Video Card Decision

Ashyukun · Post by **Ashyukun** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:10 am

OK, I'm working on getting the last of the parts to get a computer I cannibalized parts from to make my new one running again, and am looking at getting a new video card. Unfortunately, video cards are not something I keep up on a whole lot these days, so I could use the benefit of some advice from the more knowledgable here.

What I'm likely hoping to do is pick up a nicer one for my main box (currently has a 64MB Geforce2 in it) and move that card back to the other computer. I've found a pretty good (IMO) deal on two different cards for the exact same price (after rebates...): a GeForce4 MX440se 64MB DDR AGP4X W/TV Out & a ATI Radeon 7000 64MB AGP TV Out. Hopefully without starting a large ATI/nVidia flamewar, which of these would be the better one to pick up with the prices being the same? And would both/either actually be an upgrade over my existing GeForce2?

All told, I'm not too concerned with which is the better gaming card- almost everything I do on this computer is in some way video related, so I'm more interested in general image quality and the quality of their TV output. 3D will only really come into play when I'm doing work with Lightwave and the likes. Thanks!

klinky · Post by **klinky** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:28 am

Neither of those would be a upgrade over your GF2. Infact the Radeon 7000 would probably be a downgrade.

An actual upgrade would be a Geforce4 ti4200($89) or a Radeon 9100($62).

ATI cards are generally known for their superior 2D over nVidia. 3D-wise the Geforce4 would be faster. Of course if that doesn't matter to you then I wouldn't worry about it.

Then again, you could always get another Geforce2 and run the SoftQuadro hack :

http://www.guru3d.com/rivatuner/softquadro/

~klinky

Ashyukun · Post by **Ashyukun** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:56 am

Thanks! In that case, I'll just see about snagging the cheapest card possible for the older computer - I'll only be using it as a file/p2p server and possibly ripping/converting footage, so I don't need much more than a generic SVGA card for it.