Im a Geforce 2 newbie, please help!!

Originally posted by Mad
i upgrade form a voodoo 3, so i dont know about this cards settings
ill soon post a site with my current specs a nd configs for the card
im playing max payne, and want some more speed
well, im using 21.83 det drivers and nvmax tweaker
and tips already???

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If anything is holding you back, it's your CPU. See, to max out a GeForce 2MX, you need at least an Athlon 800MHz-ish range.... I'm not sure what GeForce you have... but assuming you have a regular GeForce2 (and not an MX), you'll need an Athlon or P4 that's well near the gigahertz operating Mhz....

its a Geforce 2 MX 400 32Mb

Originally posted by Mad
its a Geforce 2 MX 400 32Mb

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Then my explanation still holds... a K6-2 500Mhz is not fast enough to keep up with the GeForce2 MX.

wow what timing....I just bought me (almost) the same card (inno3d brand). so does this mean I have to get the athlon 1 Ghz?

I think that what kairi00 is saying is if a game is running slow, that's the processor fault ( if you have a <1ghz processor). You see, software doesn't count only with a 3d graphics card to display images, the processor has to do some of the work also, so it's no good to max out the 3d graphics card if the processor is slowing the hole system...got it???
It's like overclockin' a GF2 in a PII 300...it doesn't pay....

Originally posted by Shiori
wow what timing....I just bought me (almost) the same card (inno3d brand). so does this mean I have to get the athlon 1 Ghz?

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Oh no... you don't have to get the Athlon 1Ghz... all I'm saying is that a GF2MX scales well with processors that are operating in the 800Mhz range (i.e. uses full potential). If the processor is slower than that, then you're not using the most of your video card....similarly, once your processor is 1.something Ghz, but you only have a GF2MX, then it's your video card that's bogging down the processor. Does that make sense? I just woke up, so right now I think and act like Hairybudda (i.e. stoned) j/k

Basically, what GEO said was right... that's what I meant to say.

yes, getting the most performance out of your system without either the cpu or gpu bogging the system down. In other words, the gpu doesn't bottleneck (or limit) the cpu performance (or vice versa) when running an application. Although you also have to consider that scaling also depends on the type of application, i.e. is it more cpu dependent than the gpu or V.V. i guess i just made things much more vague.. nyahaha!

i see.... so it's my geforce that's actually slowing down my 1.1Ghz? hehehe....never thought I'd actually have this sort of problem. I'm soooo used with an old, outdated system that I really don't know if the current speed I'm enjoying right now is experiencing bottlenecks. :emb:

hey xeven, while on this subject, I was wondering...
I now have a p3 800 and a Geforce 2mx, I think that's pretty balanced....allthough the mobo is a little old and doesnt have agp 4x (I think, there's nothing listed about it in the manual (it's a board from 1999))....would upgrading to a geforce 3 give me a serious performance boost or wont it make that much of a difference?

I'm not sure about the GF3, but if you're application is more gpu dependent, then you'd expect a greater impact on that type of application. Although this article is old, it shows cpu scaling between the p3 800's and the gf2's, this should give an idea how much an upgrade to GF3 impact your current performance. PIII: CPU vs GPU Scaling Analysis

I'd say that would give a bigger impact than I expected....

but what about the cpu....I mean, is a p3 800 enough to, well, get the maximum out of a geforce 3?

I know my system is slowly starting to age, but upgrading to a gf3 somewhere next year (when the price goes down a bit more) would probably be the cheapest option to keep up

the mobo cant go much higher than 800mhz I think (maybe it can do 850 but thats it), there's enough ram in there, so the only thing left that could be improved is the graphics card.

I'd recommend at least a 1 Ghz machine for a GeForce 3...

I dont recommend geforce 3. Im pretty sure Geforce 3 is the best card out there right now but the only thing I hate it is, its by nvidia. They make lousy video cards. I recommend ATI radeon 8500 or 7200. There both good.

I think the image quality of the GeForce 3 (FSAA w/ anisotropic filtering) is pretty good compared to ATI. ATI has better 2D capabilities by far, but Nvidia is the leader in 3D acceleration.

PS. Nvidia does not make videocards. They make graphics chipsets and OEMs produce the cards and sell them.