Which GPU for a Pentium 3 750 MHz?

[rick12373]

I am trying to put together a new P3 build from my old spare parts. It is a Pentium 3 750 MHz. The following are the old cards I have. I have some older 16MB cards as well but I thought they would be too old for this. I have no idea of the age of some of these. Maybe some are too new or too old? Which of the following should I use to get the best performance from this machine?

NVIDIA PNY GEFORCE FX 5950 ULTRA 256MB
NVIDIA GAINWARD GEFORCE 4 G4TI4800-SE 128MB
NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 MX 420 64MB 8X AGP
NVIDIA GEFORCE 2 MX AGP 64MB
NVIDIA GEFORCE 2 MX200 32MB AGP
NVIDIA TNT2 32MB AGP (WINBOND ON CHIPS)

Thanks!

[Baoran]

I did put a gerforce 2 mx agp and a voodoo 2 card in my P3 1000mhz. Not sure why people want "best performance" because if we wanted best performance, we would go buy a new pc. I usually choose compatibility first and performance is fine as long as whatever I want to do with it works.
If you want performance, just put the newest card you have there and it usually works out.

[rick12373]

I did put a gerforce 2 mx agp and a voodoo 2 card in my P3 1000mhz. Not sure why people want "best performance" because if we wanted best performance, we would go buy a new pc. I usually choose compatibility first and performance is fine as long as whatever I want to do with it works.
If you want performance, just put the newest card you have there and it usually works out.

I guess what I mean is a card that was available at the time and was considered to provide good performance. I suppose Windows 98 would be a good choice for such a P3 machine? So the card would have to be have good compatibility and performance in Windows 98.

[jcarvalho]

I did put a gerforce 2 mx agp and a voodoo 2 card in my P3 1000mhz. Not sure why people want "best performance" because if we wanted best performance, we would go buy a new pc. I usually choose compatibility first and performance is fine as long as whatever I want to do with it works.
If you want performance, just put the newest card you have there and it usually works out.

I guess what I mean is a card that was available at the time and was considered to provide good performance. I suppose Windows 98 would be a good choice for such a P3 machine? So the card would have to be have good compatibility and performance in Windows 98.

with that said I would go for:

1-NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 MX 420 64MB 8X AGP
2-NVIDIA GAINWARD GEFORCE 4 G4TI4800-SE 128MB

[Baoran]

I did put a gerforce 2 mx agp and a voodoo 2 card in my P3 1000mhz. Not sure why people want "best performance" because if we wanted best performance, we would go buy a new pc. I usually choose compatibility first and performance is fine as long as whatever I want to do with it works.
If you want performance, just put the newest card you have there and it usually works out.

I guess what I mean is a card that was available at the time and was considered to provide good performance. I suppose Windows 98 would be a good choice for such a P3 machine? So the card would have to be have good compatibility and performance in Windows 98.

Geforce 2 MX was released in 2000 so it would be a good period correct card for coppermine pentium 3s like yours.

[rick12373]

Thanks for the input!

[SPBHM]

Coppermine + Geforce 2 MX was a popular choice around 2000-2001


but if you are trying to run games at more modern resolutions you would want something stronger.
so it really depends on what you expect, I certainly knew people running Coppermine with geforce 4 ti back in 2002-2003, but it's pretty unbalanced for games from the time, still it will shine with slightly older games at higher res.

[dr.zeissler]

hm, GF2MX are you sure about that? I think I will use a Voodoo2-SLI with a pixelshader-capable-card like a GF3-ti200.
what about that?

[brostenen]

I am trying to put together a new P3 build from my old spare parts. It is a Pentium 3 750 MHz. The following are the old cards I have. I have some older 16MB cards as well but I thought they would be too old for this. I have no idea of the age of some of these. Maybe some are too new or too old? Which of the following should I use to get the best performance from this machine?

NVIDIA PNY GEFORCE FX 5950 ULTRA 256MB
NVIDIA GAINWARD GEFORCE 4 G4TI4800-SE 128MB
NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 MX 420 64MB 8X AGP
NVIDIA GEFORCE 2 MX AGP 64MB
NVIDIA GEFORCE 2 MX200 32MB AGP
NVIDIA TNT2 32MB AGP (WINBOND ON CHIPS)

Thanks!

I would opt for the GF4-MX420 if I had those cards, and then buy a GF2-GTS down the road. My parents had a Compaq machine back in the days, that had a 733mhz P3 and GF2-GTS. It played well and nice.

[rick12373]

Lots of opinions now. I will have to have a think about this...

[wouterwashere]

The most time-correct would be the GeForce 2 which was introduced just a little later than the first P3 Coppermine.
Many P3's (especially the earlier Katmai) had a TNT2 so this wouldn't be a misfit either.
GeForce 4 is a better fit (time-correct) for a P3 Tualatin, P4 Northwood or Athlon XP.
GeForce FX5900 is way newer and pairs better with P4 HT or early Athlon 64.

So I would go with NVIDIA GEFORCE 2 MX AGP 64MB.

[rick12373]

The most time-correct would be the GeForce 2 which was introduced just a little later than the first P3 Coppermine.
Many P3's (especially the earlier Katmai) had a TNT2 so this wouldn't be a misfit either.
GeForce 4 is a better fit (time-correct) for a P3 Tualatin, P4 Northwood or Athlon XP.
GeForce FX5900 is way newer and pairs better with P4 HT or early Athlon 64.

So I would go with NVIDIA GEFORCE 2 MX AGP 64MB.

Good answer. I think that is what I will go with. Next I need to pick a sound card. I guess that should be a new thread.

[Ozzuneoj]

It depends what you want to run on it. CPU-heavy games started popping up in the early 2000s, so I wouldn't recommend using that system for anything too strenuous, unless you're really not picky about frame rates.

I had an Athlon 750Mhz Slot A back then and at first used a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI (carried over from my previous system) then later upgraded to a Geforce 2 GTS 32MB. Any graphics card faster than that will allow higher resolutions in older games, but newer games (2002 and later) will likely not perform their best on a 750Mhz P3, so I wouldn't expect a 5950 Ultra or Ti 4800SE to really be able to stretch their legs much. If you have no intention of building a faster\newer AGP system any time soon, then by all means use the FX 5950 for the absolute maximum performance possible. It will be severely CPU limited but that just means you'll be able to run nearly all games at the highest resolutions and force anti aliasing without any performance loss. All of those cards will have very similar game compatibility.

For the most "period correct" card, the Geforce 2 MX would be the closest though definitely not the fastest option at the time. The MX420 will be significantly faster (ignore the specs, look at benchmarks... the 4MX series are very fast for older games because of architectural improvements) and likely be closer to the Geforce 2 GTS I had paired with my Athlon 750 back then. The 4800 and 5950 will be many times faster than any of these in later games.

[rick12373]

I might try that too. Thanks.

[eric1992]

I use a NVIDIA Geforce 3 Ti 200 AGP for my 933 MHZ P3 slot 1 build.

[brostenen]

I use a NVIDIA Geforce 3 Ti 200 AGP for my 933 MHZ P3 slot 1 build.

Funny... I use a GF3-ti200 in my P3-933 as well. The difference is that mine is a socket 370 build.

[RandomStranger]

I'm just planning to build something similar with a Pentium III 733MHz.
I happened to come across an Elsa Erazor X2 (Geforce 256 DDR), it should arrive today. Though it was dirt cheap. It turns on according to the seller, but for that price (~7$) I think there is a good chance it's faulty.

In your case, I think the MX420 is the best choice. I think the CPU would bottleneck anything beyond Ti4200.

[appiah4]

For my PIII-700 Slot-1 I am using a Geforce2 GTS; it is period correct and overall very adequate for gaming up to and including 2000. If that option is closed to you either go for the MX440 or the GeForce 3 Ti with an eye towards replacing with a GeForce2 GTS/Pro/Ultra down the line.

I will replace that PC with a 2001 Socket 370 Tualatin build though, that will probably feature one of the following: GeForce 2 Ti, GeForce 3 Ti 200, Radeon 8500LE (9100). I haven't decided yet. I used all three cards back in 2001 in this order, my fondest memories are Radeon 8500LE.

[clueless1]

I use a NVIDIA Geforce 3 Ti 200 AGP for my 933 MHZ P3 slot 1 build.

Funny... I use a GF3-ti200 in my P3-933 as well. The difference is that mine is a socket 370 build.

Haha. My P3-933 also runs a GF3 Ti200. Dell Dimension 4100 socket 370.

[RandomStranger]

I use a NVIDIA Geforce 3 Ti 200 AGP for my 933 MHZ P3 slot 1 build.

Funny... I use a GF3-ti200 in my P3-933 as well. The difference is that mine is a socket 370 build.

Haha. My P3-933 also runs a GF3 Ti200. Dell Dimension 4100 socket 370.

Then I guess I'm a combo breaker. I have a Radeon 8500LE with my P3-933