Video cards PCI express, 8x AGP 4x AGP which one??

Discussion in 'SolidWorks' started by ex var, Oct 5, 2004.

  1. ex var

    ex var Guest

    Interesting toms hardware link for those about to shell potentially lots of
    cash for a video card!! I just built a system and did quite exhaustive
    research (for me anyway) about which components to buy. The video card was
    by far the hardest thing to decide on, I did not have $900.00 (or more) USD
    to blow on one component so I ended up with an nvidia quadro 900 XGL. the
    following links explains why:

    http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030123/opengl_nv28_fgl9700-15.html

    http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040310/pcie-04.html

    So for me, PCI express and even 8X AGP don't make sense in terms of
    performance to cost ratio, the other card I considered was the 980 XGL

    Don't get me wrong, if I had unlimited funds then I would have got the FX
    3000. BTW a quadro 900 XGL can be had on e-bay for under $200.00 USD

    System specs if anyone is interested:

    Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500 socket 939
    Mobo: MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum (Nvidia NForce 3 chipset)
    RAM: 2 Gig Corsair TwinX 3200 (2 one gig sticks)
    Hard Drive Western Digital Raptor 74 gig 10,000 rpm SATA with 8mb cache
    WD740
    Video card Nvidia Quadro 4 900 XGL
    Monitor Viewsonic 19" P95f
    Case Antec Sonata quiet case ....RECOMMENDED
     
    ex var, Oct 5, 2004
    #1
  2. ex var

    3d Guest

    System specs if anyone is interested:

    So what's the damage on this setup? Why did you go with that particular
    mobo? I have just recently purchased the fx 2000 card for a really ggod
    price. my next item is a mobo combo, and then a new lcd. I am trying to
    decide on a whole new box wth a crappy video card vs. upgrading my puter pc
    by pc. current config:

    asus a7z333 mobo
    athlon xp 2200
    1 gb ram
    hard hacked ti4600
    it's pretty good except for the graphics now since i sca rued it up. but i
    want to move up a little
     
    3d, Oct 5, 2004
    #2
  3. ex var

    ex var Guest

    Prices in CDN added and vendor

    Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500 socket 939
    $497.20 from NCIX

    Mobo: MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum (Nvidia NForce 3 chipset)
    $208.26 from NCIX

    RAM: 2 Gig Corsair TwinX 3200 (2 one gig sticks)
    $697.95 from the computer rack (local store)

    Hard Drive Western Digital Raptor 74 gig 10,000 rpm SATA with 8mb cache
    WD740
    $274.74 from NCIX

    Video card Nvidia Quadro 4 900 XGL
    $221.99 from ebay

    Monitor Viewsonic 19" P95f
    $354.39 from the computer rack

    Case Antec Sonata quiet case ....RECOMMENDED
    $139.14 from the computer rack

    www.ncix.com
    http://www.computerrack.com/

    chose that mobo based on processor. the processor is the most I could
    afford, the next one up is considerably more expensive (50% more cost for
    10% more power, not my idea of value!) the AMD 64 3500 is a socket 939 chip,
    relatively new and subsequently relatively few mobos support it so far. A
    little digging on www.tomshardware.com , www.anandtech.com and
    www.hardocp.com provided the info to make the decision. hope this helps.

    the full system including keyboard mouse wireless lan and dvd writer and cd
    rom cost me approx $3000.00 CDN, the hardest thing was waiting for all the
    goodies to arrive, Ironically it was the stuff I bought locally that took
    the longest (the store had not one item in stock despite their misleading
    website) but there was no way I was paying shipping on a moinitor or case!!
     
    ex var, Oct 5, 2004
    #3
  4. ex var

    ex var Guest

    Hey Dale,

    Still experimenting with the mobo settings, thanks for the heads up. One odd
    thing, I had to enable RAID to get the SATA HD to work so I have a single 74
    gb SATA HD in a striped RAID array. Got the info from the MSI website on a
    forum. Prior to setting up RAID, the HD was showing as an IDE device.

    I have not touched the overclocking utility yet, did you do this in the BIOS
    or thru a software app in windoze?? what settings do you recommend. For me
    stability is paramount but if I can safely squeeze some more power out of
    the system I am in.

    Thx

    Clive
     
    ex var, Oct 5, 2004
    #4
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