Need a new video card. . .

Malus · May 13, 2002, 10:19 PM

Current specs:

AMD Slot 1 K7 Thunderbird @ 850 mhz
256 mb PC133 SDRAM @ PC100 CAS2
Shuttle AI61 Mobo w/ AMD 751 Chipset
Hercules 4000xt Video Card
Philip's Rythmic Edge Sound Card

Nothing else worth mentioning. . .

Anyway, I was looking for something that is faster than my 4000xt. I don't really want to spend the money to buy a new cpu, mobo, and ram, so a new video card would be my best choice. I was thinking of getting an ATI Radeon 8500LE, but I'm open to any suggestions. I'm just not sure what would be good for a slower system like mine.

UberLord · May 13, 2002, 10:39 PM

If you can wait around for a bit, then I'd get the Kyro II-SE - if you can't then get a Kyro II

Anything more powerful may be a waste with your current CPU. With a 64meg card you can expect around 20-30% of a speed increase - except in UT based games as this game is predominantly CPU limited.

Seeing as the card is really really cheap right now, you save money to get a better card when you upgrade your CPU and memory.

All of todays games are playable with Kyro II (except for Spiderman - but that may be fixed soon) so if you don't need any DirectX 8 features right now, save money!

Otherwise, your choice of an 8500LE is a wise one

Malus · May 13, 2002, 10:52 PM

I was thinking along the lines that I could upgrade my video card now, and after the summer when I make a good deal of cash, I could invest in a new CPU/Mobo/Ram/Case/Everything else. I figured I could just migrate a good card into my new system and put my trusty Kyro back in my current box. Anyway, I did consider the Kyro II, but I am a bit wary of it since I don't like the way the drive updates are going or the fact that it still has some issues, including not-so-great OpenGL speed (well, at least that's what I'm experiencing in JKII). The Kyro II SE would be a great card, but I doubt it will ever come out at this rate. Also, the longer it takes for that to come out, the longer it takes for drivers to come out for other Kyro based cards. Kind of sucks. I'll probably off a while on the purchase though, don't want to make a rash decision.

By the way, anyone know of any sites which feature benchmarks of newer cards running on older CPU's? I don't see many comparions using this type of situation, and I was curious if anyone has seen anything of the like.

IceCold · May 14, 2002, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rage8500
i kno many users hated kyro2 cuz it didnt hab hardware T&L
does SE hab T&L?

Actually, the Kyro II was quite a good budget card, with performance nearly up to the level of the GeForce2 GTS. The performance of the chip was quite high, despite lacking T&L, but in games where T&L was put to heavy usage, the Kyro II performed nearly half the performance of the even competing GeForce2 MX 400. When it came to scenes with high amounts of overdraw, the Kyro cards performed significantly better thanks to its tile rendering approach, rather than traditional vertex rendering.

Anyways, just in case anyone's wondering, the KYRO II SE will possess T&L...but try to look forward to the Kyro III.

IceCold · May 14, 2002, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rage8500
im saying dat Kyro freakin takes so long to come up with a new chip

kyro3?? i thought STMicro is selling kyro
plus if kyro3 comes out, GEforce3832667 and RAdeon38643272937 will be out by then lol

Ehh...I can't quite understand your choice of words there, but STM was already planning to announce the KYRO III a couple months back, when they attempted their withdrawal from the PC graphics market. The Kyro and Kyro II are pretty much alive, but due to poor drivers released, they haven't been able to keep up to par with NVIDIA or ATI in terms of sales. As for the Kyro I, there has been a point when many games have pushed it to its limits. But for those Kyro users, you can always think to yourself: "Oh well, it was only $60"

IceCold · May 14, 2002, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Malus
[b]I was thinking along the lines that I could upgrade my video card now, and after the summer when I make a good deal of cash, I could invest in a new CPU/Mobo/Ram/Case/Everything else. I figured I could just migrate a good card into my new system and put my trusty Kyro back in my current box. Anyway, I did consider the Kyro II, but I am a bit wary of it since I don't like the way the drive updates are going or the fact that it still has some issues, including not-so-great OpenGL speed (well, at least that's what I'm experiencing in JKII). The Kyro II SE would be a great card, but I doubt it will ever come out at this rate. Also, the longer it takes for that to come out, the longer it takes for drivers to come out for other Kyro based cards. Kind of sucks. I'll probably off a while on the purchase though, don't want to make a rash decision.
[b]

OK...back on topic. Try to stay away from the Kyro II for now; as due to the lack of even a DX7 feature will hurt its shelf life. Plus STM/PVR has had a lacking part in the driver department, I mean just look what they did to the PVR250. It is safer to take the path of the R8500LE; when you get yourself a faster CPU you'll be glad you did so.

As for benchmarks on lower-end CPU's, my R8500 has had significantly increased performance on my P3-600 machine from my previous card, the Radeon 32DDR LE.

3DMark 2001 SE 1024×768, 32-bit, HW T&L, 24-bit Z, DXT1 compressed:

P3-600 + R7200 32DDR LE: 2,040
P3-600 + R8500: 4,045

Quite a huge improvement there.

UberLord · May 14, 2002, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by IceCold
Try to stay away from the Kyro II for now; as due to the lack of even a DX7 feature will hurt its shelf life.

T&L is not a DirectX 7 requirement - its an optional feature
As such, the Kyro is fully DirectX 7 hardware compliant.

Ryoko · May 15, 2002, 11:31 PM

i would go for either the 8500le or a gf3ti200. that processor of yours can still drive faster video cards, though

IceCold · May 15, 2002, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by UberLord
T&L is not a DirectX 7 requirement - its an optional feature
As such, the Kyro is fully DirectX 7 hardware compliant.

I never said it was a requirement.

May 13, 2002, 10:19 PM	#1
Malus BSD SMASH! Join Date: May 2002 Location: A rabbit hole. . . Posts: 1,170 Rep Power: 0	Need a new video card. . . Current specs: AMD Slot 1 K7 Thunderbird @ 850 mhz 256 mb PC133 SDRAM @ PC100 CAS2 Shuttle AI61 Mobo w/ AMD 751 Chipset Hercules 4000xt Video Card Philip's Rythmic Edge Sound Card Nothing else worth mentioning. . . Anyway, I was looking for something that is faster than my 4000xt. I don't really want to spend the money to buy a new cpu, mobo, and ram, so a new video card would be my best choice. I was thinking of getting an ATI Radeon 8500LE, but I'm open to any suggestions. I'm just not sure what would be good for a slower system like mine. __________________ quad (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel Q6600 - Asus P5E-VM HDMI - 2x2 GB Kingston PC6400 DDR2 Ram - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - 2xSeagate 1TB 7200RPM HD in RAID 1 via ZFS - Lite-On 20x DVD Multi Recorder - Coolermaster Centurion 5 router (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel E4500 - Intel D945GCNL - 2 GB PC6400 Mushkin Ram - Lite-On 48x24x48x16 - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - Silverstone SST-SG02-F wanderer (FreeBSD/i386 7-CURRENT): Lenovo Thinkpad T61p mini (OS X 10.5): Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8Ghz, 4 GB Mushkin PC5400 Ram - Headroom MicroDAC Portable sound: Rockboxed iPod Video -> Westone UM2's Not-So-Portable Sound: Headroon MicroDAC -> Singlepower PPX3-SLAM -> Grado RS-1's or Beyerdynamic DT-880's Very-Not-Portable-Sound: Squeezebox v3 -> Denon AVR-1507 -> B&W 683's & Sunfire HRS-10

May 13, 2002, 10:39 PM	#2
UberLord A Legend in Underwear Join Date: May 2002 Location: Unknown Posts: 5,255 Rep Power: 70	If you can wait around for a bit, then I'd get the Kyro II-SE - if you can't then get a Kyro II Anything more powerful may be a waste with your current CPU. With a 64meg card you can expect around 20-30% of a speed increase - except in UT based games as this game is predominantly CPU limited. Seeing as the card is really really cheap right now, you save money to get a better card when you upgrade your CPU and memory. All of todays games are playable with Kyro II (except for Spiderman - but that may be fixed soon) so if you don't need any DirectX 8 features right now, save money! Otherwise, your choice of an 8500LE is a wise one __________________ Gentoo Linux - Developer (baselayout) Read my blog "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." Stephen Roberts

May 13, 2002, 10:52 PM	Thread Starter #3
Malus BSD SMASH! Join Date: May 2002 Location: A rabbit hole. . . Posts: 1,170 Rep Power: 0	I was thinking along the lines that I could upgrade my video card now, and after the summer when I make a good deal of cash, I could invest in a new CPU/Mobo/Ram/Case/Everything else. I figured I could just migrate a good card into my new system and put my trusty Kyro back in my current box. Anyway, I did consider the Kyro II, but I am a bit wary of it since I don't like the way the drive updates are going or the fact that it still has some issues, including not-so-great OpenGL speed (well, at least that's what I'm experiencing in JKII). The Kyro II SE would be a great card, but I doubt it will ever come out at this rate. Also, the longer it takes for that to come out, the longer it takes for drivers to come out for other Kyro based cards. Kind of sucks. I'll probably off a while on the purchase though, don't want to make a rash decision. By the way, anyone know of any sites which feature benchmarks of newer cards running on older CPU's? I don't see many comparions using this type of situation, and I was curious if anyone has seen anything of the like. __________________ quad (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel Q6600 - Asus P5E-VM HDMI - 2x2 GB Kingston PC6400 DDR2 Ram - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - 2xSeagate 1TB 7200RPM HD in RAID 1 via ZFS - Lite-On 20x DVD Multi Recorder - Coolermaster Centurion 5 router (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel E4500 - Intel D945GCNL - 2 GB PC6400 Mushkin Ram - Lite-On 48x24x48x16 - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - Silverstone SST-SG02-F wanderer (FreeBSD/i386 7-CURRENT): Lenovo Thinkpad T61p mini (OS X 10.5): Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8Ghz, 4 GB Mushkin PC5400 Ram - Headroom MicroDAC Portable sound: Rockboxed iPod Video -> Westone UM2's Not-So-Portable Sound: Headroon MicroDAC -> Singlepower PPX3-SLAM -> Grado RS-1's or Beyerdynamic DT-880's Very-Not-Portable-Sound: Squeezebox v3 -> Denon AVR-1507 -> B&W 683's & Sunfire HRS-10

May 15, 2002, 11:31 PM	#8
Ryoko American Soldier Join Date: May 2002 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 1,725 Rep Power: 0	i would go for either the 8500le or a gf3ti200. that processor of yours can still drive faster video cards, though