To Buy or Not to Buy

[Alaron]

Im looking to upgrade my video card. I currently run an Athlon 1700+, 512DDR, Geforce 2 GTS-V. Im getting more involved in gaming and soon I will need to upgrade to be able to play new games. I was thinking about a Radeon 9700Pro but I was looking at its specs and saw it Requires Windows 2000, Me or XP. Is it true the card won't run on a lower OS? Im using Windows 98FE right now, so will I have to plunk down another $100 for XP to be able to run a $300 video card? That would be a major expense. Also, can I run the card with my existing system, or would I need more power? I have a 300w PSU and a 1.5Ghz CPU, is that enough?

TIA.

[Alienware_Dude]

What brand is the PSU? If I remember correctly, the only reason the 9700 Pro requires those OSes is because the drivers are not compatible with Windows 9x. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Alaron]

The PSU is Heroichi, which is apparently a good unit, based on a Toms Hardware review.

[pam123]

If you post this over at www.rage3d.com the guys running 98 and 98se will tell you how it works for them and what adjustments, if any, they've made.
The card will run fine with a 300 watt Heroichi.
Also, if you want to try it, once or twice a week 9700pros turn up as "refurbished" at www.newegg.com.
They're considered a very good buy, around the $240 mark, by those quick enough to grab them first. Since everybody at rage3d is wating on them now I don't know if you'll get lucky.
I got my XP Home upgrade fpr $79 at Amazon.

[Alaron]

Thanks for the help pam123. I just posted over on Rage3d. I hope they have a solution. I would be much more willing to get the 9700 if I dont have to upgrade my OS.

[Fuze]

If you decide to get it, you may want to wait 'till the fx comes out and see if the price comes down, may be worth it.

[pam123]

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33659821

[Alaron]

Thanks for the link pam123 but everyone in that thread is running Win98SE. I have first edition, not second. I fear that this may be one of those issues that 98SE runs but 98FE will not. My post on Rage3D didnt attract much attention, one guy said it works fine, but he has SE and the other replys were to buy XP. I guess Ill just save up. Maybe when the FX comes out, and the 9700Pro drops in price I can afford the upgrade to XP.