Is K62 with G400 ideal?

[ko196]

I am looking at getting a new graphic card. I have a K6-2-500. I have heard that it is not a good combination because of low frame rates in games. Anybody have a similar combination? I would appreciate your views.

[dsp]

ko196,

I have a similar setup (see sig) and I have to say it isn't all that bad, sure games run slower than other chips but that is more the K6-2's fault. I would say, that a G400 is a very good chip for any system, especially for 2D and it does include very playable 3D for the K6-2 series. But I can't wait until I can by a Duron/Athlon. Until then I'll use my 500 and play UT.

dsp

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AMD K6-2 350@500MHz
128MB Generic PC-133 RAM
13.6GB Maxtor 7200RPM Hard Drive
1.5GB Quantum HD
Toshiba SD-M1212 6X DVD ROM
ACER 2X/2X/6X CD-RW
SB Live Value w/digital out
Matrox G400 32MB Dualhead Vanilla @ 157/210/157
15" Daytek 1531D
PD 6.10
Win 98SE
10Base-T Ethernet card (Realtek 8029)
10/100 Ethernet card (D-Link)
DSL (Yahoo!!!!)
Microsoft Intellimouse Exploerer (YAAAA!!!! finally)

[Nuno]

A k6-2 350 @ 500? That´s a very nice overclocking you got there

[dsp]

Nuno,

Yah just got it up there, when I got my Global WIn FKP-32 (it rocks) I pushed it to 2.8 (scary but who cares) and boom, its running @ 43C (less than my old cheap fans). So I'm happy.

dsp

------------------
AMD K6-2 350@500MHz
128MB Generic PC-133 RAM
13.6GB Maxtor 7200RPM Hard Drive
4.3GB Quantum HD
Toshiba SD-M1212 6X DVD ROM
ACER 2X/2X/6X CD-RW
SB Live Value w/digital out
Matrox G400 32MB Dualhead Vanilla @ 157/210/157
15" Daytek 1531D
PD 6.01
Win 98SE
10Base-T Ethernet card (Realtek 8029)
10/100 Ethernet card (D-Link)
DSL
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer



[This message has been edited by dsp (edited 11 July 2000).]

[ko196]

dsp,

what sort of frame rates r u getting? (eg. quake 3 / UT / etc.)

[dsp]

ko196,

For frame rates I'll give 3 examples, well sort of more like 2. In UT (love it) UTbench.dem says I get about 16FPS at almost any res, but it is for me very playable at almost all levels ranging around 25FPS. Descent 3 Secret2.dem shows a frame rate of 40FPS at 1024*768 with bumpmapping and 32bit z-buffer on. I don't play Quake 3 but ST Elite Forces which is based on the same engine runs very smoothly, but I don't know how exactly to find the rate as I go. Hope this answers the frame rate question.

dsp

------------------
AMD K6-2 350@500MHz
128MB Generic PC-133 RAM
13.6GB Maxtor 7200RPM Hard Drive
4.3GB Quantum HD
Toshiba SD-M1212 6X DVD ROM
ACER 2X/2X/6X CD-RW
SB Live Value w/digital out
Matrox G400 32MB Dualhead Vanilla @ 157/210/157
15" Daytek 1531D
PD 6.01
Win 98SE
10Base-T Ethernet card (Realtek 8029)
10/100 Ethernet card (D-Link)
DSL
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer

[2Whyzzi]

Consider carefully. I've had a G400 in my rig (see below), and I was dissatisified with driver support and performance (mind you, other milages may vary - and I haven't tried the PD6 beta drivers, I hear they are much better than 5.xx series in terms of features and compatibility). My system primary being VIA, I was plagued with errors every driverset after 5.30. My benchmark was this - and pretty much Quake3 demo, 32bit color,640x480, normal settings, although I played UT Demo, Unreal, and other 3D games:

G200 8meg: 18fps (approx)
G400 32meg: 24fps (approx - nonTurboGL)
G400 32meg: 33fps (approx - TurboGL 1.0, v1.3 would not work with PD5.30)
nVidia Vanta 16meg: 35fps (approx- no special GL).
Savage4 16meg: 36fps (approx - but getting it to work is seperate and long story)

I figure Matrox did not optimize carefully enough for 3DNow!. In comparison, I am running the G400 on an overclocked Celereon 300A @ 463MHz and getting 50fps in Quake3 Demo (BX Board). The further thing that is dispize is that the Turbo GL does not even hit the same speed of the 64bit memory interface of the 16meg vanta in terms of performance, but I never did test TurboGL 1.3.

I hate to say it, but your best bet is to find an inexpensive TNT2 based card. Most of them *should* run right out of the box without problems, and some of the most speed and feature support without having to resort to "tweaked" driver sets.

Although you may run into some problems, you also might want to consider the Diamond Viper 2, you should be able to find a 32meg one for around the same price as 32meg G400 (or lower), and their METAL API kicks serious a$$ in Unreal/Unreal T.

--- My Current AMD K6-2 rig ---
AMD K6-2 500 (not overclocked)
128 PC100 RAM
4.3 Gig Quantum SE
Diamond Speedstar A90 (took me 3 weeks to get it work properly - and I must say that I am impressed - as long as I stay 640x480).
FIC 503+ rev 1.1a (Yes, my K6-2 works!)
Keyboard, mouse, 15" monitor
-------------------------------

Hope you find something you like,
Whyzzi

[This message has been edited by 2Whyzzi (edited 15 July 2000).]

[ko196]

Thanks DSP and 2Whyzzi,

yeah, i came to the same conclusion as well. I think the tnt2 will be a better card for k62 owners. Maybe i'll get a g450 when i have a faster computer later on.

ko196

[Joel]

If FPS is all you care about then the TNT2 is probably your best bet. But if you want the best image quality, full featured, card on the market then the G400 is your only choice.

I have a K6-2/500 with a G400 clocked to MAX speeds and I am very pleased with it's performance in games. But then again FPS are not my primary concern.

Joel


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System Specs

[2Whyzzi]

Joel:

Using PowerDesk Beta 6? Just out of curiosity, approx what are your fps in Quake3? Have you noticed any problems with 3D games (OpenGL/D3D)? And (finaly!) are you running AGP1x or AGP2x?

Thanks
Whyzzi

[ko196]

Joel,

Out of curiousity, what sort of performance hit do you get with bump mapping enabled on you K6-2-500?

I don't really care about the maximum FPS. As long as the games are smooth and more importantly, the card is reliable, i am fine.

ko196

[Joel]

I'm using the PowerDesk 6.X drivers that are avaiable from Matrox's website. If you are looking at my system specs page click your refresh button to get the latest update. I don't have an auto refresh set on that page. I am new to websiteing.

I only have the Quake3 demo but with the 1.3 TGL installed and the graphic settings set to High Quality I get about 27fps in the timedemos. I get about that at all res settings so I think that the fps that I am getting is more of a product of the CPU than the G400. Will know soon enough if that is the case after I get my 800MHz Thunderbird.

The only real problem I have notice is in the z-buffering in some D3D games. Matrox does know about this but part of the problem lies in the games themselves.

And finaly my G400 is clocked to MAX speeds with a fan attached to the heatsink and I am getting 2X AGP by default.

Joel

[Diode]

Hmm, my second computer is a k6-2 400 with a g400 16mb OCed 125.5%.


It plays well if you make sure you tweak everything. UT for example needs its d3d.dll replaced to make it play at 40fps+ at 1024X768.

At high quality and 1024X768 in Q3 I get 52 fps.

I think its good for a second computer.

JP