Hi all.
I have an AOpen AX6B board running a Pentium II 350Mhz. At the moment I have a CT6710 NVidia Riva TNT 16MB AGP video card in it and connected to a NEC Multisync LCD 2180UX monitor. The picture, in 1600 x 1200 is so so. I was wondering if it would be worth switching from VGA to DVI and if so, what would be a good video card to look out for that would match this system with DVI output?
pan069 wrote on 2020-05-19, 23:48:Hi all.
I have an AOpen AX6B board running a Pentium II 350Mhz. At the moment I have a CT6710 NVidia Riva TNT 16MB AGP video card in it and connected to a NEC Multisync LCD 2180UX monitor. The picture, in 1600 x 1200 is so so. I was wondering if it would be worth switching from VGA to DVI and if so, what would be a good video card to look out for that would match this system with DVI output?
Wow good question and good monitor. First the board is 440BX like Asus P2b and only supports 3.3volt 2X AGP so video cards are limited and Yes DVI may help video quality at higher resolutions. Second ATI Radeon 9700 Pro or a GeForce FX5950 Ultra are the last confirmed 2x AGP 3.3V capable cards but there are many other lessor cards that could do well like a Geforce FX5200. Just make sure the card you get is truly 3.3v capable. With only a 350Mhz cpu would not go too extreme because the CPU will drag down the video card as those high end cards really needed a 1Ghz or better .
Personally I would try to find a Geforce 3 like GF3- TI 200 or TI 450 128Mb just because it is better than what you have and matches close to the CPU and cost would be good, would not waste money on anything above a GF 4200. Just my opinion..
edit: do not get less than a 64Mb card, try to find a 128Mb as the vid resolution you want to use will need it.
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
Horun wrote on 2020-05-20, 01:50:Wow good question and good monitor. First the board is 440BX like Asus P2b and only supports 3.3volt 2X AGP so video cards are l […]
pan069 wrote on 2020-05-19, 23:48:Hi all.
I have an AOpen AX6B board running a Pentium II 350Mhz. At the moment I have a CT6710 NVidia Riva TNT 16MB AGP video card in it and connected to a NEC Multisync LCD 2180UX monitor. The picture, in 1600 x 1200 is so so. I was wondering if it would be worth switching from VGA to DVI and if so, what would be a good video card to look out for that would match this system with DVI output?
Wow good question and good monitor. First the board is 440BX like Asus P2b and only supports 3.3volt 2X AGP so video cards are limited and Yes DVI may help video quality at higher resolutions. Second ATI Radeon 9700 Pro or a GeForce FX5950 Ultra are the last confirmed 2x AGP 3.3V capable cards but there are many other lessor cards that could do well like a Geforce FX5200. Just make sure the card you get is truly 3.3v capable. With only a 350Mhz cpu would not go too extreme because the CPU will drag down the video card as those high end cards really needed a 1Ghz or better .
Personally I would try to find a Geforce 3 like GF3- TI 200 or TI 450 128Mb just because it is better than what you have and matches close to the CPU and cost would be good, would not waste money on anything above a GF 4200. Just my opinion..
edit: do not get less than a 64Mb card, try to find a 128Mb as the vid resolution you want to use will need it.
I mostly agree, though I would lean more heavily towards an FX 5950 or 5900 as future proofing, in case you ever upgrade the CPU (tempting prospect with the board you have) or the computer or even if you just want to maximize your anti-aliasing options .
Horun wrote on 2020-05-20, 01:50:ATI Radeon 9700 Pro or a GeForce FX5950 Ultra are the last confirmed 2x AGP 3.3V capable cards but there are many other lessor cards that could do well like a Geforce FX5200.
Ah OK. I actually have an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB in a box somewhere. Would this one be compatible with my board? AGP and all it's versions and voltages never really made sense to me unfortunately...
I also have (in the same box) an Inno3D NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256 MB. Would that one work?
Both these cards have DVI out...
PS: I prefer not to upgrade the CPU. This is basically my build from back in the late '90. It's just that back then I used to have a high quality CRT which unfortunately has been lost to time. So, the goal is to kinda recreate my set up from back then, it's just the VGA output on this 1600 x 1200 LCD has noticeable "wiggly" scanlines. 😀
pan069 wrote on 2020-05-20, 02:37:Ah OK. I actually have an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB in a box somewhere. Would this one be compatible with my board? AGP and all […]
Horun wrote on 2020-05-20, 01:50:ATI Radeon 9700 Pro or a GeForce FX5950 Ultra are the last confirmed 2x AGP 3.3V capable cards but there are many other lessor cards that could do well like a Geforce FX5200.
Ah OK. I actually have an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB in a box somewhere. Would this one be compatible with my board? AGP and all it's versions and voltages never really made sense to me unfortunately...
I also have (in the same box) an Inno3D NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256 MB. Would that one work?
Both these cards have DVI out...
PS: I prefer not to upgrade the CPU. This is basically my build from back in the late '90. It's just that back then I used to have a high quality CRT which unfortunately has been lost to time. So, the goal is to kinda recreate my set up from back then, it's just the VGA output on this 1600 x 1200 LCD has noticeable "wiggly" scanlines. 😀
AGP 9600 Pro will not work .
The Geforce 7300GT will likely not work . AFAIK, only BFG had an AGP 3.3V capable one .
Thanks Darry. That is what I was afraid of, not all cards were backward compatible even if the chipset was. What exact make and model are those two video cards ? Every manufacture did different things with their card so they may or may not be 3.3 volt compatible even if the chipsets are. You could try to see if it actually fits in the AGP slot but would not try to power it up even if it fits. The 3.3 v AGP have a slot that only allows 3.3v AGP cards unless the board came with a Universal AGP which accepts both 3.3. and 1.5v. Would hate that you ruined your motherboard trying the wrong card and Yes it would ruin the board.
Edit: bad typo
Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun
darry wrote on 2020-05-20, 03:04:AGP 9600 Pro will not work .
The Geforce 7300GT will likely not work . AFAIK, only BFG had an AGP 3.3V capable one .
Thanks for that. Yeah, I think I used those boards on a Pentium 4 board (glancing over the my old mobo boxes, it must have been a GA-8IPE1000).
Thanks for the link. I will go through that. I stopped caring in the late 90's when it came to video cards. There are like a gazillion similar looking numbers where lower numbers often mean better (newer) than higher numbers and the various different versions and iterations of AGP that can blow shit up, it's almost like having to study the linage of Elves in Lord of the Rings. A complete freaking maze... So thanks for the link, super helpful!
