On Sat, 2001-12-22 at 21:56, Karol Pietrzak wrote:
The NVidia GeForce3 Ti200 seems to be a good bet (probably going for the Hercules brand to be more specific).
Sounds like a solid choice, but you won't catch me buying one. :)
What would be a good ATI card to get in that same price range?
Radeon 8500s start at $175US: http://www.pricewatch.com/1/37/4187-1.htm
Any benchmarks I could feast on?
Try Tom's or AnandTech: http://www.tomshardware.com/ http://www.anandtech.com/ Both of these guys do regular reviews on the best and the brightest, and I'm sure you can look at any kind of benchmark you like, up, down, or sideways at either of these sites. Remember that at modern CPU and GPU speeds, you won't notice the difference between playing Q3 at 75FPS or 100FPS. Perception doesn't start to get clear until you get down to the 50-60 FPS range in my experience. Granted, this is highly subjective.
Any features and / or glaring facts that I should know before buying this ATI card (I presume in the Radeon line)?
The Radeon has vastly superior 2D characteristics, namely text clarity, in my experience. When paired with a high-quality, aperature-grille or LCD display, a Radeon is much easier on the eyes than a GeForce. This may have changed a little with th TI series, but it's not likely. nVidia improves 2D quality about like everybody else improves 3D speed; incrementally, and in small increments. The Riva128 had AWFUL 2D clarity, and nVidia has been behind ever since. :) Also, if you went with a Radeon, you wouldn't have to download any software from ATI or nVidia to get it running. :) Um, early DRI releases had problems with non-Intel northbridges, especially VIA since the SiS chipsets weren't readily available at the time for testing. If you have an Intel-based motherboard, you should have Zero problems, but I'm pretty sure they sorted out the VIA/AMD/SiS issues, too. It's your call, Noodlez. -- -=|JP|=- Need a good geek? I'm unemployed! '01 B15 SE/PP | http://www.xanga.com/cowboydren/ | />< '95 SL2 Auto | cowboydren @ yahoo . com | _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com