Dogface Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 I have the card in my grubby hands and was wondering if 1). It works good w/CM 2). Is it a good 32meg card.. I confess the only video cards i ever owned were Vodoo line 1,2,3,banshee and the like.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 Yes, it is a good card. Of course there are newer ones out, so it isn't among the faster cards available now. But it is better in terms of both visual quality (this may be a bit of a subjective call though) and speed compared to the cards you mentioned. It's based on the NVidia TNT2 Ultra (the fastest incarnation of the TNT2 chips). I'm not sure how good the last set of Diamond drivers were for it, but it should be compatible with the latest NVidia Reference Detonators. However you may want to stick with the 7.xx series or older (possibly even the 5.xx series) since you won't get much of a speed increase with non-GeForce cards when you use the Detonator 3 family drivers (6.xx+), to my knowledge. You should get all of the effects CM has to offer with this video card and there should be no real problems (especially since it doesn't perform FSAA, which is the major culprit in most display problems with high performance video cards in CMBO). [ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 I had the very card in question. It was a good card for its time. However I now have a 64MB Geforce 2 GTS Pro coupled with a 1.2GHz Athlon as opposed to a Celeron-433. If possible, I'd go with a Geforce card at this time. You can get a low end 32MB Geforce card for a pretty cheap price. But if price is not an obstacle, better get yourself at least a Geforce 2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogface Posted August 25, 2001 Author Share Posted August 25, 2001 Since im moving you cant beat the price... i.e. free so i might just do it ... I was just wondering if its gonna be worth the hassle of installing a new card and getting used to new drivers and tools thanks for the imput guys [ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: Dogface ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dogface: Since im moving you cant beat the price... i.e. free so i might just do it ... I was just wondering if its gonna be worth the hassle of installing a new card and getting used to new drivers and tools thanks for the imput guys<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Nah, shouldn't be any hassle. Just plop in the TNT2 car load the Driver CD and then grab the latest Diamond drivers. 3.86 I beleive they were. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crepitis Posted September 2, 2001 Share Posted September 2, 2001 Maximus,I note that you are running a geforce 2 with a 1.2ghz Athlon.I installed a geforce2 card with my system when I upgraded about a year ago but I had major problems with the geforce2/Via chipset motherboard(Biostar m7vkb).Games would crash at random times,usually within minutes of starting.I have a 300 watt power supply and plenty of power in the cooling fan dept,and through some research on the net I found out that there was a (fairly)widespread problem with this card/mobo combination.At the time I changed over to a Voodoo 5500,and all went well.The V5500 has served me well since then with no more crashing and the FSAA was a feature that I came to consider essential for gaming.However the card is showing its age a little bit now and whilst it copes well with whats available at the moment,some up and coming games may just prove too much for it.I have just upgraded to a 1.2 ghz cpu,on the same mobo as before,and I was wondering if you knew if the geforce2/via chipset problem still existed?Its going to be expensive enough upgrading the graphics without having to buy a new mobo as well.I have scanned around the net as best as i can to find out some answers but have drawn a blank.Any help you can give will be much appreciated,cheers. :confused: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YECoyote Posted September 2, 2001 Share Posted September 2, 2001 Hi Dogface, I used to have this card, until recently. I reluctantly shelled out for a Gforce2 MX-400. It is a VERY good card. Only when you have a game that has a gazillion moving pixels will you see a problem. Most mainstream 3D games run perfectly smooth for my P-III 733. At the price you mentioned, you can't go wrong. I think the card could last another 2 years, easily. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted September 2, 2001 Share Posted September 2, 2001 I've heard of compatibility problems between GeForces and some AMD-oriented VIA chipsets. Some of the motherboard manufacturers updated their BIOS. One of the updates to your motherboard lists 3D game compatibility with a TNT Vanta. This may be the same issue with your GeForce (though I wouldn't be sure about that). Biostar M7VKB BIOS (v. 524F): http://www.biostar.com.tw/support/m7vkb.htm You'll probably also want to update your drivers for the VIA chipset (v. 4.32): http://www.biostar.com.tw/support/patch.htm It's interesting to look at Biostar's compatibility/peformance testing on your motherboard. The Voodoo 5500 is listed as having "failed" compatibility tests with the v. 404 BIOS. However a GeForce2 GTS is listed from both ASUS and ELSA has having worked. So a BIOS update most likely wouldn't address this particular problem (unless you're using a much older BIOS). What sound card do you have ? I've heard of some problems with SB Live cards, VIA chipsets and DirectX 8. I've also read about changing the AGP driver values, but this can be a VERY BIG PROBLEM if the wrong value is used. Recovering from it would require a PCI video card. Changing these values may make your GeForce more stable. These settings are in the CMOS > Advanced Chipset Features > AGP Device Control > AGP Driving Control > set to Manual > AGP Driving Value. I have heard of values of DA or EA working with other VIA chipsets (Pro133A) and the GeForce family, but I'm not sure of the KT133 chipset settings. Again, be aware that changing this value could possibly result in your computer being unable to boot, and even clearing the CMOS doesn't change this setting ! Biostar has also recommended a 'chipset fan' if you're running an Athlon a 1.2GHz or higher. Here's some further info on these particular heatsinks (though most of it may be geared towards video cards): http://www.a1-electronics.co.uk/Heatsinks_Cases/Heatsinks/Chipset_Heatsinks-Fans.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crepitis Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 Schrullenhaft,thanks for your help.Strangely enough I do have an SB live soundcard!I will check out the bios stuff on the biostar website.My pals son has a geforce2 pro card so I will see if I can try that out with my system to check for stability.Fingers crossed.Cheers,Bob. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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