What GeFroce2 MX?

[Guest]

Hey all!
I'm thinking about upgrading my video card. I'm currently using a Hercules TNT card on my Tbird 800. AN odd combo? Hardly, Hercules drivers are so well tuned that I'm getting over 30 FPS at 1024x768 mdeium detail in Quake 3.

So, I'm wodnering what MX card would be the best to upgrade too. Hercules has a sound name, even though they are now owned by Guillemont.

Can anyone recommend if I should go with Hercules or is there a better deal out there?
Overclocking would also be very nice.

Thanks!


The Jolly Wizened Oaf!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Ramonetb on 11/11/00 07:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Magus]

Hercules or an Asus V7100. If your comfortable with the card you have now, it doesn't hurt to go with them for an upgrade. Tom's got benchmarks up too if you want to base your decision on performance.

 

[Sihs]

I hardly think there can be that much performance difference between the mx cards from different manufacturers. Look for tom's review and put into considerations other features with the card. Or, you can hang on a little longer on the "medium detail" and get yourself a gts 32ddr. depends on how much you need to upgrade. If I may ask, haven't you got the det.3 from nvidia? How come you're still talking about hercules drivers?

 

[machow]

Yeah MX is much better... it scores 5000 3dmark2000 marks for your combination. Not to mention dual head dislay and the vast amount of people out there with similiar cards who could help you in forums compared to my good 'ol G400MAX.


Smart guys are not smart because they only see things at a different perspective.

 

[Guest]

Why am I still talking about Hercules drivers? Performance! That's why.
I've tried every version of the detonator drivers that have been released. By far 3 is the best of the those series of drivers.
Perhaps they're not 3D-NOW! optimized, but even with Det. 3 I take a 10 FPS performance hit in Quake 3 and over 20fps in Quake 2!!!! (1024*768 62fps to 40fps).
So, whatever the situation, Hercules just knows the Dynamite TNT card better I suppose.

As a side note: The only reason I'm still using this fabulous card IS because of the performance it yields. I've been very surprised and pleased at this little ah heck. THese numbers are without overclocking too.

As another note: (In case there are Dynamite TNT users out there reading this and are wondering what I'm using) I'm using the final set of drivers (2.68 I think) that were released before Hercules acquisition by Guillemont. You can get them from www.driversguide.com.


The Jolly Wizened Oaf!

 

[Guest]

If you want tried and true quality I'd go with
ASUS. My CREATIVE card is working well though.
Unfortunately I know next to nothing about Hercules but have heard almost nothing but good things.

 

[Guest]

I would say Hercules Geforce 2 MX is a good choice. It is very good when it comes to overcloacking and the price is good (normally around $100 you can it, but in some auctions you might get even cheaper).

 

[Guest]

Don't go MX. Seriously, if you want a GeForce solution that doesn't cost 5,000,000 US$ (like a GTS2 or ultra), I suggest the Herculers/Guillemot Prophet DDR-DVI (a 1st generationn geforce with 32 MB DDR ram).

It will get you better results than a MX, and doesn't cost much more (plus you get a TV out, and a Flatpanel-screen-thingie ;-) out).

EDIT: One word of advice though.
Geforce & openGL -> fine
VIA chipset (the AMD-chip mainboards...) & openGL ->´fine
VIA chipset & GeForce -> fine except that:

VIA & GeForce (all of them) & openGL -> might not work properly / needs tweaking....


[CyFR]Wolf
www.cofr.net
Crusty old FossilRockers
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by CyFR_Wolf on 11/12/00 11:17 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

What flat screen thingy? and how about a visiontek 2mx?

 

[Guest]

I bought a Hercules 3D Prophet 2 MX last night and am very pleased. The price was good and the performance was very satisfying. I overclocked it to 200Mhz for both the GPU and RAM was getting 90+ frames per second on an 850mhz T-Bird Athlon System.

 

[Guest]

That's the one I plan on getting. Their website appears to be well kept and updated, so I doubt you have to worry about not being able to support/help (I've heard bad stuff about Inno3d).

 

[Guest]

I bought a Visiontek gf2mx about 3 weeks ago. Worked great, got 3dmark scores in excess of 5700. Unfortunately two days ago the ram crapped out on the card, and the system started displaying wierd artifacts all over the screen in 2d and 3d mode. I called visiontek tech support to make sure I wasn't just going insane, and to my suprise they were actually quick to answer, polite and extremely helpful. The card has been replaced and is working great once again. Hopefully this won't happen again, we'll see.

 

[Guest]

Check this our: http://www.evga.com/welcome/index.ihtml?page=sdrddr2.htm
Evga has a Gforce MX that is faster than any other brand. Why? Because they are using 5.5 ns memory module instead of 6.0 ns memory that everybody else is using. Two, the new Creative DDR-MX card sounds faster but is not, because it cut the pipeline from one 128 bit to two 64 bit to compensate for the extra cost of double data memory. With two 64 bit it should be the same performance but it is not. The problem is "latency" of the DDR memory. It is not as bad as Rambus memory but in this case enough to make it slower than the SDR memory.

 

[Guest]

You could try an Asus V7100T ( t is for TV out ) it's a great performer and the price is not too shabby either

 

[Guest]

I'd go for a SUMA or a Cardexpert if I were you. They both use 5.5ns RAM. I have a Cardexpert and it goes as high as 250Mhz. (That's the limit of PowerStrip) I'm sure it can go even higher seeing as it didn't show any snow or other abnormalities. Yes Hercules has the same speed memory (Retail only), but they are more expensive.

Boy am I full of it - in every respect.

 

[bojon1]

Try the Cardex Golden Sample. Dual heads, fast memory, easy overclock utilty.

 

[Guest]

jazzy5 wrote:
> The problem is "latency" of the DDR memory.

Also, the Creative MX has slower memory (7ns) that is clocked at 143 MHz DDR for a total bandwidth of 2.288 Gbytes/sec. The other MX's have a bandwidth of 2.656 Gbytes/sec. In lower resolutions this should not matter so much. In higher resolutions it will.

Lifeguard1999

My other computers are:
544 CPU Cray T3E, 512 IBM SMP, 512 SGI O3K, etc.
and yours are?

 

[Guest]

The Cardex Golden Sample I hear comming up ALOT in conversations. Is it possible that it beats out the Hercules card? (Sorry, Loyalties die hard. Comes from being a hockey fan. )
Can anyone put me in the right direction for purchasing one? My usual spot, Pricewatch, doesn't seem to be sporting any right now.

Thanks!


The Jolly Wizened Oaf!