G200 to G400 - yea or nay?

[oceaneer]

Hi all...

Celeron 400A@500mHz(6x83) on Abit LX6, 96mRAM,(64 PCI 100 + 32 PCI 66), Montego A3D xstream, ISA US Robotics, WD 6G, HiVal CD-Rom, G200 8M sgram, PD 5.30, latest BIOS on card & mb

3DMax99 marks -demo version(800x600x16)are:
3dmark 2562 cpu3d speed 4133
Game 1 30.7 FPS Game 2 22 FPS

Do these seem reasonable? I was expecting higher based on some reviews of this card.

What sort of improvement do you anticipate if I went up to a G400?

I await words of wisdom.....

[paulcs]

My configuration is a little different, PIII 600 with 384 Mb of RAM, but here's what I just got with a G400 Vanilla:

5501 3D Marks
8816 3D CPU Marks

With a PIII 500, I was getting between 4800 and 4900 3D Marks.

The G400 likes fast processors, and 3DMark99 Max like SSE instructions. You see a really nice jump from the upgrade, however.

Current generation video boards have had problems with some early implementations of the LX chipset. It's a motherboard problem, a design flaw. This is something you should keep in mind. If you can get your hands on a loaner G400 or even a TNT2, just to test your motherboard, it may save you some grief.

Good luck.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[oceaneer]

paulcs Thanks for the tip about the LX chipset. I may be able to lay hands on a loaner board soon.

[Livius]

Hi! Expect scores in the upper 3000s with a Celeron 500 and a Max. But the performance increase will be phenomenal anyway. It is quite visible in most games.

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Soyo 7IZB+, C500A, 96MB PC100, G400Max, Vortex2

[Joel]

As a true benchmarker of a video card 3D Mark 99 MAX, IMO, sucks. The score is only based on the two game runs added together and then multiplied by 50. It does not look at any of the other test like it's predecessor Final Reality did.

Joel