Thinking up upgrading my voodoo 3000 16 meg agp card. Not sure on what to get.
Of my machine is a gaming machine. And the voodoo has surprised on occassions on what it has been capable of running.

Basically looking for a dependable card like the voodoo and that would not be obsolete in like a matter of months.

Want an AGP card with 64 megs, tv out card but within a reasonable price range.

Been looking at the ATI radeons, GForce MX 4**, mainly.

Of course with the Gforce (too many brands like MSI, Aopen, Asus, Abit) which is better?

As for the radeons, as well to many choices.

Need some recommendations.

I'm all ears.

Thanx in advance...

I have always liked the GeForce cards, now the 4 series, but with 128 MB. ASUS brand is very reliable. And also nvidia has very timely and frequent driver updates.
ATI Radeon are good cards, but I prefer the nvidia, mostly by loyalty. Either card can get what you want. Check the 128 MB prices, especially if you are into gaming or digital video editing, as the extra 64 MB can help.

hello
the 128 asus is a good graphics card useing one in a chiantech mobo with amd

you should check the access time/speed of the memory modules. 128 MB might be bigger, but if it's slower, then you'll have lower performance.

ATI drivers suck...my friend knows some of the people who write them :) And if you search anywhere, everyone complains about ATI drivers

If you go with GeForce, make sure you don't get MX. It sucks...get the Ti if you want to game.

Get the Ti 4200 or Ti4400..those aren't too far off from the Ti 4600 (and you can overclock it to perform like a stock Ti 4600).

Leadtek is awesome...I have their Ti 4400 (comes with a massive heatsink and dual fans). I even got their tv/fm tuner card to listen to the radio and watch tv. So far, LeadTek has impressed me.

If it were me I would only get an Nvidia type card. Best and most timely drivers and you will be able to play anything with them. I would also point out do not get the MX series cards, despite what you may think they are not true geforce 4 cards. More like a two. The best card for the money in scores and in playability is the Geforce 4200Ti 64mb. No question. I would get that card or the 4200 Ti with 128 ram. If you want to spend the cash the 4600 is an awesome card but that is a workhorse.

I have used the 4200 Ti and the 128 respectively and they are both great. In my area they are 130.00 and 165.00

Good luck and as for brand it is all personal choice. Most people I know arent all that concerned with the brand of the maker but again personal choice. Asus, PNY :)

Onboard memory isn't as important as the CPU
or type of RAM,look for DDRAM and a RMDAC of at least 350mhz.If you live in US go to googlegear.com,good selection and prices.

it's easy to suggest these $100+ cards when it's not your money.

Yes it is, your correct but 100 well spent if you ask me. Most people get sucked into the MX cards due to the fact they say geforce 4 and they are not. Not even close. They cost much less. Getting a video card is the most important thing if you are a gamer. If you want something to last for a bit get the 4200 64 mb card. Wanna go all out and get the big dawg now and not worry about needing and upgrade then get the 4600 ti.

Certainly some people who are in need of these items dont have the cash to get a quality card. I say save up.....If you get an MX card then you will not be happy trust me. I had one. Any game being released now or in the future will be ruled out. Battlefield 1942 cant play that card or CS, etc.

I have spent 100.00's of dollars on video cards and this is the best I have had yet.

Good luck

Look if you do decide to go GeForce and dont want to pay so much for the Ti4200 ect.., then you might conider the Ti500, its an awesome card and nto as expensive, i have one and it performs well.

There he is again! The friend of a friend who knows someone who writes drivers for ATI.

Well if they are so bad, and you know someone who knows someone??? can you ask him to sort it out then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never buy an MX card. Bad choice. The 64 meg cards perform as well as the 128 in most circumstanes. What the guy above said was true, they put more memory on, but it is slower memory to try and offset the expense of the extra ram. Unless you read a lot of reviews you will not find out this info, as the manufacturers don't make it readily available.

Stick with a 64 meg card, unless you are going to buy the current top dog, the Radeon 9700 which blows every other card away currently. That would be the only card I would want with 128 (probably doesn't come in a 64 meg version anyway).

I have geforce 4 mx 420 and it RULES!!!

I play battlefield 1942 at 25fps but i have 650mhz. i play giants like at 50fps and it may get down to 15fps when theres alot of things going on. But i love my mx...i see things i couldnt before with my voodoo 3 2000

Here are some specs I ran on two machines.

Just FPS

P3 600Mhz
Geforce 420 MX
Battlfield 1942

FPS-25-30 MAX with details to medium etc.

I replaced the card with a Ti4200 FPS are 70-80 with details to medium. I have no more game chop like I did before. I also tried them both out on my new system 2.4ghz with 512 ram I ran the MX at medium with only a few more frames than before. The Ti basically runs in the 90s on everymap with details set to high. Battlefield is tough on the cpu but this card helps. GForce vs voodoo is no comparison. I did not know what I was missing till I got my Ti card. Easy decision.

I have a Gforce4 MX440 with 128MB. I can play all the latest games (Unreal 2003, 1942) at full res. and detail and it plays great. I have no problems with it. I have a fast machine though. The MX cards arent bad if your on a budget. I couldnt spend more than $900 for a full system and i got a P4 2.0Ghz with 256RDRam and i dont feel the MX is slowing it down at all. My friend has basically the identical system (except 2.4Ghz) but with a Ti4200 and there is little improvement. The graphics are A LITTLE sharper.

Though I will probobly have to upgrade in a year.

spec wise they are not even in the same class. the mx is inferior in every way. to the owners of the mx series cards, this is ok you folks just dont know what your missing. I dont see how anyone can say there is just a minimal difference. from reviews, articles, literature the comparisons are appples and oranges. from first hand experience I would never buy an mx card...budget or not. upgrades will be needed sooner than a year if your a hardcore gamer.

Specs arent everything! Ive seen the exact same computer with an MX and a Ti and there IS minimal difference. PLUS with the $80 i saved, i can buy a new game or some more RAM.

you dont HAVE TO upgrade in even a year. I have a card with 8MB of memory and it ran new games up until 6 months ago and it was 4 years old. Mind you not the best, but thats pretty old.

your right....I guess everyone else is wrong then. MX cards are fine for games. good luck

Im assuming that was sarcasm. I KNOW that the Ti cards are better, but everyone around here bad mouths the MX cards and they are not all that bad. They will play all the current games for a budget gamer, thats my point.

I am not being sarcastic. Someone has to be wrong....could be us. Hopefully the poster will get a card that they are happy with. MX or Ti or Radeon. All fine cards.

good luck

agreed. Computers are so fast and graphics are so beautiful now that your always going to have a great gaming experience with a new system.

MX cards are budget cards and MAYBE you run your games at full spec, with all detail, but what resolutions are you running?

I am able to run all of my games with full graphics detail, at 1280x1024 with no probs. I can't go higher as my monitor can't handle it. And I run a Radeon 9000PRO on an Athlon 2000XP with 512 DDR333mhz so my machine is too, very powerful.

I know the Ti cards outperform mine and the MX cards are WAAAAY behind mine!

I run at 1024 x 168 . That is the most my monitor can handle. The Ti cards will probobly handle games better in a year better than the MX, but by that point you'll want a Direct X 9 card.