Sorry If this is similar to my other thread... but I wanted a broader topic. Other people can get in on this... I'm a little lost on the whole video card thing. My new one is a GeForce4 440 GoTM with 64MB DDR Ram. So that would be not as good as some other GeForce4? Or are all GeForce4's about the same. Also... what is a SWDVD/CDRW drive. I know the CDRW is a cd rewritable, but what about the SWDVD part. The speeds are 8-8-8-24X. So whatever that means... Are Video Cards like computers? Like do they get old and outdated as fast as the processors or will they last longer. If you had to pick a card, which would you pick? Thanks everybody in advance.
Dude...you must be getting a Dell...laptop... I'll let someone else take care of the GeF4 question...I'm really not much of a hard-core gamer... I honestly have no idea what SWDVD is...all I know is that I've only seen it labeled this way on Dell laptops and even then only when its a combo drive. I assume it means either "slim-width" or "software" (as in software-decoded) or maybe something really silly... In plain english, its a combo DVD-ROM/CD-R/RW drive. You get all the functionality of both drives in one. The 8-8-8-24 are the read/write speeds: 8x DVD read 8x CD-R write 8x CD-RW write 24x CD-ROM read Hope this helps...
So no chance it writes DVDs? Damn, I guess i was being hopefull there. Also, how do I burn CDs if I only have one drive. Do I rip the info into some file, then take the cd out put the blank in and burn it like that?
The Geforce 4s go like this: ---TOP OF THE LINE--- Ti 4600 Ti 4400 Ti 4200 MX 460 MX 440 MX 420 ---Bottom of the Geforce 4 Line --- Now yours is special Nomar -- yours is a mobile GPU. The Geforce 4 MX 440 is not all that impressive compared to the other Geforce 4s, BUT in a laptop it's awesome. And it's still pretty darned kickass. Better than my graphics card, and I can play everything out there right now. Graphics cards have established a technology turnover of 6 months. Every 6 months there is a new Geforce out and a new ATI card. You don't need to upgrade unless the programs you are using require something more substantial. For all games out there right now, you're set with the Geforce 4 Go. You'll be able to play anything for some time. The next big wave of software increase (and thus Graphics technology necessity) will be when Doom 3 comes out, and other games are released using that engine. THAT will be the next big thing. But you're in good shape. And if you don't play cutting edge games, there's no reason to worry about it becoming obsolete. Oh, and if I were buying a graphics card, I'd either wait for the new ATI RV300 or the Geforce 4 Ti 4600. I am especially interested in Matrox's new Parhelia card, but some tests conducted by a German website showed extremely disappointing results, so it may be more hype than anything SWDVD means it can read DVDs using software decoding. It used to be that DVD drives came with decoder cards. As processing speeds have increased, the necessity for a DVD decoding card has pretty much vanished, and it can all be done via software.
Matrox has pretty much given up playing the speed game It's ATI or Nvidia product cycles are so brutal I don't see how anyone else can just step in and be competitive Bitboys never even got off the ground... GIVE ME DOOM III
Ha, guess what I got in my wussy computer: 56 K Modem Trident Video Card 400 MHZ 8 GB 156 MB RAM 15 IN Monitor Wow I'm freakin great. Anyone want to donate a computer to me?!?!? SAD!SAD!SAD!
If it makes you feel better, most high end gaming systems become middle-of-the-road within 6 months to 1 year. That's why you never buy completely top of the line components but rather upgrade as you go along; otherwise it just doesn't make sense financially (especially if you're strapped).
Vengeance They did a review of the new Matrox Parhelia over at www.sharkyextreme.com that you might be interested to read. Apparently its not a geforce 4 killer as hyped, but has some nice features. For now I'm sticking with my gainward geforce 4 4600. It oc's great and just flies in games.
Yeah, I'm dissappointed in the Parhelia . . . EXTREMELY disappointed. But it's not over yet -- new drivers can change everything . . . just ask ATI. The cost is just unfathomable ($399) for a card that won't quite be "up to snuff" when Doom III comes out. The 3 monitor gaming is awesome, but I can't afford to buy another monitor (I have two right now) just on the off chance that some games might be able to use it. Matrox has always had a special place for me, as my first real computer (the first one that was MINE) had a Matrox Millenium in it. To this day that card had the most beautiful 2D graphics I've ever seen. Image quality much better (in 2D) than my current Geforce 2, my older Voodoo 3 3500, or my older Riva TNT. So when I heard the rumors (about 4 months ago) that Matrox had something special coming that was gonna blow everything else away, I was hooked. I wanted a new graphics card sometime in the next year, and to have Matrox's legendary 2D, and a Geforce 4 killer (as it was touted) was perfect. The Parhelia has good anti-aliasing, but it's not $400 good. The tri-monitor thing is neat, but not $400 good. For $180, I could love this card, but being MORE EXPENSIVE than the Radeon 8500 and Geforce4 4600, there is NO WAY I'm even considering this. However, I'll add this -- perhaps the drivers are bad? Maybe a driver update would make the Parhelia live up to its billing? I hope so. If not, I'm waiting for the ATI R300 . . .
I have a feeling the new ATI card is gonna be good too. Now that they have started getting good mature drivers for the Radeons I am beginning to trust them more. Some of the old driver support was really bad. I was hoping for more from Matrox at that price also. I think the 3 monitor surround gaming would be great but I agree who wants to pay that much. On a side note I still miss good old 3dfx. I used to love my voodoo cards all the way up to the V5 5500. I love Nvidia now but it killed me to switch over at the time. I did hear that maybe some of the 3dfx technology might be implemented in the next Nvidia card though.
