9600 for SFF machine, or -- ?

[Neil Harrington]

I'm about to build a small form factor machine, a Biostar iDEQ 210V with
Sempron 2300+ and WinME. This will be for playing games, including older
Win9x games, so I don't need a whoop-ass video card, and the 200W power
supply of this unit also inclines me toward something not too power-hungry.

I already have a good old 8500LE but am interested in getting something
newer. The various 9600 128MB cards on NewEgg look like just the sort of
thing I need. Some of them I see are fanless, which suggests low power
consumption. I'm not really familiar with the 9xxx series cards, though.
Would there be any real advantage (or disadvantage re: power consumption and
heat) in a 9600 Pro or XT for my purposes?

Any suggestions, comments or advice appreciated.

 

[xmradio]

I'm about to build a small form factor machine, a Biostar iDEQ 210V with
Sempron 2300+ and WinME. This will be for playing games, including older
Win9x games, so I don't need a whoop-ass video card, and the 200W power
supply of this unit also inclines me toward something not too
power-hungry.

I already have a good old 8500LE but am interested in getting something
newer. The various 9600 128MB cards on NewEgg look like just the sort of
thing I need. Some of them I see are fanless, which suggests low power
consumption. I'm not really familiar with the 9xxx series cards, though.
Would there be any real advantage (or disadvantage re: power consumption
and heat) in a 9600 Pro or XT for my purposes?

Any suggestions, comments or advice appreciated.

got the 9600 in one box, other is aiw 9600...

The cards run cool, small size. Have not ran any games on them.

xman

 

[Batman or Superman]

got the 9600 in one box, other is aiw 9600...

The cards run cool, small size. Have not ran any games on them.

xman

Definately consider an upgrade to WindowsXP, running a Sempron on WinME
is a waste of time. You will not get the processor optimizations such as
support for advanced instructions that would make the processor run
faster than it's clock. As far as your Win9x games running on XP, that
shouldn't pose a problem at all. I would go for the XT version or look
for a 9800pro or XT if you can afford it, it's the best bet. As far as
your PS goes, up it to a 350w'er 200 is not enough.


Am I Batman or Superman? I'm so confused.

 

[Neil Harrington]

got the 9600 in one box, other is aiw 9600...

The cards run cool, small size. Have not ran any games on them.

xman

Thanks!

 

[Neil Harrington]

Definately consider an upgrade to WindowsXP, running a Sempron on WinME is
a waste of time. You will not get the processor optimizations such as
support for advanced instructions that would make the processor run faster
than it's clock.

That's interesting. I wasn't aware that the OS would make a difference in
those advanced instructions, but I'll take your word for it. In that case I
will change my plans. I'll put the Sempron in a new WinXP machine instead
(not SFF) and use a faster card too.

As far as your Win9x games running on XP, that shouldn't pose a problem at
all.

Well, some older games will only run with some tinkering and loss of
features. For example, I'm playing Might and Magic VII on a WinXP machine
right now, but I have to turn off both video and audio acceleration in the
game in order to do it. On Win98 or ME there isn't any such problem. Some
other games I haven't been able to get to run at all even though they're
supposed to run under WinXP. And my understanding is that most earlier EA
games, for example, just flat won't run at all under XP no matter what you
do.

As for WinME, though I realize it's the most reviled OS that Microsoft has
produced (since MS-DOS 4.0, anyway), I really like it when it's running on a
machine it gets along with. And it's great for Win9x games, while also
having some WinXP features like System Restore and USB mass storage
capability built in.

I would go for the XT version or look for a 9800pro or XT if you can
afford it, it's the best bet. As far as your PS goes, up it to a 350w'er
200 is not enough.

The problem there is that the 200W unit is what comes in the Biostar SFF
box, and since it's a non-standard PSU there isn't much you can do about it.

So I'll get a micro-ATX box and a new MB instead, put the Sempron in with a
stronger PS and install WinXP in that. And I'll take your advice on the XT
also, either 9600XT or 9800XT. Is the 9800XT really worth it? That is, will
my Sempron 2300+ (which I already have) be able to fill it fast enough? I've
used mostly Nvidia cards and am not terribly familiar with ATI.

That still leaves me with the question of what to do with the Biostar SFF
box, which I already have. Oh well. I have a late Duron 1.8 around here
somewhere and I'll use that in it, I guess. Maybe just to see how bad the
on-board graphics are. ;-)

Thanks for the advice.

Neil

 

[Augustus]

..>

Well, some older games will only run with some tinkering and loss of
features. For example, I'm playing Might and Magic VII on a WinXP machine
right now, but I have to turn off both video and audio acceleration in the
game in order to do it. On Win98 or ME there isn't any such problem.

On my original install of WinXP Pro, I was able to run MMVII in
compatibility mode. MMVI would not run no matter what. Various updates and
Service Packs later, neither will run on my XP Pro box. I've actually
considered throwing together a PIII 866 box running 98SE so I can replay
these particular games. Don't know if the previous M&M World of Xeen (Clouds
and Darkside) will run on an XP Box either.

 

[Batman or Superman]

That's interesting. I wasn't aware that the OS would make a difference in
those advanced instructions, but I'll take your word for it. In that case I
will change my plans. I'll put the Sempron in a new WinXP machine instead
(not SFF) and use a faster card too.





Well, some older games will only run with some tinkering and loss of
features. For example, I'm playing Might and Magic VII on a WinXP machine
right now, but I have to turn off both video and audio acceleration in the
game in order to do it. On Win98 or ME there isn't any such problem. Some
other games I haven't been able to get to run at all even though they're
supposed to run under WinXP. And my understanding is that most earlier EA
games, for example, just flat won't run at all under XP no matter what you
do.

As for WinME, though I realize it's the most reviled OS that Microsoft has
produced (since MS-DOS 4.0, anyway), I really like it when it's running on a
machine it gets along with. And it's great for Win9x games, while also
having some WinXP features like System Restore and USB mass storage
capability built in.





The problem there is that the 200W unit is what comes in the Biostar SFF
box, and since it's a non-standard PSU there isn't much you can do about it.

So I'll get a micro-ATX box and a new MB instead, put the Sempron in with a
stronger PS and install WinXP in that. And I'll take your advice on the XT
also, either 9600XT or 9800XT. Is the 9800XT really worth it? That is, will
my Sempron 2300+ (which I already have) be able to fill it fast enough? I've
used mostly Nvidia cards and am not terribly familiar with ATI.

That still leaves me with the question of what to do with the Biostar SFF
box, which I already have. Oh well. I have a late Duron 1.8 around here
somewhere and I'll use that in it, I guess. Maybe just to see how bad the
on-board graphics are. ;-)

Thanks for the advice.

Neil

I think you should go for the 9800XT if you can afford it. It's not the
latest and greatest but it can still keep up in newer games providing
you're willing to do a little in-game tinkering settings wise. I have an
AthlonXP 2400+ @ 2067mhz, 1 gb of PC2700 and a 9700pro and I have no
problems with running newer titles although it's starting to show it's
age. ;-)



Am I Batman or Superman? I'm so confused.

 

[Neil Harrington]

.>

On my original install of WinXP Pro, I was able to run MMVII in
compatibility mode. MMVI would not run no matter what.

Now that's interesting, because as I recall MM6 ran just fine on my Win2000
machine (never tried it under WinXP, but I should think if it ran under 2000
it ought to run under XP). But MM7 wouldn't run on that machine. So with
2000 my results were the opposite of yours with XP, which surprises me.

Various updates and Service Packs later, neither will run on my XP Pro
box.

Hmmm. I have SP2 on this WinXP Home machine, so maybe that's the reason for
my MM7 difficulties. Have you tried disabling both 3D and audio acceleration
in MM7? I've had no problem under WinXP since doing that, though of course
the game looks different without 3D acceleration. I'll have to try MM6 on
this machine just out of curiosity.

I've actually considered throwing together a PIII 866 box running 98SE so
I can replay these particular games. Don't know if the previous M&M World
of Xeen (Clouds and Darkside) will run on an XP Box either.

I have World of Xeen too but have never tried it under XP. Actually I never
got into it very far anyway. But yes, absolutely I'm convinced it's
worthwhile keeping one Win98SE or ME box around just to play some of those
older games that seem to gag on XP. I already have one micro ATX machine for
that, with 98SE and ME dual boot, and that works well. Just thought I'd try
the same thing in a small form factor. (No real need for it, I just get
bored and cranky if I don't build another machine every so often. ;-) )

 

[Neil Harrington]

Neil Harrington wrote: [ . . . ]I think you should go for the 9800XT if you can afford it. It's not the
latest and greatest but it can still keep up in newer games providing
you're willing to do a little in-game tinkering settings wise. I have an
AthlonXP 2400+ @ 2067mhz, 1 gb of PC2700 and a 9700pro and I have no
problems with running newer titles although it's starting to show it's
age. ;-)

Last night I ordered a 9600Pro along with some other parts, because NewEgg
has it at $68 which is just irresistible. I'm mainly curious to see how that
benchmarks in comparison with various Nvidia cards in my other machines. But
I change cards pretty often in almost everything, and will undoubtedly get a
9800XT next, as you suggest.

Again, many thanks for the good advice.