Video Card Question ...
Author
Okay, I wasn't sure exactly where to ask this question. But here it goes.
Well, I turn 19 on Sunday. I've been needing a new video card for my development machine, as I currently have an older (quite a bit) ATI Rage Pro II+. LoL. But my dad wants to take me to get one.
Well, here is how my machine is set up:
Windows 2000 Pro SP4
PIII 733MHz
256MB RAM
60GB HD
CD-ROM Drive
CD-R/RW Drive
PCI only, unfortunately =P
Well, I downloaded the DirectX 9 SDK. I had to get the Dec. 2004 release, because anything newer does not support Win2000. But that's okay -- it still supports MDX, because I use VS .NET 2003 Pro.
Okay, I have been looking at possibly a GeForce FX 5200 128MB. And I know it's not the NEWEST, but I don't have too great of a budget. I have looked into it, and it does support DX 9 and OGL 1.4. That's all I really need. It also supports pixel/vertex shaders, though I am not sure which versions. But that's okay, because I am just learning shader programming.
But is there anything wrong with using the FX 5200? It's probably closest to the newest one I can find that fits my budget. And I don't really see why it'd be a big deal.
I'm not looking to develop "hardcore" 3D applications or anything. LoL. I just need something that can handle DX9 (MDX, too) in a decent manner.
I just wanted to know what others thought about getting one. And I don't have the greatest machine, so I think that this card will probably fit it the best. =)
Thanks in advance,
Matt U.
That's going to be about the best you'll be able to find with only PCI(not even AGP??). I believe that the geforce 6xxxs all are either AGP or PCI-E. This will defiantely be a big improvement over the Rage II, though.
I believe that the FX series has support for SM 2.0, but I wouldn't be positive of that.
I believe that the FX series has support for SM 2.0, but I wouldn't be positive of that.
Author
Alright, thanks for the info. And I found out it does support SM 2.0. But what would you say about the MX 4000? Does it have support for DX9 and pixel/vertex shader support?
Are you certain about the PCI only thing (it makes finding a decent vid card much harder, you're probably correct but it's worth double checking). The FX's are a bit lacking (especially when compared to ati's 9x00 stuff from the same gen), but I'm not seeing anything better on PCI cards. At least on newegggs list. There is a refurbished FX5700LE (note lacking memory bandwidth). But I've never used that brand before, so I have no idea on how good it'll be.
Here's a possible alternative but it'll cost more (doesn't everything). $60 refurbished motherboard with a low end geforce 6150 in it it's cheap motherboard but it's got some nice features (4x sata, dual channel memory, pci-express 16x slot), a non refurbished one costs $81, I'm fairly sure the vid card uses system memory which is slow. $130 the cheapest 939 pin CPU on newegg. you might be able to find a cheaper cpu somewhere else (I don't have time today to really dig around, but I'd guess you could get a 939 pin sempron for $70-$80, the venice is much nicer though). You may be able to use your ram (if it's DDR 266 or faster), or this would work well. And be certain to double check that anything you buy will be compatible with what you have (like your case has the right form factor, and that your power supply has the right plugs and enough juice)
Here's a possible alternative but it'll cost more (doesn't everything). $60 refurbished motherboard with a low end geforce 6150 in it it's cheap motherboard but it's got some nice features (4x sata, dual channel memory, pci-express 16x slot), a non refurbished one costs $81, I'm fairly sure the vid card uses system memory which is slow. $130 the cheapest 939 pin CPU on newegg. you might be able to find a cheaper cpu somewhere else (I don't have time today to really dig around, but I'd guess you could get a 939 pin sempron for $70-$80, the venice is much nicer though). You may be able to use your ram (if it's DDR 266 or faster), or this would work well. And be certain to double check that anything you buy will be compatible with what you have (like your case has the right form factor, and that your power supply has the right plugs and enough juice)
Author
I did double-check, and it is PCI-only, unfortunately. But that's okay. I think I'll go with FX 5200/5500. The MX 4000 doesn't support much for DX9. For one, it does not support pixel shaders, which is kind of what I'm looking for.
Quote:Original post by TFS_WaldoNo, don't even consider the GeForce 4 MX series - you will regret it. Despite the '4' in their name, the feature set isn't much beyond a GeForce 2 - it has no programmable pipeline (but the proper GeForce 3's and 4's did...)
But what would you say about the MX 4000? Does it have support for DX9 and pixel/vertex shader support?
In fact, I'd be quiet happy if they just magically disappeared overnight [lol]
The FX5200 is a pretty slow card - from the general consensus I've picked up, they might support SM2 technology, but they're more a decent SM1 part with SM2 if you really have to. The performance of the card isn't enough to make good use of the features...
Still, given your other requirements I'd say a 5200 is a reasonable choice. Anything much better will be at least AGP.
hth
Jack
I've got a PCI video card in my machine. It's a Radeon 9250, I've been playing SW: Battlefront II on it with the default settings and it does great.
Radeon 9250:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103167
Radeon 9250:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103167
Anything over a 5200 is overkill in that system.. you aren't even going to be able to peak out the card because you will be utterly CPU bound. You could go with the 5500 if you have the extra cash, but it will be very hard to see a difference between the two with that system.
The 5200 gives you SM3.0 features to play with which is good enough.
The 5200 gives you SM3.0 features to play with which is good enough.
hey i have that one one my desktop. its very nice for the amount i spent. It supports 2.0+ I would look into 5600+ if you want more they also run alittle higher
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