Thread: Video Cards - Tips? Suggestions?

Like any other sane person in the united states of earth, I am eagerly awaiting may 15, 2003 to witness the shock and awe that is Matrix: Reloaded and the game Enter the Matrix.

I need to get a new video card to support the game as mine is very ancient (4mb of memory onboard). I'm going to a computer fair tomorrow and will be looking around for one. I am very uneducated when it comes to video cards. The system requirements for the game are GeForce2 256 or Radeon 7500 (or something like that).
So I know what type of chipset I'm looking for (one of those two), but I know nothing about what brand is a good card manufacturer. I located a card at Fry's that's $99 before a $50 mail-in rebate (btw, I'm not interested in spending more than $100; actually about $60 is what I'm aiming for). This is that card "PNY 64MB AGP Video Card with nVidia's GeForce4 MX440-SE 3D Chip." Is that any good?

Well, to sum up, The Matrix owns and I need an affordable GeForce or Radeon video card from a worthwhile card manufacturer. Any assistance you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

>>As for ATI, stay away from their "cripples", the 7000, 8000, 9000, and 9500

isnt that like all of their cards except for the 9700, lol ?

Right, then does this sound better than the previous card I posted:
ATI RADEON 7500 64MB AGP Graphics Card
Model: 100-432001
$79.99 before $20 mail-in rebate

So I went to the computer fair and bought a:
MSI GeForce4 TI-4200 8x 128mB DDR DVI TV-out for $123.

Are the fans on video cards always so noisy nowadays??? sheesh. I thought I broke my PC after I booted after installing. Freaked me out.

but the ATi Radeon 9500 has already beaten the GeForce4 Ti plus the recently released ATi Radeon 9700 9is built to challenge the so-called GeForce5 or the nVidia FX, which I doubt the Radeon card will lose...

>>but the ATi Radeon 9500 has already beaten the GeForce4 Ti

in what 3d Mark? 3dMark gives a score based on the level of directX the card will run and its then on the cards speed.

As the Radeon is Dx9 compliant and the G4 is not (until the FX), the ATI cards will always get a score higher score.

Just to prove the worthlessness of the comparison nVida released a new set of drivers that 'tweeked' the 3dMark score so theat both were comparable.

>>which I doubt the Radeon card will lose
because the nVida FX is nearly Dx10 compatible and the ATI is just Dx9 compatible. Calling all those extra passes to create a better image is going to be slower but who needs Quake3 to run at 400fps?

>>the Ti4200 is the economical, yet powerful 3D card of the time for now. Good choice.

exactly.

Of a small consideration is that ATI was the company that leaked DOOM3 alpha (and left other companies game alphas on laptops). Due to this lack of consideration of other companies security and comercial privacy, they may find less support, optimisations for thier cards from game developers (as JC hinted).

I can't exactly remember which mark gave me the score but I still agree that the GeForce series is more worth the money... Although the ATi Radeons is more powerful.