Questions regarding Video Cards

[Dragonetti]

I already upgraded my memory and HD on my computer. I am now looking to find a video card. A friend of mine in Japan told me that I should look for the highest memory and RamDac.

I have searched for alot of video cards. I am mostly interested in buying a "MSI MX400 PRO64S GEFORCE2 MX-400 64MB SDRAM AGP4X TV-OUT" with these features:

1. Optimized for Direct3D acceleration with complete support for 2. Microsoft® Direct X 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0
3. 256-bit 2D and 3D graphics accelerator
4. 350MHz RAMDAC
5. 128-bit Memory Interface
6. Digital Dual Display Architecture
7. nVIDIA Shading Rasteriser
8. 4 Texels per Clock
9. Integrated second-generation transform and lighting engine
10. 32-bit color with 32-bit Z/stencil
11. Cube Environment mapping
12. DirectTM X and S3TC texture compression
13. 700 Mtexel fill rate
14. 20Mtriangles/sec setup
15. 2.8GB/second memory bandwidth
16. Support 64/128-bit SGRAM/SDRAM
17. AGP 4x fast writes

MSI Geforce2 64MB found at this link:

http://avlogic.com/product.cgi?code=11007352

But I have found another video card with more memory and RamDac called "Dual Head VGA 3D THRILL 315 ultra-fast 128MB SDRAM w/heatsink" with these features:

1. Powered by 2nd generation 256-bit core engine--SIS 315 with ultra-fast 128MB SDRAM.
2. 175Mhz core clock speed, 166Mhz memory clock speed.
3. Double performance compared to SIS 300 graphics boards.
4. Integrated 375Mhz RAMDAC, resolution up to 2048x1536, True Color @ 60 Hz.
5. Hardware supports Transform & Lighting (T&L) with Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA).
6. Full acceleration for Microsoft DirectX 8 and OpenGL 1.2 ICD.
7. DVI-output for high-resolution display on digital monitors (Optional).
8. Comprehensive AGP 4X / 2X / 1X supports.
9. New hottest 3D Eagle Eye function for internet gaming, and fully supports D3D & OpenGL games (Optional).
10. DVI-output for high-resolution display on digital monitors(Optional).
11. Vivid NTSC / PAL TV-Output with flicker filter(Optional).

The Dual Head VGA 3D THRILL is found at this link:

http://store.yahoo.com/buyaib/3dthril315ul.html



How would I know which is a better video card overall?
Why does the MSI 65MB cost more than the Dual Head 128MB?
If anyone has a green rule of thumb on how to find a good video card and what to look for and compare with would be great.

Thanks Dragonetti

 

[swwelsh]

I would take the nVidia based GeForce over the SiS card. SiS may have started making high performance cards, but they have historically made lower end stuff, and I have never been impressed by the display of an SiS card. As for what card to get, that depends on what you are using it for, what you are running, etc. Are you interested in the latest 3D games? Want stability over performance? Want dual display? Integrated video capture? Nobody can give you a rule of thumb, because they dont know how you use your computer. There are thousands of video card reviews on the net, just do a search and you will find reviews, benchmarks, overclocking guides, you name it.

 

[Dragonetti]

swwelsh,

Thanks for your intel.

Yes I am looking into getting one spefically for 3D Gaming. I was going to get the GeForce3 64MB, but it was a little to pricey. I have a 3yr old gateway computer. In the future I am going to build my own computer, and then I will think about getting the GeForce3 64MB.

thanks,
Dragonetti