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Should I get the 8MB upgrade?

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  • Should I get the 8MB upgrade?

    I just recently started to become interested in my matrox card... I have a G200 AGP with 8MB SDRAM, with the aid of a Monster 3D II.

    After I installed pd 5.25, I found myself averaging about 112fps. Which is almost silly.

    I want to upgrade my visuals- without buying another card, I love the combo and dont want to a sacrifice my current FPS. So I was thinking of getting the 8MB upgrade available for my G200...... should I?


    If so- what will this help? The info on it said it will increase resolution in 16bit, and in 24 bit. But I only use 16 bit (OpenGL) and run everything else 32 bit.


    I would really like to achieve an OPENGL resolution of 1024x760 with my current set up. If anyone has any info on how, or what the 8MB upgrade will do for me- please let me know...I wanna get that shyt today

    a digital display of evolution
    (G200 with aid of Diamond Monster 3D II-SLI)

  • #2
    It won't do anything for you, unless you want to increase 2D resolution, color depth and refresh rate. Your 112 FPS (you don't say what game, res, color, etc.) is most likely the result of the V2 card. In other words, your G200 is just sitting there, and the V2 is playing the game. Adding 8 megs to a card that's not being used, will do nothing.

    Even the games you do play with the G200 really aren't going to benefit by an increase in memory. I suggest you save your cash, and go for a G400 when you're ready.

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    • #3
      Really? I thought the G200 was pushing into the V2 and I was seeing the effects of both together? So you really dont think the memory increase will benefit?


      I average 112fps in Half-Life running OpenGL (miniGL) at 16 bit. It looks good, but I want 1024x760 graphics in OpenGl... Or smoother Direct3D performance.


      I appreciate that- does anyone oppose?
      a digital display of evolution
      (G200 with aid of Diamond Monster 3D II-SLI)

      Comment


      • #4
        Hey DigitalW...,

        I have the 8MB SGRAM upgrade module just sitting around not being used (took it out before giving my G200 to a friend). Anyway if your interested I'll make ya a deal you can't refuse. Email me....

        Paul
        "Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself"

        Comment


        • #5
          There's no way your G200's churning out 112 FPS. Ok, maybe at 320x200 you'll get 112 FPS. Maybe...

          Oh, you will get 112FPS out of most things if you're staring at a wall tile. :-)

          The RAM upgrade will make it more difficult to overclock the G200. Ok, I did the unthinkable and replaced my G200's heat sink with a TennMax Lasagna fan/heatsink combo. After about three tries and a double-layer of thermal tape, it held (upside-down) on my G200. At least it ran at 80Mhz with no problem.

          Just my $0.02
          The pessimist says: "The glass is half empty."
          The optimist says: "The glass is half full."
          The engineer says: "I put half of my water in a redundant glass."

          Comment


          • #6
            no shit. It really is: I was going to let you guys know...


            A few posts back I made some bold statments about FPS, and how important it is to ME when I play. and everyone had the same response... "quality over speed" and then someone suggeested I try D3D, and take a look- It was 10x better looked fukin great! FPS dropped by half but it was beautiful....


            I was wondering--- did the G200 contribute to that- seeming the way I have it set up?


            a digital display of evolution
            (G200 with aid of Diamond Monster 3D II-SLI)

            Comment


            • #7
              FYI... The clock speed on the G200 will default back to 89MHz when you add the extra 8MB. So it will make overclocking the G200 very difficult.

              Paul
              "Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself"

              Comment


              • #8
                DigitalWelfare,

                I think you misunderstand how your G200 and V2 work. They are both 3D accelerators so either one can be used to play a game, but not both. In other words, you're either playing the game with the G200 OR the V2, simple as that. Some games let you choose which video card before they start. Others just default to one or the other depending on a few factors. In the game you're getting 112fps, I'm assuming the V2 is being used because its the faster of the 2 cards.

                A little more info; the G200 will look better in most any game, as long as you can live with the slower speed. If you can't live with the speed, use the V2 and give up a little on the visuals.

                For example, I use the G200 in Motocross Madness (looks much better than my V2) because it's fast enough where gameplay is smooth at 800x600. In quake2 I use the V2. It doesn't look as nice, but I don't really care because I want as fast a framerate as possible.

                So, what will 8 megs of additional ram for the G200 give you? Probably nothing, in any 3d game you use it for. Conceivably, more memory would allow you to use larger textures on newer games that use AGP, but take my word for it, the framerate would be so slow, you wouldn't even want to use the G200.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Adding 8 megs to a G200 will not help you in any way, as the G200 is pretty much inferior when it comes to speed in 3D to a Voodoo 2 card.

                  Your best bet would be to spend your extra $$$ on another cheap Voodoo 2 card instead, and run it in SLI mode. That way you will be guaranteed faster performance and much higher resolutions.

                  For example, on my V2 SLI rig (CPU AMD K6-2 300)

                  I get about 95 fps at 1024x768 in Quake II.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hey Phlex,

                    Your email address isn't valid I keep getting my response returned.

                    Paul
                    "Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      *Update*


                      Well I keep hearing that the 8MB wont help me, so I eliminated that theory, and ordered another V2 so I can SLI. I just wanted better texture quality.


                      In response to me "not using" my G200....
                      I dont understand. I have the ability to switch which card, and what ever settings I need. for example. I downloaded the BetaGL and installed it. Then chose "default" OpenGl for Half-Life, and tried it@ 1024x760....... It was amazing! I was so geeked that I had it all along, but was just to nieve to test it.

                      So this would have to have been my G200 because I was getting 40fps (opposed to 100+)
                      And the quality was completely diffrent.

                      Therfore I assumed the 8MB would then assist the resolution for my OpenGL using Default. I only play FPS (other than the rayman2demo) hahaha. But they all give me the option on which GLICD I wanna use.

                      So again- is my G200 not being used?

                      I am scared to see what the SLI combo is gonna do... with me achieving 100fps now- well....

                      I also tested out diffrent resolutions from D3D..... I can get above 1024x760 with about 35 fps (which is playable) and it blows away OpenGL on both cards..... go figure.


                      One more question for you guys:

                      I have the option to overclock my V2 to 120mhz each- (its currently@75)


                      what will this do?
                      a digital display of evolution
                      (G200 with aid of Diamond Monster 3D II-SLI)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        everyone must be in the nin forum

                        http://www.nin.com
                        a digital display of evolution
                        (G200 with aid of Diamond Monster 3D II-SLI)

                        Comment

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