Is there much difference between GForce2 and GForce4?

[davenetman]

Is there much difference between the nVidia GForce2 and GForce4 video
cards? I already have a 64MB GForce2 card, and I'm happy with it. I was
in a local store last night, and they have some 128MB GForce4 cards on
clearance for $20. I'm not sure if I'd gain much by upgrading, since
I'm not really a game player, mostly net surfing and occasionally
photo/video stuff.

Thanks, Dave

 

[spodosaurus]

Is there much difference between the nVidia GForce2 and GForce4 video
cards? I already have a 64MB GForce2 card, and I'm happy with it. I was
in a local store last night, and they have some 128MB GForce4 cards on
clearance for $20. I'm not sure if I'd gain much by upgrading, since
I'm not really a game player, mostly net surfing and occasionally
photo/video stuff.

Thanks, Dave

There are many different cards with varying amounts of ram, and most
importantly, varying capabilities of GPU chips in both those general
card lines. You may not even be upgrading, especially if your board
can't take a newer card which runs at a different voltage or you trade a
card with a good but old GPU for a poor performing but new GPU (with
rather limited DirectX 9 capabilities on the low-end poor performers).
If you're not having a problem, why bother and farts around with drivers
and risk getting a card that you can't use in your motherboard ('you
should have known before you bought it' is what the salesperson will be
saying when you try and return a perfectly working card).

Ari

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[Larry Roberts]

Is there much difference between the nVidia GForce2 and GForce4 video
cards? I already have a 64MB GForce2 card, and I'm happy with it. I was
in a local store last night, and they have some 128MB GForce4 cards on
clearance for $20. I'm not sure if I'd gain much by upgrading, since
I'm not really a game player, mostly net surfing and occasionally
photo/video stuff.

Thanks, Dave

If the GeForce 4 cards they have are the Ti versions, then
you'll get a noticeable upgrade. They are named GeForce 4 Ti4200,
Ti4400, Ti4600, and Ti4800. They only come in AGP form.
However, if they are the GeForce 4 MX, (notice the MX), then
you won't notice an upgrade as the GF 4 MX uses the same DirectX 7
features as the GF 2. The GF 4 Ti cards use DirectX 8.1 features. They
come in both AGP, and PCI form (not PCI-E).
Another thing to keep in mind is driver support. Nvidia don't
have drivers for WinXP 64bit, and Vista for the GF 4 cards. For
$20.00, if it is a Ti version, then why not?

 

[johns]

Don't know, but the GF3 chipset gave big screen pauses
in Far Cry .. that is, the mobo chipset did. The whole GF4
effort was to "fix" GF3 in 3d games. That would say to me
that GF2 was really running behind game development,
and probably why ATI jumped so far ahead of nVidia for
a time ... and rightfully so. Even versions of the nVidia
6800 gave the same stuttering problem in games .. esp
Far Cry ... when running on a GF3 chipset mobo. It is
pretty well documented, and lots of patch attempts that
did not work.

johns

 

[davenetman]

This is all good info and good advice. THANKS! Seeing as I'm not a big
gamer, I'm happy with my GForce2, and the GF4 card is the MX 4000, I'll
probably pass on it for now,

Dave