Are video cards expensive - how much should I expect to pay for a good one? What's the best card for an ASUS P3B-F: stable, easily installed, reliable, with a good manual? And if I pay a little less do I get a much worse card?
there are alot of different ways to define a good video card. but if you want stability, easily installed, and reliable, i would definately go with the voodoo3 series, but not with the voodoo3 3500. the voodoo3 2000 can be found as low as 60 bucks, and the voodoo3 3000 as low as 90. the only difference is that the 3000 is clocked higher, and has tv-out. even by today's standards, it's one of the fastest "budget" cards, and is still on par with the fastest cards, running glide games at least. in terms of stability, installation, and reliable, this card is probably #1. i've only heard of couple heat problems that come from overheating, otherwise, i've maybe heard of 2 problems besides that. all in all, it's a great card that's cheap, stable, excellent for basic websurfing, 2d stuff, etc., and a little gaming. good luck in finding a card that fits you!
MaH SyStEm:
PIII 450, 128 RAM, i740 (the i740 was last year's best midrange 2d card, so ha!) voodoo2 sli, 4.8X toshiba DVD, 4x4x20 cd-rw
I agree with coolguy. The Voodoo 3 2000 and 3000 cards are stable with everything and are good for gaming and anything else you use your PC for. TV-Out allows you to use an S-Video cable to connect to your TV. I have this option but never use it. Everyone says its not that good of a display. Also if you just getting started and don't don't want to spend a lot of cash. I'd get the 2000. I've used both the 2000 and 3000 and theres not a big difference except in higher resolutinos. My 2cents?
Current System:
AMD 1800+
MSI K7T266 Pro-RU
512MB DDR
Asus V7700Ti GF2 64MB
WD 20GB 7200
I'm kind of new to this - if anyone's mentioning names, maybe they could be so kind as to put in the brand too, as I won't know what they mean otherwise.
i would sugest that you invest a massive ammout of your time reading reviews of every card possible (knowledge is POWER). Depending on your situation though, it sounds like you should be going for either the 3dfx Voodoo3 - 3000 or the nvidia geforce 2 MX. i dont have any experience with that geforce but i used to run a 3000 on my P3B-F and it was 100% stable even overclocked and on an overclocked bus (if you have no idea what im talking about then dont worry about it.) Right now i am running a ASUS 7700 Deluxe (Geforce 2 GTS) WAY overspec and havent detected a hint of instability.
Well, that is definately your call. Don't just buy a card because someone says it is good...read up on the cards of today and check out www.pricewatch.com for the best values. Depending on the OS and the use of your pc you should be able to purchase the "best" card (in your opinion). For example, I would tell you if you have around $100 to spend, go for a V3 3000. If you have a LOT of money to spend, go for a 3D Prophet OR V5 5500 (I don't want to start any 3Dfx vs GeForce/nVidia wars!) So look around and keep getting opinions, but try to use your own judgement.
it really depends on what U are personally looking for in a video card, like what types of games you play and how much your willing or able to pay. If you just want the best go with a voodoo5 or a 3d prophet but u could ecpect to pay 400 dollars depending. If u dont play amazingly great graphics games or would rather get a cheaper card go with a voodoo 3 or possilby even a voodoo 2. but the best thing too do would be to read up on them and compare prices and determine esactly what u need/want first.
AMD-K6 300, 64 meg ram, phoenix bios 4.0 release 6,ATI pro graphics card (atim64-VT)
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