Need advice on Video Card

[Guest]

Decided to upgrade my old K6-2 350 mg system to something faster ... looking at 1.0 GHz T-Bird, 256 meg PC133 with either an Asus A7v133 or the new Epox 8KTA3. Now my predicament is that I will be spending my limit on this upgrade (my wife has no sense of humour) and can't afford a fast 3D vidio card at this time. I was wondering if I should buy a GEForce2 MX card or buy a cheaper one (like an Expert 2000) and wait for the anticipated price drop when the new Nvidia cards come out. I am running a 3D blaster right now but need that card to use with the old K6-2 350 system for a second computer.

 

[noko]

Radeon LE can be had for less than $80 delivered to your doorstep if you live in the U.S.. It has 32 megs of <b>DDR ram</b>!!!, overclocks to 183mhz plus (usually). Performance is on par with a Radeon 32 when you activate the HyperZ of the Radeon Chip. Easy to do, either a registry entry or use a readily available tweaker program or use PowerStrip3.0. All free by the way. Has outstanding DVD playback, excellent 2d and great 3d performance. As far as I see it, it is the best by far card for less than $100 period, no contest, steal.... By the way a Radeon LE with TV-out is also available for about $10 more. Play your games or DVDs on big screen tv's or you regular TV set.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Noko, I live in Canada but can get that card for $135 Canadian which isn't bad. I can also get a Chaintech GeForce II MX for that money .... but you figure the Radeon is better?

 

[noko]

Yes, very much so. Check out the review here and compare it to the MX especially in 32bit modes.
<A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/video/radeon-le.html" target="_new">http://www.xbitlabs.com/video/radeon-le.html</A>

 

[noko]

Here is another review of the Radeon LE:
<A HREF="http://www.hqgaming.com/features/reviews/radeonle/" target="_new">http://www.hqgaming.com/features/reviews/radeonle/</A>

 

[Guest]

Hey Noko, I'm convinced ... the Radeon is my choice. Just goes to show ya that you can't always assume that more expensive means better, eh.

 

[noko]

You will get alot for your money. In the $150 (U.S.) range you have the KyroII and believe it or not the Radeon 64 VIVO Retail and GF2's 32 meg versions. The KyroII hasn't hit the streets yet but looks promising as for the rest the Radeon LE can perform almost on par with them. The Radeon 64 ViVo has something which I used all the time and that is Video/In Video/Out which alot of people would find no use for. Enjoy your new setup when it is built and don't hesitate to ask any question you may have.