R250 PCI = Life for non AGP mobo's?

[ragejg]

DX8 for the $649 crowd?

I've heard something about a Radeon 9000 pci version being released... This seems to be good news for those stuck without an AGP slot. I'm sure there's plenty of folks wanting to game a little better than a GF4MX420... But might PCI bandwidth limit this situation? Might it have DVD playback issues? Is this a new "virtual AGP" setup? Is this new life for Celery 800-1.3 owners? Might this be the first cost-effective PCI vidcard in a long time (traditionally, there's a large markup on PCI varieties)?

What do y'all think about this?

[StealthHawk]

AGP cards have always been faster than PCI cards, but it probably won't make much of a difference in performance.

[thcdru2k]

if you don't have agp, i think they'res better things to upgrade than your videocard.

[Gator]

Originally posted by thcdru2k
if you don't have agp, i think they'res better things to upgrade than your videocard.

agreed, a motherboard like the K7S5A sells for $50-$60, it has AGP4x, SDRAM & DDR slots, AXP2600 support, and its overall a good board. It's the best way to solve a lack of AGP slot.

But yes, regarding the R9000PCI it is definetly the very best card you can have in an older PCI system. It's not a bad card, but at $99 it doesn't seem worth it for an older computer. Especially when the much more powerful TI4200 AGP is in the same price range these days.

[ragejg]

Many who consider to get into gaming won't/can't neccesarily sell their Celery which they're making monthly payments on; or they are initially turned off by the prospect of switching "main" components. I fully understand the deals at newegg... but there's those who won't take that route, and it (R9000PCI) may be an attractive choice for them...

I have a couple friends with crap-box celerons and SDR P4's who can't presently game much, and like what they see in DX8 class cards... They're not ready to trade all in, but want a taste...

...can't really do that with a TNT PCI, or even a GF2MX anymore...
BF1942 at 8x6, medium/high detail would be great for these peeps.

:)

[Gator]

I see your point, and in a perfect world I guess we'd all have NV30, 2gig RDRAM, 4ghz P4, 900gig SATA hard drive. lol

So yes, the R9000PCI is the best bet for some kind of gaming. Just remember that many games will be bottlenecked by the CPU and memory speed, but with a R9000PCI it might be enough power to run some new games at low settings :)

Originally posted by ragejg
Many who consider to get into gaming won't/can't neccesarily sell their Celery which they're making monthly payments on; or they are initially turned off by the prospect of switching "main" components. I fully understand the deals at newegg... but there's those who won't take that route, and it (R9000PCI) may be an attractive choice for them...

I have a couple friends with crap-box celerons and SDR P4's who can't presently game much, and like what they see in DX8 class cards... They're not ready to trade all in, but want a taste...

...can't really do that with a TNT PCI, or even a GF2MX anymore...
BF1942 at 8x6, medium/high detail would be great for these peeps.

:)

[NickSpolec]

Yeah, just go out and buy a new motherboard...

What if you have a small form factor case/motherboard setup that only have 1 or 2 slots and no AGP?

[ragejg]

Originally posted by NickSpolec
Yeah, just go out and buy a new motherboard...

What if you have a small form factor case/motherboard setup that only have 1 or 2 slots and no AGP?

statement 1: parallel with tchdru2k and gator's initial comments...:D:D:rolleyes:

statement 2: parallel with ragejg's statment re: crap box owners (no offense to them, they're just stuck)

:confused: :confused:

Both routes, however, offer advantages dependant on the user's ability/enthusiasm/time...

I'd just love to see the look on a kid's face who's been stuck with i810 for a year after a mucho better vidcard is thrown in. From a perspective like that, I couldn't imagine the excitement created... I'll be doing something like this for my 11 yr old brother in Jan... late Xmas present...:D :p ;)

[NickSpolec]

Statement 1: I guess sarcasm is lost if a :rolleyes: is not included.

Statement 2: Yeah, well, they are a niche market. But some people like them.