Well, in about 3 weeks I'll be the ripe young age of 17 and natrally I want to blow all my money on something that will make JO better.

Which begs the questiong: What video card should I get to replace my obsolete voodoo 3 3000 AGP?

I was thinking about the GForce4 Ti.

Yay or nay?

:confused:

Hmmm they are pretty pricy, I would rauther go for a geforce 3 range card still good and the prices have droped a bit... well here anyway :emperor:

Hey mang:) Some good advice....
-1)Do not buy a GF4 Mx card , whatever you do. They stripped those cards of various key OGL gpu coding and also dont have vertex-shader support to save costs.

2)The GF4 Ti cards are nothing more than a GF3.5 Ti. Faster, thats about it along with a couple minor coding instruction enhancements. Don't waste yur hard earned $300-$400 on any of those cards.

3)You would be much better off getting either a VisionTek or GainWard GF3 Ti200 card. These can be had for roughly $150 and can be easily overclocked to GF3 Ti500 performance quality!
-Check www.newegg.com) ;)

300 - 400 huh?

I take it that's $ US yes?

I happen to be (*gasp*) Canadian so that translates to what? A million dollars CDN?

Lol, ok more like 550 - 600$, but still that is roughly what I wanted to spend.

So what's the difference between the Gforce3 and 4 Ti?
I'm rather in over my head since I used to be a 3DFX fan until it got bought out. All I know is I want to get an Nvidia since it was the buying company.

What should I look for?

no point in getting a geforce 4 if your cpu is too slow to keep up.

if your cpu is below 800mhz.. upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram then grab yourself a ati radeon 8500 or geforce 3 ti200, they're both cheap and perform very well.

So what's the difference between the Gforce3 and 4 Ti?
....Errr, go back and read my reply again:rolleyes:

i'm using a radeon 8500 64mb retail box version, runs awesome
its getting alot cheaper, below $300 now at a few different sites -
www.ncix.com) is pretty reliable, bought a few things off them, and they're located in canada here. the geforce 4 is a decent card but really, for the price you pay, the radeon 8500 gives performance on par with a gf3 ti500 yet costs alot less.

Originally posted by S!TH!NAT0R
Hey mang:) Some good advice....
-1)Do not buy a GF4 Mx card , whatever you do. They stripped those cards of various key OGL gpu coding and also dont have vertex-shader support to save costs.

2)The GF4 Ti cards are nothing more than a GF3.5 Ti. Faster, thats about it along with a couple minor coding instruction enhancements. Don't waste yur hard earned $300-$400 on any of those cards.

3)You would be much better off getting either a VisionTek or GainWard GF3 Ti200 card. These can be had for roughly $150 and can be easily overclocked to GF3 Ti500 performance quality!
-Check www.newegg.com) ;)

W-W-WA WAHHHAAAAAT?!?!??! Hell NO!! The GeForce 4 IS NOT a faster GF 3 Ti 500! It's an ENTIRELY NEW CHIPSET! That's not even possible. The GF 4 Ti 4400-4600 cards are really fast, and have a TON more rendering features than the GF3 chipset has, such as dual vertex and pixel shaders, AccuView antialiasing, and many, many more.

Bottom line, your best bang for buck is the GeForce 4 Ti 4400, running around $250 at www.newegg.com). Newegg.com has awesome service, and really low prices. If you go to pricewatch, yeah the prices are cheaper, but the shipping is tripled or quadroupled in price, also many companies on there are really cheap bastards, and often screw you over.

Get the GF4 Ti 4400, it's MUCH more powerful than the GF3 Ti 200 level card, another popular one. Three times more powerful, infact. You'll be able to run next-gen games like SoF2, Unreal 2, Doom 3, very smooth on the highest level of detail. When looking for new hardware, always get the best you can afford, never less. It'll last you a really long time, and you'll be glad you bought it.

Trust me, I speak from experiance.


Hope I helped :D

Wait for the GF4 Ti4200
It'll be fast and cheap.

No, the GF 4 Ti 4200 will be even considerably slower, and the performance is probably just barely above the GeForce 3 Ti 200 128MB. nVidia may not even make one, probably for this reason.

Get a radeon 8500 LE 128 MB DDR. They faster than Geforce 3s and cost half less.
you can get one for aroud 150$+ US.

I wouldent touch a ati card with a 10foot(3.3metre) noobstick....

but thats just me......

I wouldn't get ATI cards because ATI sucks ass at making drivers. nVidia's drivers are awesome, and they manage to make new releases every couple months that make things run faster and faster and faster...

what he said^^^^^^^^^

Ati from now on arent marketing boards, they'll make chip and sell them to 3rd parties just like Nvidia do.

so you'll have tons of drivers

Well I'm rather sure about getting an Nvidia card, its just a matter of which one. Someone mentioned computer processing speed though... that could be a problem.

My current system specs are:

Win 98
550 Mhz
128 mb ram
crappy voodoo 3 3000 AGP


Odds are the next comp we get will be a laptop for me going off to university so a getting a new desktop comp is a little far fetched. Ok, more like outright impossible right now.

Given the system I'll be running it on, should I still go for the gforce4? Or should I stick to a gforce 3?

Doh, getting older sux0rs...

I've seen one well thought out post, posted by someone who actually knows something about video cards. It's pretty sad that people talk about gf4 being just a little different from the gf3. Read some reviews, go to www.nvidia.com) and look at the specs. Between the gf4 Ti 4200 and the ati 8500 LE, I'd go for the 4200. You can go over to http://gamershq.madonion.com) and look in the latest 3d news for a review comparison between an 8500 LE and a 4200. The 4200 did quite well when compared with the performance of the 8500. The 4200 64mb should be around 179$ and the 128 mb around 199$.

Here's the link to the review, might as well post it:
http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/hardware/features/8500levti4200/index.shtml)
be warned, that site was pretty slow when I went there

Gotta disagree with you who think ATI's drivers still suck.. that was a major concern for me when I decided to upgrade my video card.. I went ahead and scored a Radeon 8500 and with the current drivers it is fantastic.. I have no regrets.. my cost as a computer supplier is $260 CDN compared to $500 for a G3 Ti 500..

Originally posted by NightFallMyriad
Given the system I'll be running it on, should I still go for the gforce4? Or should I stick to a gforce 3?



i doubt you can afford anything now. considering you'll need to get a laptop later on.

getting a new videocard will be a waste because you system is too damn slow.

I have a Geforce3 Ti 200 and I went to Nvidia and analyzed my computer and it says that the Geforce4 Ti 4600 is only 23% faster then my card

Geforce 3 Ti 200 - 100% (my comp) - around $150
Geforce 4 Ti 4600 - 123% - around $350

Unless you're rich - get the Geforce 3 Ti 200 - It will run any game currently on the market and most likely any game coming out this year.

My game runs smoothly with my GF3ti200 and 384 mb ram. And I use a pretty high screen resolution. That's my recommendation. Make sure you have enough money to have at least 384mb RAM and 512mb RAM would probably be recommended.

If your computer is fast enough to handle it that is since you haven't said your other specs.

Well, if you're planning on getting a notebook, save your money and make sure you can get a notebook that can run JK2.

You're going to college next year? Then I'd say I don't think you should spend a lot on a graphics card. It might be nice to have some really nice graphics for awhile, but you won't be able to play on the computer while you're at college (I assume) and your processor is a pretty big bottleneck.

I'm at college and I play computer games a lot. lol. I don't have 4.0 GPA either FYI

don't use that analyzer
check this site
http://www.8dimensional.com/nVGF4Ti.html)
the 4200 is at the bottom
tons of links to reviews there

Originally posted by arctic_series


i doubt you can afford anything now. considering you'll need to get a laptop later on.

getting a new videocard will be a waste because you system is too damn slow.

Very well said. Your CPU is crap, so a new video card won't do much good at all.


ATI drivers may not disappoint you that much, but once you've gotten your hands on nVidia drivers, you'll know how far superior nVidia's are.

Get an extra 128 Mb of ram, and buy a cheap GF2 64, it will rock, compared to your Voodoo3.

Do that and your computer will feel almost like new :)

W-W-WA WAHHHAAAAAT?!?!??! Hell NO!! The GeForce 4 IS NOT a faster GF 3 Ti 500! It's an ENTIRELY NEW CHIPSET! That's not even possible. The GF 4 Ti 4400-4600 cards are really fast, and have a TON more rendering features than the GF3 chipset has, such as dual vertex and pixel shaders, AccuView antialiasing, and many, many more.
-Sure Emon, if ya believe all that propoganda crap then more power to ya.;) -Do some research before ya post yur FOS GF4 glorifying crap. The GF4 is nothing more than the equivelant of a GF3.5 Ti! IDIOT!:rolleyes: WE're trying to help this guy out not turn him into a sucker.

Trust me, I speak from experiance.

-I happen to have 9+ years experience within Electronics Engineering/PCB Design along with a Bachs in Electronics Engineering. Also, 16+ Tech. certifications. What is your story kiddie? -A 2 week tech course from yur local CompUSA!?
......JEEEEEZ :rolleyes:

Sith, you are a total ****ing moron. It's not propaganda, it's called researching on many credible websites and reviewers sites, and taking the information specs RIGHT OFF nVidia's website. So your telling me nVidia is lying when they say it's not a new chipset? False advertising? Haha, I don't think so.

I happen to have 9+ years experience within Electronics Engineering/PCB Design along with a Bachs in Electronics Engineering. Also, 16+ Tech. certifications. What is your story kiddie? -A 2 week tech course from yur local CompUSA!?

9+ (you should know exactly how many if you actually had the experiance, fool) years of experiance with PCB design? Um, so? First of all, your probably lying, and second of all, THAT DOESN'T MEAN JACK ****! My dad has about 25 years of the same and even MORE experiance, he's worked with that stuff for ages, and he doesn't know jack **** about 3D cards!

Just because you know cars doesn't mean you know how to build a home, or just because you know everything about printed circuit boards doesn't make you an expert on another topic.


My best guess on you would be some stupid kid who has a GF3 Ti 500, and is mad that a card over twice as powerful as his just came out, so he's angry because he can't have the best there is, so he says it's no better than what he has.


This is all I have to say to you from this point on:
http://ossr.phpwebhosting.com/forumpics/STFU.jpg)

So your telling me nVidia is lying when they say it's not a new chipset? False advertising? Haha, I don't think so.
....Hmmm, I dont recall saying those things idiotboy. Learn how to properly comprehend what you read before throwing words in ones mouth idiotboy.
-Sure, it's a new chipset. Thats what they say. All the GF4 gpu is, is a ramped up GF3 gpu. You seem to be one of those freakin' morons that takes to heart evrything you read anywhere you read it. My main point being, the GF4 is not a true step-up next-gen card. It is simply an even more beefed up GF3 along with a few added gpu instruction sets.

My best guess on you would be some stupid kid who has a GF3 Ti 500, and is mad that a card over twice as powerful as his just came out, so he's angry because he can't have the best there is, so he says it's no better than what he has.

BUZZZZZ....wrong Einstien. I happen to be 30'ish.
Anyway, no point in arguing with some clueless punk kiddie. Yur not worth my time boy. Try go try pushing your wanna-be tech-guru crap at a real tech forum like arse or anand. You won't last 1 day before your laughed out the door:rolleyes:

Get the Geforce 3 Ti 200 - It will run any game currently on the market and most likely any game coming out this year. The GF3ti200 is more than your 550MHz can handle so don't spend the extra money for a GF4.

My game runs smoothly with my GF3ti200 and 256 mb ram. And my Pentium 4 1.8GHz Northwood. ;)

GeForce 4 Ti is a beefed up GF3, and I think the main difference lies in the fact that it has an extra rendering pipeline and improved culling methods so that its FSAA performances compare nicely to GF3 performance without it. I think GF4 Ti4200 is going to have the best performance to price ratio, but you will have to wait a bit longer for it. Or you can pay upwards to 50 dollars and go for Ti4400.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1608)

I've got an 8500 atm which I'm very happy with. Runs jk2 at full detail nicely.

erm... well as it been pointed out ur system specs are low ..... and if ur gonna blow .... however much we reccon a Geforce 3 or 4 .... as far a price goes there still in the hundreds .... ur gonna end up with a 3DFX card that has more processing power then ur CPU ...... if u have the kinda of dosh to be getting a Geforce 3 or 4 i would split it between a new CPU (and possibly mother board) and an ok 3DFX card ....RAM is important too 128Meg is becoming recconmended now so u need atleast 256 Meg to stay a head. But up grading computer is a expensive and always annoying thing to do ..... so i refere to the famous saying "Your Computer is obsolete before you even open the box" in other words dont go mad up grading to max specs there'll drop down really quickly ..... but hay thats life get use to it .