PCI GeForce2 MX

[mousepotato]

I am building a T-Bird1.2GHz(266fsb). I don't want to wait for the GeForce3 to come out, so I was thinking about buying a Geforce2 MX for PCI slot, then adding an AGP card later (GeForce2 Ultra after GF3 knocks the price down or maybe the GF3 itself, if I hit the lotto). Then I will support at least 2 monitors (plus I'll probably get TVout on MX). Is there a big performance difference between the AGP and PCI GeForce2 MX? It may be a few months before I can afford the new card. I don't want to be complaining about framerates all that time, and I really don't know what to do with multiple monitors, but I don't want a useless MX card either.


EDIT-------------------------------------------------------

I don't know where I got the impression that the MX came in PCI version, I'm sorry if I confused anyone. There is no PCI version of the MX.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mousepotato on 03/02/01 12:27 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Gog]

The PCI version of GeForce will suck compared to AGP, buy an AGP one, if you don't want to spend the money get a cheap AGP card on ebay ( TNT2 based maybe) and then you'll have the money for a proper gf2 ultra or GF3 more quickly.

Hmmmm... Donuts

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Whoah! Cool!
There's a PCI GeForce2MX?

I NEED ONE!

I've got a system that desperately needs some better video, but it doesn't have an AGP slot. I thought video card makers had completely given up on PCI, and was afraid I'd never see anything better than a Banshee chipset PCI video card.

I've gotta get me one of them.

(And yes, I know, I could just replace the motherboard. But if I start going that route, I might as well just build a whole new system, which is something that I'm waiting to do once the new .13 micron CPUs are out.)

- Sanity is purely based on point-of-view.

 

[mousepotato]

Thanks for your reply. I think I'll take your advice and not waste money on PCI card. I feel sorry for a few of the people around here with no AGP. Seems wrong that they should be starving while I am wasting my bounty. LOL. Waste not, want not. See, Grandma, you did teach me something after all.

-'Tater

 

[Guest]

slvr_phoenix, I think there are Voodoo4 4500 and 5 5500 PCI versions. Those are some options you have although if there really is a GeForceMX (first time i hear of a MX PCI), you should go with it. First I think it would give you a better price/performance ratio and second, 3dfx went kaput some months ago so I don't think you'll get any new drivers and support from them.

 

[phsstpok]

My research has come up with 3 PCI solutions, well two anyway.

Inno3D produces a Geforce 2 MX PCI as does eVGA. It was rumored that Creative Labs had one too but I can't find it for sale anywhere or at the Creative Labs site.

ATI is about to release a PCI version of the Radeon (ETA March 9). Unfortunately it will be an SDR. I think it is a full featured card, though, not like an LE.

3DFX produced some PCI Voodoo5 5500 cards but they are already becoming quite rare.

From what I have gathered, the Geforce 2 MX cards take anywhere from a 10% to a 45% performance hit relative to their AGP cousins, depending on the application. The Voodoo5 cards take a fairly uniform 10% hit. I have no performance information for the upcoming Radeon PCI SDR.

Sorry, I have no links (because I accidently wiped my favorites a while ago). I may have posted the links in these forums at one time or other. I will check later.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Hey, that sounds good to me. I can live with a performance hit like that. Heck, even a performance hit of 80% will still give me better performance than the onboard AGP2x 3d decelerator that I have. And the extra video memory will allow me to finally run MechWarrior4. Ha ha ha!

I mean it's only an old Celeron 500 system here, so it isn't exactly like I'm in any great need of a GeForce3.

I just need something better than what I've got and my old Creative Labs 3D Blaster Banshee just doesn't sound much better than the onboard video.

Plus, Twin View will be a wiz thing to have too.

Though now I'm in ponderment... I never considered using my system for DVD before. I wonder how well the PCI GeForce2 MX will do that. Or if the PCI RADEON will do it any better. Or if they'll both suck big time because it's on a PCI bus instead of an AGP bus.

Does anyone know if DVD decoding works reliably on a PCI card? If so I might take the time to upgrade my CD ROM to a DVD ROM.

- Sanity is purely based on point-of-view.

 

[phsstpok]

Can't help you there. Never saw anything written up on DVD for PCI.

Don't the full-blown Radeons have hardware decoding? In any case, hardware decoders are availble.

Good luck in your choices.

 

[Hammy]

I have a GeForce2 64mb in this computer, but it is only a K6-3, so it has bad FPU performance. oh well....the MX is for a K6-2 and I think they would appreciate the TV out (if it has it).

Join Tom's SETi Team
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[owais]

I highly doubt that the MX is for the K6-2 because I have one that I got for a Duron 700. I tried the MX card in my K6-2 system and it chugged like crap. Heck, my Voodoo3 did much better in Glide. But I compared them in the Duron and the MX simply kicked the Voodoo's butt like there is nothing left. I also tried the two in a different K6-2 system (500MHZ) and the performance was crappy compared to the voodoo3.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

That's what I was thinking about. If the PCI RADEON has hardware DVD decoding, it might be interesting to go with that over a PCI GeForce2MX as I've heard that the RADEON does decode DVDs with less CPU dependence than the GeForce cards. I might be able to do a soft DVD decoding, but I wouldn't trust a Celeron 500 system with it's dinky 66MHz FSB to perform a soft decode very well. So the more decoding that my video card could do, the better.

Does anyone know of any PCI DVD decoder cards that are known to work well? Or more importantly, if the PCI RADEON card can decode DVDs without much CPU support? If so the PCI RADEON card might be a more interesting purchase for me.

- Sanity is purely based on point-of-view.

 

[jclw]

All Radeon cards have excelent onboard hardware DVD decoding (it'll work on a celeron 500 no problem). 2D performance and overall picture quality is generally said to be much better then a GeForce card. I have an AGP Radeon 32SDRAM and it works great (about 4900 for 1024x768x16 3Dmark scores at AGP 2x).

- JW

 

[slvr_phoenix]

I understand this about the AGP RADEON. But I can't find any good information about the PCI RADEON. I know that the PCI bus is very much slower than AGP. And I can't even find a RADEON data sheet specifically on the PCI. They always talk about the AGP card.

I don't want to purchase the PCI version to find out that the DVD decoding isn't on the card, or that the PCI bus slows the decoder down so much that it switches to software decoding instead.

- Sanity is purely based on point-of-view.

 

[phsstpok]

I can't find much information about the Radeon PCI other than it is an SDR model and is supposedly available, now. At the <A HREF="http://www.ati.com/na/pages/buy_ati/prices.html" target="_new">ATI site</A> I can only find a price list and a mention of the card in the Radeon SDR FAQ. Oh yeah, there is also an All-in-Wonder Radeon PCI.

I have just been waiting for it to be available and for someone to review it.