Video cards

[Shard92]

I haven't bought any video cards in a long while..... The store has used various brands with varying results what do you all recogment..... Who makes a good card... ASUS, AOPEN, CHAINTECH, MSI, someone else?

I'm actually needing to get a replacement card for my pII=400. It doesn't need to be anything fancy but when I go to newegg to look at their cards I see all these names that I just don't know how well they are at their cards. Some I recognize from the motherboard market but....

Any suggestions, opinions welcome.

[Stalemate]

Using an AOpen GeForce 2 MX400 64Mb right now and love it.

Asus and MSI are usually good bets.

Nothing from the Radeon family? ATI itself probably has the best price/performance ratio, but Saphire (sp?) also has a few good ones with that chip.

[TripleRLtd]

Also, Gainward, you might recall them from the mainboard market, too.
They stopped with the mainboards to concentrate on video.
XFX and Pine are alright: they use the Nvidia chip and are cheaper than the name brands.

[arch0nmyc0n]

The general rule I've been told is just use the names your familiar with, while considering the quality of thier other work. For example, Pine is a fairly decent company but I've experienced more than my fair share of issues with them. Where as I've never really seen a bad ASUS card (and Diamond, thank god they're gone cause they suck). One thing I've been told before however is that getting one of the 256 Mb video cards is a waste of money right now considering it'sa usually gamers buying them and there isn't a game out that utilizes more than 32mb for textures...
Also ATI have always been a favourite of mine, even considering their older reputation of flaky drivers. They have become much better at drivers lately and I suggest them to most people. Their All-In-Wonder series are my favourites tho, but like you said yer just looking for a good farily priced card... I suggest GeForce 2MX400 64Mb. I have tried Asus's model of this type as well as AOpen, PowerColor and a few other lesser known companies. It's all the same poo just a different bag for the most part...

that's my two and a half cents worth...

[Gabriel]

Pay attention to the AGP port - in your case its is quite old.
IMHO you have AGPx1 or X2 (Old P3's and P2's).
If you do not require 3D accel. I would recommend on the Matrox cards and the Old ATI Rage family.


Cheers,
Gabriel

[Platypus]

Diamond, thank god they're gone cause they suck

It seems they're baaa-aack ;

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/2890/

[TripleRLtd]

It seems they're baaa-aack ;

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/2890/

Geez Arch, where and when at 25 years old did you have such bad xp with Diamond video?
Years ago, they were the best IMO.
They were like the RollsRoyce of GPU's (although noone called them that then).
I really liked the things they did with their driver packages, too.
What was it? In Control Tools?
One of the first out with pseudo 3D (based on the S3 chip), and faster memory, and I loved their Viper line.
I wished they had never sold out, and I am glad they are back to offer some more competition.

[Shard92]

Thanks for all the replies. I understand the "go with a name you know" but that isn't always the case. I KNOW ASUS makes good mainboards but that doesn't mean they necessarily make good VIDEO CARDS.

I'm not ruling out ATI.... just shopping around. I was actually looking at a Rage 128 on newegg, yes I'm cheap too. I do need 3d but nothing spectacular..... I'm replacing a tnt card. ( no not tnt2! ). Shopping for a new ( or different- not opposed to used ) just made me realize all the names in video cards these days. I figure it's a good idea to be familiar with what is out there and not being a power gamer ( I do game just older stuff for the MOST part ) I just don't know what is out there and what is good.


Triple I never liked Diamond either.... I had more trouble with Diamond drivers than I've ever had with ATI ( though I NEVER buy the latest of anything... let them fix the goofs first! )

[TripleRLtd]

Triple I never liked Diamond either.... I had more trouble with Diamond drivers than I've ever had with ATI ( though I NEVER buy the latest of anything... let them fix the goofs first! )

I do recall towards the end of their existence (didn't S3 buy them?) that updating one of their cards hosed a Win98 setup (My own as a matter of fact).
Boy was I pissed.
But early to late 90's when compared with others like Number9, STB, and what were some others, Diamond was really good.
Did some checking and for history buffs, I submit the following (remember when the 3DFX voodoo first came out : geez it was 96!!!
http://www.fastsilicon.com/showarticle.php?a=28&p=2

[Ya_know]

I always liked Diamond too, meaning to open up a can of worms...

For you Trip, the best I could find:

[TripleRLtd]

I always liked Diamond too, meaning to open up a can of worms...

For you Trip, the best I could find:

Thanx, but I thought (from your favorite smiley place) that this could suffice in a pinch:

http://smiley.onegreatguy.net/****hitfan.gif
[img]http://smiley.onegreatguy.net/****hitfan.gif[/img]
(Geez I can't get that one to "stick")

What's up with the "candid photos" of muscles?

[Shard92]

Yeah something like that... Actually I think I still have a number9 card around somewhere..... I also know other people who absolutly loved diamond cards.... Course when they were popular the only time i'd see them is when they had a problem so I didn't like them

[hudsonsmith]

I am typing this on a machine w/ a number9 card - even for purely 2D use the thing is pretty flakey. I would also avoid Rage 128. Had a couple at my old job and the drivers caused all kinds of problems. Had to run it w/o hardware acceleration for one mapping application or it wouldn't print. I second the vote on Matrox. I have one at home and the thing is stable as a rock

[silencio]

I had a diamond viper too. It never did work with win95 dos mode. I paid $180 for that card, big money back then.

I don't think you can go wrong with the nVidia chipsets. I've owned Asus, Leadtech, and now an MSI board all based on nVidia chipsets and they all performed equally well.

[Shard92]

Yeah I've been kind of leaning toward a tnt2 or gf2 card but price is a big part of that and it doesn't HAVE to be replaced right now and I have other things to spend money on......