fsb so, the only way im gonnna do it is o/c a cely

this said a cely cant compare 2 a p3 500
but it will over a boost when compared 2 a p2 333 (cpu i use now) eh??

Oracle

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MUHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!

[DukeP]

Oracle, Stop a moment here...

U P333 is not clocklocked, as far as I rember.. (Mine wasnt).
Get some pc100 (or 133)ram and clock Ur processor at 100x4. Should be rock solid. This will work fine with any G400 card.

All new processor from Intel are clocklocked now. Even the celerons. Only way to OC them, is through the frontbus. I run my PIII450@558 (124 on th fsb), No Problem.

Good luck!

[Oracle]

well raising the fsb killed my 6.4gb hd so i dont want 2 do that do i ?
Oracle

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MUHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!

[Mark F]

Warning Will Robinson......

Celerys are clock locked too. So you would have to boost the FSB. And. unless you have one that will run at 100MHz FSB, your PCI will be out of speck.

Mark F.

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