Which gfx card

[Cue]

Hello all!

I have a Celeron 533, 256MB and i currently use a Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix 2 16Mb.

Im getting very good fps under Quake even at medium-high quality.

I was thinking for an upgrade though since id love to play RTCW (just bought it, havent tried it yet to see how it performs).

At the beginning i was thinking of a Kyro II but i listen to every one here saying that it wont perform well in a cpu under 1Ghz (amazed since my TNT based cards is running great, but i guess it has to do with the T&L thing)

My question is, should i go for:
1. Hercules Prophet 4500, Kyro 2, 64 MB Sdram
2. Hercules Prophet II, GeForce2 MX400, 32 MB Sdram
3. ATI Radeon 7200, 64 MB Sdram

Im a bit worried about ATI and drivers issues. :-\

I wouldnt like to spend more than that price range.

TIA.

[evetsrim]

I would suggest GF3 TI 200 or any of the TI line. They are the newest video cards from Nvidia. I beleive Nvidia is planning to introduce a new card in January, so probably a price drop in the TI's at that time.

------------------
Technology increases at a parabolic curve upward.

[DuronClocker]

Well Cue, I'm trying to sell my S3 Savage2000 card for a GeForce2 Titanium. Much cheaper than the GF3, yet performs almost up there from what I've heard. For $145 shipped I can get it with 64MB DDR 4ns memory which supposedly clocks to about 500MHz DDR.

That news about a new nVidia chip...that's awesome..I was planning on waiting til after Christmas to get my new card anyways! That means my GF2 Ti will be even cheaper!! Yay!!!!

------------------
MSI K7T Turbo-R w/ voltage mod (2,15v)
dead duron...XP soon?
256MB Corsair PC150 CL2
S3 Savage2000 64MB AGP4x
Buslink 12x/40x DVD
Sony 12x/8x/32x CDRW
Water-cooled 118w Peltier

[ThreeOnTheTree]

I would snuff the MX.
The other 2 cards will probably offer similar performance on your system. The Radeon has T&L, which is very handy when running q3, which uses T&L quite a bit. My H4500 tends to slow down in q3 occasionally, since it makes my 1gig athlon do all the T&L work.
There are Geforce2 gts and pros out there right now that are selling cheap. Hardest part my be finding one that is still in stock. Check pricewatch.com.

------------------
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

[RecklessLeper]

Looking at your system, I'd go for a faster CPU and a cheaper VGA card.

I have a 64MB GeForce2 MX400 which I did have with a K6-2 500 and 192MB PC133 RAM. I then upgraded mobo (MSI K7T Turbo2), CPU (Duron 900), and RAM (384MB until 128MB of it crapped out on me ). I've experienced a massive increase in gameplay speed; it was definitely worth it, and I've got a faster all-round system as well.

I reckon a Celly 733 or above, 512MB, and either no. 2 in your list or a GF3 Ti200 as evetsrim suggested. I'm not entirely sure about ATI cards, cos I've never had one. Also, depending on your present mobo, you could go for a new one if you're thinking of a 1GHz+ CPU.

As money appears to be a limiting factor, the ProphetII could be the best choice. I'd seriously consider a CPU/RAM upgrade as well, though.

good luck, mate !

------------------
Spitfire 900@1000
256MB PC 133
20GB HDD
Toshi 16x DVD
SB Live! 1024
64MB GF2 MX400
-----------------------
Uni life... so entertaining...

[This message has been edited by RecklessLeper (edited 12-09-2001).]