Great, I need a new video card

**Rellik** · September 20th, 2002, 08:48 PM

Well, I really want to try out the UT 2003 demo but I'll be darned if my Voodoo 3500 just won't make the cut ant more. First time I tryed it, it restarted my PC. Well at the end of the month I will have the money to buy a new video card and memory upgrade.Now I want to keep the TV tuner so it seems that the ATI All in Wonder 8500 is the way for me to go. So is the AIW 8500 a good choice for gaming? Any comments on other tuner based video boards? I really don't need huge framerate at high res. 800x600 or 1024x768 should be good.Unfortunately I will miss the FM tuner since I listen to the radio, any good PC based FM solutions out there? Or should I just find a cheap tuner and hook it up to the line in?

BTW, other specs:
P3 1Ghz, SB Live value, ASUS tuv4x running XP pro or the occasional boot to 98SE

**confus-ed** · September 21st, 2002, 03:48 AM

Originally posted by Rellik
Well, I really want to try out the UT 2003 demo but I'll be darned if my Voodoo 3500 just won't make the cut ant more. First time I tryed it, it restarted my PC. Well at the end of the month I will have the money to buy a new video card and memory upgrade.......

Mmmmm perhaps the demo has a bug or two....

This seems a tad of an over reaction.

**cc_penguin** · September 21st, 2002, 08:16 AM

Im in the same boat as you are Rellik. I get the same results. I think Im gonna go for the G4 Ti4600. It has everything I need, which is a shame, I was planning on gettitng some new 5.1 speakers instead

At any rate, I hope the next vid. card will last as long as the trusty little Voodoo did, perhaps it will make its way in a new Linux server

**Radical Dreamer** · September 22nd, 2002, 09:55 AM

Originally posted by confus-ed

Mmmmm perhaps the demo has a bug or two....

This seems a tad of an over reaction.

No bug, they state in the readme file that the 3dfx cards are not stable with the game, even yet, they would only run it at 2.1 frames per second.

**confus-ed** · September 22nd, 2002, 07:05 PM

Originally posted by Radical Dreamer
No bug, they state in the readme file that the 3dfx cards are not stable with the game, even yet, they would only run it at 2.1 frames per second.

Okay so now you tell me...

I'm not a fan of all in one cards strikes me you can buy a decent video card and a seperate dedicated (PCI) tuner card for about the same money, especially if you are gonna miss your FM tuner you'll be able to get that easier & cheaper in a seperate card.....

AIW are definately not top choice for gamers.... even for old gits like me

**Budd** · September 23rd, 2002, 04:19 PM

Relik, i was in the same boat you're in now. i ended up getting a really good deal on a Visiontek Geforce 3 TI500 ($75) and i went ahead and ordered the Leadtek TV 2000XP ($68 from Newegg). it does TIVO and has a fm tuner. i'm really happy with it.

**Akuma** · September 24th, 2002, 07:17 AM

Thanks for the tip Buddy, my Voodoo 3 takes the liberty of rebooting for me every time I try to run UT2003!

**MacGyver** · September 24th, 2002, 07:24 AM

I agree, a GF3 is going to give you more than adequate performance with UT2003 for less than $100. It's just a wee bit choppy with my GF2Ti in the heat of battle, but it still looks fantastic.

**cc_penguin** · September 24th, 2002, 08:52 AM

Originally posted by Akuma
Thanks for the tip Buddy, my Voodoo 3 takes the liberty of rebooting for me every time I try to run UT2003!

Check out the Gone Gold thread for the download for the new patch, it fixes it so that you can play it, but youll still want to upgrade. Trust me

**sardo_numspa** · September 24th, 2002, 02:22 PM

You can get a G4 MX 440 for around $69.00 and (depending on your CPU and RAM) will play UT2003 without a hitch.

**Tazdrummer** · September 24th, 2002, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by sardo_numspa
You can get a G4 MX 440 for around $69.00 and (depending on your CPU and RAM) will play UT2003 without a hitch.

But the GeForce 3 Ti500 will make it nice and pretty at higher resolutions. Remember anything from the GeForce family that has MX in the name, is actually meant for low end gaming, if any gaming at all it may be along the lines of Solitaire.

With the dropping prices of the GeForce 3's and 4's with the GeForce 5 (if thats what they call it) coming out someday soon since the GeForce 4 has been out for a while..... why go for a ultra cheap card? Why not save another $50 or $60 and get something that you will notice a differance on?

According to Pricewatch you can get a GeForce 3 Ti500 for a little over $100. With my Ti500 UT 2003 demo was rocking at pretty high resolutions.

**sardo_numspa** · September 24th, 2002, 03:20 PM

Bah.. why spend $50 more when a G4 MX 400 will play most current market games and you can get a Ti4600 cheap in a few months. One of the rigs in my office is an XP1700 w/ 384 mb DDR and a G4 MX 400, and it plays games very well. I've played NWN, Serious Sam2, and the UT 2003 demo on it all in 32bit and 1024x768. Sure the water textures will look more pretty with a Ti, but I'd rather save the money and get a 4600 in a couple of months.

**Darksteel** · September 26th, 2002, 02:56 PM

see, I would go with (and in fact did go with) a geforce 4 ti 4200 for $130. Just under top of the line so its cheaper than a 4600 but still very very nice.

And i've played the ut2k3 demo. wtf is up with the sniper rifle? they screwed it up so bad now that its the lightning rifle. grrr.

**Tazdrummer** · September 26th, 2002, 03:36 PM

Originally posted by Darksteel
And i've played the ut2k3 demo. wtf is up with the sniper rifle? they screwed it up so bad now that its the lightning rifle. grrr.

I think the UT 2003 demo is just fine. I guess they wanted to take away from the sniper whores. Anyways, it now adds a challenge for would be snipers.

**cc_penguin** · September 26th, 2002, 09:04 PM

Originally posted by Tazdrummer

I think the UT 2003 demo is just fine. I guess they wanted to take away from the sniper whores. Anyways, it now adds a challenge for would be snipers.

How does it "take away"? You can still hit head shots with it like there is no tomorrow....