Would this be a good switch?

I

IMNRTST

Geek Trainee
I"m thinking of buying a PowerColor Radeon 9200SE 128 PCI card to replace my Jaton Geforce 4 440MX 64 PCI (cause it's on sale at Future Shop =)
Would this be a good idea?
Geforce 4....paid 109$
Radeon SE....on sale for 89$
What do yall think? (i only play games once and a while)
THx
 
If I were you, I'd go for the Radeon 9100 (128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI, 4X AGP) for about $75. The 9100 is actually quite a bit better than the 9200, because it utilizes 2 simultaneous rendering pipes rather than the single pipe that the 9200 offers. Cheaper and better, can't beat that. :) Or, for about $100, you could grab a Radeon 9600 which has 4 simultaneous rendering pipes. It's much better for the newer games that are coming out. Either way, it'll be a pretty good value. Also, the links I sent you are to a very reputable vendor [newegg]. I think some of the moderators will back me up on this one. ;)
 
Thx for your reply
But alas...i'm running a somewhat older MSI board which has no AGP slot.
So it's really down to those two cards unless i change MB
just wondering if the ATI would be a tad quicker

Windows XP Pro
512 mb ram
AMD Athlon XP 1800
MSI cheap ass board with no agp possibilty (lol)
thx again
cheers
 
IMNRTST said:
But alas...i'm running a somewhat older MSI board which has no AGP slot.
Click to expand...
Doh! No wonder that PowerColor was so expensive. :( But, eureka! I've found an inexpensive Radeon 9100 PCI! This one is priced at $46. Again, lower cost / higher performance.
 
Anti-Trend said:
Doh! No wonder that PowerColor was so expensive. :(

lol I think my card is expensive cause my prices are Canadian...O.o
I'll have to look around my local stores to see if that 9100 is available
I just figure for 89 bucks i double my video ram with the 9200 over the Geforce...(Plus my nephew would love to have my old 64 megger) hehe
see ya
Click to expand...
 
Hmm, I'm lost to Canadian currency, being much closer to Mexico than the great north. There is a Canadian moderator who is very sharp about both hardware and prices. If I were you, I'd wait for a little bit on that card and see if he doesn't have a better solution for you. Personally, I don't really recommend the 9200 because it is a bit pricey for the performance, but you could still do a lot worse. Also, you'll do well to avoid cards with the "SE" designations. These cards are even further performance-impaired than their non-SE counterparts. Happy hunting!
 
The GeForce 4 MX are basically like a GeForce 2 MX Ultra. The Radeon's have DirectX 8 hardware, whereas the GF4MX's are only DX7 compliant.

Ultimately, I'd get a board that has AGP since your PCI card has to share with many devices, and that's not good. Or hold your money and wait until PCI Express hits...
 
I wouldn't get a pci graphic card either.

I'd just get a new board if I were you.

You can either get the ABIT NF7 or the Soltek 75FRN2-L for $100 at ncix.com

I own the latter and am very satisfied with it. Great performance, got all that I need and nothing I don't and it's very cheap.

I know it's not exactly what you had in mind but in the long run, it's better this way.

After that, there's a OEM 9600 for $150 (ncix.com)
You'll have to dish out another $70 to get a OEM Sapphire 9600XT, and now we're talking ;)

Another option would be to get the board and get a GeForce 4 MX440 for around $60 (agp that is).


But the best option for you would probably be the 9600 non-pro IMO. (w/ the new board)
 
ty all for your inputs
I decided on doing just that...gonna wait and change my MB and then grab me a nice agp card =)
Makes too much sense to not buy yet another pci version
Was playing Max Payne 2 earlier on with my Geforce 4 MX...i was actually suprised at how well it ran...(with the effects turned to medium)
A good agp card in the future is prolly gonna blow my head straight back!
See yas
 
IMNRTST said:
...gonna wait and change my MB and then grab me a nice agp card =)
Click to expand...
Very smart move. PCI video is really a 'better than nothing' kind of solution. You'd still be wishing you could have a dedicated AGP bus even if you got the best PCI video card money can buy. With inexpensive, high-quality motherboard manufacturers like ABIT and Gigabyte, it's hard to justify making due with a cheap main board. Best of luck with your endevours... :)
 
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