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Author Topic: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?  (Read 2220 times)

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jasonbar

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Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« on: October 13, 2009, 03:01:16 am »
So, along with hard drives & memory, I also picked up a pair of old video cards when I took a bunch of PCs to the household hazardous waste drop-off center.

I'm having trouble identifying the exact models of the cards based on their markings and, more importantly, I'm unsure what benefit I'd have in MAME (if any) by switching from my older video card to one of these slightly-less-older cards.

The attached pics show what I have & the 2 options.

Per support.dell.com, my PC was made in August 2001.

Alternate #1 seems to have been made in September 2001, so it's surely better (plus, it's got a fan, so I figure it's faster...)

Alternate #2 has very few markings, but it has a fan PLUS fancy heat sinks PLUS a digital video output next to the analog video output, suggesting it's even newer.


Can a PC wiz recommend which card I ought try switching to, if at all?


Thanks!
-Jason

ammitz

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2009, 09:10:59 am »
By typing in the numbers on the sticker I found this link for alternate number 1:
http://forums.windrivers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19792
NVidia GeForce2 GTS card
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ammitz

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2009, 09:19:30 am »
I'm not sure, but your 2. alternate card looks much like this one
http://www.5rprocessors.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1058&idcategory=81

GeForce2 Quadro2 64mb DVI VGA AGP Video Card

and have the same "number" =  096VHW

You should be able to find the videocard in this benchmark report and do the comparison for yourself.

Hope it helps your decission
« Last Edit: October 13, 2009, 09:21:24 am by ammitz »
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jtslade

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2009, 10:27:20 am »
Card Three is a:

Part / Model: 096VHW-44571
Brand: NVIDIA CORP

Description: R096vhw44571 128mb Agp Video Card With Vga And Dvi Outputs


And it is identified as a Geforce 2 Ultra by windows.

I would say that this card will have the best performance in MAME.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2009, 10:42:07 am by jtslade »
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bkenobi

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2009, 12:48:43 pm »
Just going off cooling and connectors here, but I would go with the last card.  It has the biggest fan and heat sync's for the memory (meaning it generates more heat = more powerful).  Also, it has DVI output, which means it's been produced more recently than the others (most likely) because they were concerned about better video output formats (digital DVI vs analog VGA).

The first card is a Quadro which is a stepped up GeForce.  But, it's a Quadro2 which makes it really old.  Notice that it's got no cooling (active or passive).  The second one Does have a place for a DVI connector, but it doesn't have as much cooling as card 3.

The correct answer would be based on model numbers as others have mentioned.  I was just taking a different route to the same answer.   :cheers:

jasonbar

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2009, 02:08:13 am »
bkenobi, I like your logic the best, since it matches my reasoning!  :]

The fan on the least lame card was busted, so I traded a buddy for an almost-fitting fan, did some whittling on it, then a little zip tie reinforcement, & I'm in business!

Windows says that it's a Quadro2 Pro Integrated RAMDAC 64MB , which according to one of my previous searches, is 1 better than the Quadro2 Ultra.

Downloading a newer driver now, but it appears to work.  Hooray!

Thanks,
-Jason

speedklz

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2009, 07:34:04 pm »
THe Geforce 2 ultra is going to be a better bet.  The Ultra model actually outperforms the first GeForce 3 products in some cases straight fromo the wikki.  The Ultra will have a higher clock rate and has more memory, the quadra series was ment for things like auto cad and so.
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bkenobi

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2009, 02:11:05 pm »
Correct, Quadra's were designed off of the GeForce hardware with higher specs designed for CAD systems (primarily).  The cards are certainly not worse than a comperable GeForce (same model line), but the drivers may not be tuned for gaming.  I don't think you would have a problem getting gaming versions of Quadra drivers if you were to look around.  I remember a number of threads on certain deal forums discussing buying server level systems for cheap gaming machines.  I would be surprised if no one had looked at using different firmware/drivers to make these high quality cards work as well as their gaming counterparts.  But, being that these are all really old cards, I wouldn't spend too much time on it cause you can get something newer for less than $25 these days.   :cheers:

jasonbar

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Re: Which of these 3 video cards is the least lame?
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2009, 02:16:18 pm »
Howdy-

Yup, we're an aerospace design company, & we use Solidworks a whole lot, so our graphics cards are geared towards CAD, certainly.

The machine already had a working driver on it.  I tried downloading one for a  Ultra & the driver installer said that there was no applicable hardware on my machine for it.  Then I noticed that it was a Pro, so I got the latest Pro driver & installed it (no complaints from the installer).  But I couldn't get the darn thing to display more than 4-bit color!!!  =(  So I reverted back to the working driver.

Thanks,
-Jason