Hiddenevil wrote on 2023-08-28, 08:35:

Doesn't Windows98 have a memory ceiling? I'm sure I read some place 512mb? Or is that negated once SE is installed?

Windows 98SE usually works fine with up to 768mb of RAM installed. Although I haven't any problems with 1Gb of RAM in my old 478 socket system with 865G chipset.
Windows ME was improved in that way: 1Gb of memory is not a problem for it.
There are solutions that helps to use more RAM in 9x systems though usually there is no need to use more for just gaming.

You'll have issues with AGP aperture size past 512 Mb.

Am I better with dual channel, 2x256mb or a single stick of 512mb? I have the option of either, was wondering what peoples experiences were.

Hiddenevil wrote on 2023-08-31, 22:57:

Am I better with dual channel, 2x256mb or a single stick of 512mb? I have the option of either, was wondering what peoples experiences were.

Depends on the motherboard.

DracoNihil wrote on 2023-08-25, 08:07:

As far as I remember all the "GeForce MX" cards do not support "Shader Model" whatsoever, so the special water effects do not function without that support. They're a "budget line" of cards after all.

Even when I tried running original PC port of Halo: CE nearly every graphical option is grayed out when I tried it on a MX variant of the GeForce 4 series cards.

I owned one.

They did shader model 1.x but not 2.x
MW water shader needs 2.x

wierd_w wrote on 2023-09-01, 04:54:

I owned one.

They did shader model 1.x but not 2.x
MW water shader needs 2.x

You're misremembering. Shader model 2.0 first arrived with ATi Radeon 9700 cards. Source: Anandtech.

GeForce 3 was the card that introduced programmable shaders, specifically version 1.1. That's the bare minimum that Morrowind needs for its shiny water.

wierd_w wrote on 2023-09-01, 04:54:

DracoNihil wrote on 2023-08-25, 08:07:

GeForce MX

I owned one.
They did shader model 1.x but not 2.x

GF2 so in effect MX supports something Nvidia called 'Shading Rasterizer' (NSR) https://www.anandtech.com/show/537/4 TLDR it was the first Nvidia chip doing per pixel Dot Product 3 and letting you write a tiny program using it, but it wasnt formally a real Pixel Shader yet. ATI supported something similar a year earlier in first Radeons. Nintendo in 1996 N64 etc.
Afaik not a single game exist that takes advantage of NSR, but there are tech demos.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-25, 09:26:

FX will result in 15 fps in Morrowind, even on a fast CPU. GF6 or higher, or be a normal person and play it on your modern win10/11 PC.

Fx should be quite good with dx8 unless morrowind is special somehow.

kolderman wrote on 2023-09-01, 12:14:

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-25, 09:26:

FX will result in 15 fps in Morrowind, even on a fast CPU. GF6 or higher, or be a normal person and play it on your modern win10/11 PC.

Fx should be quite good with dx8 unless morrowind is special somehow.

its FX that is special, Nvidia cheated

Well I was hoping by now to report back with news of the ATI 9200 fitted in my Dell. I ordered the thing over a week ago and it's still not arrived, even though it was coming via 48hr mail. OH well it's giving me time to tidy the office, suppose that's something. I'm still not sure if I'll settle on the 9200 or wait, save some money and buy one of the more expensive cards that has been recommended in this thread, such as a Geforce TI.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-09-01, 15:40:

kolderman wrote on 2023-09-01, 12:14:

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-25, 09:26:

FX will result in 15 fps in Morrowind, even on a fast CPU. GF6 or higher, or be a normal person and play it on your modern win10/11 PC.

Fx should be quite good with dx8 unless morrowind is special somehow.

its FX that is special, Nvidia cheated

Disagree. Any GeForce FX 5700-5900 is faster than any GeForce 4 Ti. They have problems with Direct 9.0 but in older games works nicely.
P. S. I've even completed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise on my GeForce FX back in the days.

Well the 9300 has arrived, I'm not sure how that would compare to an FX 5xxx card, but I am thinking I might still buy a Geforce card if for no other reason than to benchmark and see what I get.

Kruton 9000 wrote on 2023-09-07, 11:37:

Disagree. Any GeForce FX 5700-5900 is faster than any GeForce 4 Ti. They have problems with Direct 9.0 but in older games works nicely.

you are replaying to a reply to someone recommending quattro 500 aka castrated FX 5200 😀

Kruton 9000 wrote on 2023-09-07, 11:37:

P. S. I've even completed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise on my GeForce FX back in the days.

Im sorry for your loss 😉

Hiddenevil wrote on 2023-09-08, 18:21:

Well the 9300 has arrived, I'm not sure how that would compare to an FX 5xxx card, but I am thinking I might still buy a Geforce card if for no other reason than to benchmark and see what I get.

Which geforce, FX? ~2x slower in non CPU limited games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpIn8H6Dxz4 Its just wasting money chasing different low end bottom of the barrel offerings. You need to decide if you want period correct experience or to enjoy high resolution high framerate 😀
Im affraid with P4 1.6ghz you wont get any better than framerate you got now on 9200.

Really? You reckon the 9200 won't be a step up from the Geforce2 MX400 I'm currently using? At the very least it will support Directx 8 pixel shading, so the water effects in Morrowind won't look as pants 🤣

Hiddenevil wrote on 2023-09-09, 00:37:

Really? You reckon the 9200 won't be a step up from the Geforce2 MX400 I'm currently using?

you said you received radeon in last post, Im saying you wont get better framerates on current computer with cards other than this radeon.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-09-09, 00:51:

Hiddenevil wrote on 2023-09-09, 00:37:

Really? You reckon the 9200 won't be a step up from the Geforce2 MX400 I'm currently using?

you said you received radeon in last post, Im saying you wont get better framerates on current computer with cards other than this radeon.

Ahhh *light pops on above head* NOW that makes a lot more sense! 🤣 Cool, well that's good to know. Is that because other hardware is limiting it? e.g the CPU? I actually thought the P4 1.6ghz might be better suited for running older games, being a slower CPU and perhaps closer to the performance of a high end P3.

Hiddenevil wrote on 2023-09-09, 17:50:

Ahhh *light pops on above head* NOW that makes a lot more sense! 🤣 Cool, well that's good to know. Is that because other hardware is limiting it? e.g the CPU? I actually thought the P4 1.6ghz might be better suited for running older games, being a slower CPU and perhaps closer to the performance of a high end P3.

It is comparable to a late P3, and it was firmly within system requirements for Morrowind, but Morrowind doesn't mind faster CPUs, in fact it wants them. It will benefit from much more CPU speed than what the requirements mention.

I might be tempted to try a faster P4, however I would like to try Wing Commander Heart of the Tiger and I have heard the Wing Commander games can be a bugger to get working on fast systems.