Can I have your opinions???

[paradizecityz]

what do you guys think of this card?
PNY Verto GeForce4 MX 4000 64MB DDR PCI Graphics Card
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1077627694820&skuId=6376183&type=product

my computer is pretty old so i can't get the best vid card out there....most mb of my motherboard for vid card is 64 mb i believe so thats why i am looking at that Geforce 4 MX 4000
currently i have Geforce4 Ti 4200 64 mb video card

or if the Geforce 4 MX 4000 isnt good, what card do you recommend with 64 mb? I never used ATI before so I am open to any brand of card, as long as its a better card than what I have right now...thanks in advance

[paradizecityz]

anyone???

[Donatello]

i'm not really a tech wiz, so i can't give too much advice, but my video card is 64mb, and i'm ok with it, look at my dyansty to see screenshots (link in my sig)....

it's a geforce 2 mx400...

so i'm sure the 4000 or whatever would be better

[paradizecityz]

^
yea i use to have geforce 2 mx400 and i upgraded to geforce4 ti4200 and now im lookin to upgrade again..

[paradizecityz]

anyone else have any opinions?

[curious101]

Yeah, perhaps I can help.

I just bought a card too. An Inno3D GeForce FX5200 128MB 128BIT DDR. My choices at first were:

GF 2 MX400 64MB 64BIT SDR
GF 4 MX440 64MB 64BIT DDR
GF 4 MX440 128MB 64 BIT DDR/ 128MB 128BIT DDR
GF 4 MX4000 128MB 128BIT DDR

Based on my research (from forums, reviews, google), these cards do not have DX9 hardware. They do not have pixel and vertex shader hardware. Since EA Sports uses the DirectX 9.0 engine (and yeah, pixel and vertex shaders) for it's games, including NBA Live 2005 then you might as well get a card that supports DX9 from the hardware level. This is to reduce the stress from the CPU and instead get much the power from the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and the memory of the video card itself.

And so to make the most out of your budget, I suggest you get a video card (VC) that has DX9 hardware. I also suggest you get those 128BIT vc's. Here are the cards that has DX9 hardware. The GeForce FX's are good for your budget:

from nVidia:
GeForce FX 5200 64MB 64BIT DDR
GeForce FX 5200 128MB 64BIT DDR
GeForce FX 5200 128MB 128BIT DDR
other mid/low-end models such as GF FX 5600, etc.

from ATI:
Radeon 9550 Extreme Edition or Platinum Edition
(do not get those Radeon 9200 SE's because they're not DX9 compliant and are regarded by most Radeon users as Slow Edition vc's.)

The next thing you'd have to look for is the BRAND of the vc's. Here are good brands from the nVidia line:

Leadtek
Gainward
Sparkle
Palit Daytona
(Unfortunately, Inno3D vc's in my opinion run hot, thus not lasting a couple of years. I was saddened I was forced to buy one.)

from ATI (I'm not so familiar):
GeCube

Hope this helps in your buying decisions.

However, if your motherboard cannot accommodate an AGP graphics card, then you have no choice but to buy the VC you suggested or any other PCI vc's for that matter.

[paradizecityz]

o awesome, this is very useful, just exactly what i am looking for...thanks

but another question...i see i have a choice between
GeForce FX 5200 64MB 64BIT DDR
and from ATI:
Radeon 9550 Extreme Edition or Platinum Edition

which one would u prefer, I always used nVidia and never tried ATI so i dont know which is better? thanks again

[paradizecityz]

i am trying to find my motherboard information manual but what i saw from looking on my system, since my motherboard and system is old, is that the card can only be 64 mb and the AGP slot is only 2x, any opinions on a specific card???

[curious101]

Hmm... I'm not sure whether motherboards are specific about VC memory. For sure the ATI R9550 EE is an AGP 8x card with 128mb; 128bit memory. This card has very good reviews both in the gaming and vc overclocking scene. The nVidia GeForce FX5200 is also an AGP 8x card. If you compare these two, the R9550 far outperforms the FX5200 since the R9550 is a mid-end card and thus is segmented to another price segment.

You won't have a problem with the AGP issue however because it is backwards compatible. The catch is that you just can't use the full potential of the card. It's not that bad after all. You're still better off when you upgrade to another mobo in the near future. I recommend that you try those two cards and whichever goes well with your mobo, choose it and return the other. Just make a deal with the salesperson to let you have a taste of those 2 VC's before deciding to buy.

Also check if your POWER is sufficient for those VC's. The FX5200 consumes about 65 WATTS of power from your Power Supply Unit (PSU) and the ATI Radeon 9550EE consumes about 45 WATTS. You add that (the AGP VC) to your other components such as the CPU, hard disks, optical drives, usb ports, etc., and a 300-WATT PSU might be insufficient.

As my final thought, try out those 2 VC's first (if you can) before you buy. If your budget is within these price ranges (FX5200 & R9550), I strongly suggest you try out the R9550 first, it's fast and consumes much less power than it's nVidia counterparts. Download the latest catalyst drivers for ATI. There are many Radeon drivers out there, but try out the official release from the ATI website first before exploring those optimized drivers.

You can have your system specs posted here so we can verify if your proposed VC's are compatible. You can easily do this if you have NBA Live 2004 or 2005. EA Sports has this Info tool that displays your system info summary.

Reference
Power Supply Wattage Calculator

[paradizecityz]

im not totally sure but i think u mean Easy Info, if so here is what I got from that
http://paradizecityz.0catch.com/myinfo.html

[curious101]

I've seen your system specs. I see you have no problems meeting the requirements of the game. I think your mobo can support a 128mb, 128bit VC; even a 256mb, 256bit card. Your current VC is actually good. GeForce TI GPU's are actually faster than the FX's. It's just that they're not DX9 compliant cards. If you can stretch your budget more here is what I recommend:

US +/- $200 = ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (best buy!)
US +/- $300-400 = nVidia GeForce 6600 GT; 6800 GT (uses too much power, a 300-WATT PSU isn't enough)
US +/- $500 = ATI X800XT PE (high wattage consumption)

[threatlockz]

Please make sure your mobo supports 8x AGP before you by any of the above listed cards...

Since it's running a 1000mhz processor I'm not that sure it will support 8x AGP.

[paradizecityz]

yea thats the problem
my mobo's AGP is 4x and in the mobo user manual, it says
"Shared memory architecture allows a maximum of 64 MB main memory to act as frame buffer" so doesn't that mean the vid card is only up to 64 mb? if not then i would get one of those you have recommended

[curious101]

What's your mobo brand/model by the way? I realized I haven't asked you that 'til now.

As what I've said from my previous posts, you won't have a problem with the AGP issue since AGP 8x is backwards compatible. AGP 8x vc's still run on AGP 4x and AGP 2x mobos. It's just that you can't use the full bandwidth potential of the card because you have a 4x or 2x limitation.

re: "Shared memory architecture allows a maximum of 64 MB main memory to act as frame buffer"..... I'm not sure about this one but I think you are referring to the built-in video that your mobo has. It means that you have a built-in vc that can borrow a maximum of 64MB from your physical memory. If you have 512MB of RAM, it can share a maximum of 64MB from the 512MB that it has to the built-in vc of your mobo. Just a theory, though.

I've read some forums whose users have upgraded their GeForce Ti's to GeForce FX's/Ultra or higher just to have a DX9 compliant card. Be it a 64MB 64BIT vc or a 128MB 64BIT/128MB 128BIT vc, they had no problems upgrading. The only real issue here, IMO, is the power consumption of those vc's. If you have a PSU that has enough to power the VC of your choice plus all the components of your PC, then go get that card. Just visit that Power Wattage Calculator website I posted before and see which cards consume less power.

[paradizecityz]

What's your mobo brand/model by the way? I realized I haven't asked you that 'til now.

As what I've said from my previous posts, you won't have a problem with the AGP issue since AGP 8x is backwards compatible. AGP 8x vc's still run on AGP 4x and AGP 2x mobos. It's just that you can't use the full bandwidth potential of the card because you have a 4x or 2x limitation.

re: "Shared memory architecture allows a maximum of 64 MB main memory to act as frame buffer"..... I'm not sure about this one but I think you are referring to the built-in video that your mobo has. It means that you have a built-in vc that can borrow a maximum of 64MB from your physical memory. If you have 512MB of RAM, it can share a maximum of 64MB from the 512MB that it has to the built-in vc of your mobo. Just a theory, though.

I've read some forums whose users have upgraded their GeForce Ti's to GeForce FX's/Ultra or higher just to have a DX9 compliant card. Be it a 64MB 64BIT vc or a 128MB 64BIT/128MB 128BIT vc, they had no problems upgrading. The only real issue here, IMO, is the power consumption of those vc's. If you have a PSU that has enough to power the VC of your choice plus all the components of your PC, then go get that card. Just visit that Power Wattage Calculator website I posted before and see which cards consume less power.

yes i understand about the AGP 8x and it can run backwards, since I read that part about 64 mb share memory, I am not sure if it means what u said or the video card can only be up to 64 mb
but on the mobo instruction manual, it has the name as pc 266 SystemBoard M810 Socket A

I have tried looking this up but got confused after all the results because it had like different version but I don't know which is exactly mine

[paradizecityz]

i talked to my friend about that statement
"Shared memory architecture allows a maximum of 64 MB main memory to act as frame buffer".....

and he said i think same thing as u
he said it uses the ram of the computer for the vid card so im guessing i can stick any card in then as long as AGP

[Mad_Game]

ei curious i just wanna ask which cards can turn on the lighting option in Live 2005? im quite on a budget so if you can atleast list the cheaper ones available. thnx

[threatlockz]

I believe all directX 8 video cards. So that's from the GF Ti series and up.

Could be mistaken though.

[curious101]

@paradizecityz,

Yeah, you can probably use any vc as long as it's AGP. Good luck on your choices. Be careful about that power consumption thing.

We have the same front side bus (FSB) as your mobo. I'm guessing your mobo uses a VIA or an SiS chipset running at 266 MHz FSB. Well, for games like that of NBA Live 2005 or other simulation games, you're still good to go. These games are not that demanding. First person shooter games, however, require more.



@Mad_Game,

I'm really not sure if the GeForce FX5200 128MB 128BIT DDR can do that. I haven't used mine extensively yet. Since you're pinoy too, I can refer you to this thread. The article was posted by StanSuarez from PC-Experts, a pinoy forum for the pinoy PC enthusiast. It's not particular about an "NBA Live 2005" bang/buck vc, but budget wise I recommend you still read it. It might help you in your buying decisions.

If you're not redirected to the thread then you can do it manually:
From the PC Experts home, scroll down and look for a "Forum" link on the lower left side of the page. You will be directed to the forum home page. Look for the topic "Video." Afterwards, a sticky thread can be seen stating: "3D Graphics buyers guide."

[paradizecityz]

hey curious101
thnx for all your help, I will be purchasing a GeForce FX5200 128MB 128BIT DDR and I'll let you know how everything turns out...

[paradizecityz]

hmm i went to get a Geforce FX 5200 128 MB AGP card today and when i installed it and everything it works and all but when I fire up the game, the game gets all distorted and stuff so i guess i can't use this card...i went to start->run->dxdiag and was i test the card but it failed, it just froze after the 3rd test under Test DirectDraw

but im prolly gonna order the 64 MB one and try that

[threatlockz]

don't think it has anything to do with it being 128mb. have you tried latest drivers?
also, it's best to format your pc everytime you change a major hardware piece like vid.card.

[paradizecityz]

don't think it has anything to do with it being 128mb. have you tried latest drivers?
also, it's best to format your pc everytime you change a major hardware piece like vid.card.

yes i tried the latest drivers for it
i kno its good to format but last time i changed my vid card, it was just a basic swap and i went from a geforce mx 400 32 mb i think to a geforce4 ti4200 64mb so i dont kno, ill find out when i get that other card

[curious101]

Have you tried these:

a.) disable onboard VGA from the bios.
b.) check your bios settings about anything that pertains to AGP. Ex. AGP fastwrite, aperture size, etc. Disable them. Check to see the effect.
c.) uninstall the old driver from the Ti.
d.) check EAsy Info after every driver installation.
e.) install the latest ForceWare driver. if not working, uninstall;
f.) install the driver that came with the card. if not working, uninstall;
g.) install other optimized drivers such as NGO, OMEGA, etc. (one at a time)
h.) try to experiment with the video settings of the game like VSYNC, buffer, resolution, etc.

Hmm, the VC is ok with your system. It might just be the game. Or it might be because of the latest drivers. It think doing a fresh install is not that necessary.

[paradizecityz]

Have you tried these:

a.) disable onboard VGA from the bios.
b.) check your bios settings about anything that pertains to AGP. Ex. AGP fastwrite, aperture size, etc. Disable them. Check to see the effect.
c.) uninstall the old driver from the Ti.
d.) check EAsy Info after every driver installation.
e.) install the latest ForceWare driver. if not working, uninstall;
f.) install the driver that came with the card. if not working, uninstall;
g.) install other optimized drivers such as NGO, OMEGA, etc. (one at a time)
h.) try to experiment with the video settings of the game like VSYNC, buffer, resolution, etc.

Hmm, the VC is ok with your system. It might just be the game. Or it might be because of the latest drivers. It think doing a fresh install is not that necessary.

i did check all that except checking Easy Info, i install the latest from nvidia and that didnt work and i install update from OMEGA and still didnt work...this is wat happens, i start up the game and it comes out fine and right when the e comes up in the EA Sports screen, the image gets distorted so im not sure wat went wrong, but im going to the computer store tomrrow and im gonna look for that 64 mb and ill let u kno how it turns out