Radeon 8500

[skeeter]

I am using a Abit GF4 MX440 on my main computer. I am also using a 1.1 Gig Celeron. Would changing the video card to the Radeon 8500 with a 250 mhz speed be a worthwhile upgrade. I am looking at a 64 mb card-don't think many games need a 128 yet. I really don't play any tough games -mostly unreal and Starfleet command. I mostly play fps type games. Also would be used for DVDs.

[pstj]

Hi skeeter!

I think the Radeon 8500 is a very good choice. It has DVD decoding capability, so you don't need an additionnal decoder card. Also, the games you seem to be playing do not ask for the most powerful of video cards. I have a Pentium II 350 mhz with a Radeon 64mb sdram and unreal tournament runs great. But the Radeon 8500 will be useful if you play newer, faster, more complex fps. I personally like Radeon cards, although some here will say Geforce are better. The only problem with Radeon cards is their lack of driver support. I don't know if the Radeon 8500 has good drivers... especially for Windows XP (dunno if you have XP). Others here will be able to tell you about the quality of the drivers for the Radeon 8500.

Edit: You're using a Geforce 4? It's pretty new. Maybe upgrading right now is not necessary...

By the way, nice to see a fellow "Starfleet Command" player ;)

hope that helps

pstj

[skeeter]

Thanks! Place I am looking at has two models. One has the 250 clock core and the other a 275 core clock. About $25 difference. Is there enough difference in performance to warrent the extra $25? These ATi's seem to be a very good value for the money right now. I am running 98FE with the updates. Don't like the newer versions. I have both 98SE and ME but prefer to stay with FE. Will not even consider going to XP as Gill Bates is NOT going to determine what hardware and software I can or cannot use.

[jca08]

i've got a Radeon 8500 on my homebuilt winXP machine and i love it. i know some here will recommend the Geforces like pstj said, but at least with this product (my first Radeon) i'm very pleased. while they didn't immediately have the best drivers out, which is a known problem with ATI, they now have all of the XP drivers out and i'm sure they have the older OS's out as well depending on what you need. anyways, good luck on your upgrade, with what's out there these days, and as long as you're just sticking to one of these not quite cutting-edge cards, i think all of the kinks will have been worked out and drivers will be up-to-date...

josh

[skeeter]

Thanks! Still have to deceide on whether to change from the MX440 or no and if so which core clock to go with. Are the NVidia drivers going to be hard to remove? Any easy way? I also am running a decoder card and will probably not need it with the Radeon.

[pstj]

Well, to remove the drivers you basically have to go into Control Panel -> System -> Display Adapter, and Delete your current Display Adapter (If I remeber correctly). then, you install your new card, and Windows will recognize it. As for the core clock, I'm really not sure. Also, are your games running slow? Because if you don't have any troubles in your games, don't upgrade now. Wait a bit. The card will drop in price. But if your games are slow... go ahead, upgrade! :D

pstj