Best graphics card for AMD K6-2 350 Mhz processor.
PC configuration:
AMD K6-2 350Mhz
128 SDRAM PC100
Via MVP3 ASKA SST-5811
Windows 98SE
DirectX 9.0
no sound card
Vsync off (all cards, without exception)
I particularly like the comparison of earlier Nvidia drivers to the newer ones, and the older MiniGL versions to the final one with 3DNow! support. It's also quite interesting to see how well the budget MX400 and MX440 cards perform on that platform.
Props for doing the benchmarks on so many cards, that must have taken quite a bit of time and effort.
Surprised and impressed by the Matrox G400 in Incoming. I know it was a good Dx5 card, but even beating the best nVidia card+driver combos on a relatively slow CPU - that I had not expected.
^ The MX 400 isn't "slow" for what it is. Obviously it'd never threaten a GeForce3 or GeForce4 Ti proper, but it's nothing to be overly embarrassed over either for how much it cost.
My favorite card, the S3 Savage4 Xtreme, does about as well as I'd expect. It's not a speed demon, but it does exactly what I need it to do and then some. (And my Number Nine AGP card has DVI output!) It's fascinating to see that its 64-bit memory bus doesn't hobble its 32 bit color performance as much as I expected it to.
Life isn't long enough to re-enable every hidden option in every BIOS on every board... 🙁