On 5 Mar 2002, at 16:31, Abdul Samad Abdul Razzak wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Some help and opinions please. Which of these chipsets is best for low res
> 3d ( I have a small monitor) 32mb gforce
> 2mx 200, 32mb gforce 2mx 400, 32 mb riva tnt2 m64, 32mb riva tnt m64 (all
> agp) ?
>
>
> I read somewhere that these days graphics cards chipsets are highly
> integrated in that even memory is built in. If this is true then does it
> matter what brand of graphics card you buy. For example Gigabyte,
> Eagle,Miracle (unknown brand) and MSI are available. Assuming that they sell
> cards based on the same chipset (say 32 mb gforce 2mx) will one brand
> perform significantly better than the other?
>
> Thank you
> Samad
> 32mb gforce 2mx 200
> 32mb gforce 2mx 400
> 32mb riva tnt2 m64
> 32mb riva tnt m64
I'm not sure about the tnt2, but the Riva TNT chipset is several
years old now, and I would likely go for the gforce on that basis.
Then the question becomes: Is the chance that you might get a bigger
monitor sometime soon worth a bit extra for the more powerful gforce
card?
I don't know about "even the memory is built in", but generally the
developers of a new video chipset make available a "reference design"
example of how it can be used to make a complete video card. Some
manufacturers just make and sell copies of that reference design;
others (and this is where "branded" can become significant) design
their own cards around the new chips.
Typically, a reference design may show off features of the new
chipset, but is not otherwise engineered for overall performance. Of
course, if the chipset is good enough (and by all accounts, the
gforce seems to be!), the extra effort of a branded design may be
worth it only to some really hardcore users.
The reference design makes it to manufacturing because it is good
enough for most users, and the manufacturers who do not do their own
design can therefore price their products a bit lower.
My guess is that if you are stuck with a small monitor, and don't
expect to upgrade soon, then the least expensive card using the best
chipset is probably a good fit.
Dave Gillett
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