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  • 16MB vs 32MB

    Hi, I would like to buy a g400 but I am not sure which at this point. My g200 16MB is almost sufficient for q3a in every case and I play at "normal" which is quite acceptable to me.

    But the g200 is a loaner from work and I am bound to return it sometime and also I want to see what that TurboGL will do to my computer :-)

    So I want to buy a g400 vanilla type but I am unsure about the memory configuration. Has anyone tried both the 16MB and 32MB and can say whether or not q3a looks and performs differently on one or the other? Also I suspect that using EMBM requires more memory. It's just that the g400 OEM (16MB) is such a bargain, it seems like I could buy it and use it until I get the g800 this fall. Is the extra 16MB worth CND$100?

    It just seems like I keep upgrading all the time! Maybe if I keep upgrading with cheaper stuff I will always have the current technology but at half the price since I would upgrade anyway... Everything becomes obsolete after a year whether it was expensive or not.
    Salmonius

  • #2
    if you are happy ish with the performance of a g200 16 MB then the g400 will be more than enough.
    1st system

    Athlon AXIA Y 1Ghz @ 1.40Ghz, coolermaster hsf, Elite K7s6a, 512 MB Crucial DDR RAM, 20GB IBM 7200RPM Hard drive, Radeon 8500le 64mb, SB Audigy, 3 com 10/100NIC, 300w PSU, midi tower, FPS 1600 Surround, Belinea 17" monitor, Intellimouse explorer USB

    System 2

    Athlon TB 1.4 @ 1.5, Zalman Flower in silent mode, Elite K7S6A, 768MB DDRAM, Ati Radeon 8500le 64mb ddr, SB Audigy, 3Com 10/100NIC, 80GB IBM 7200rpm, Liteon 16 speed DVD, Lite-on 24102b CDRW, Songcheer Superwide, USB scanner, Intellimouse explorer, Microsoft keyboard, 19in iiyama Monitor, FPS1600

    system 3
    Abit ST6 RAID, Celly 1.2 @1.4 ,512MB SDRAM, Zalman Flower HSF noisey mode, ATi Radeon 8500le, SBLIVE, 3com 10/100 NIC, 80GB Seagate barracude HDD, 40GB IBM120GXP, 60GB IBM60GXP,Extra highpoint controller card, 16x Pioneer DVD, Pioneer DVR-104 DVD-RW, ATX Full tower case. 300w psu, 17in LG monitor, 20in Samsumg telly, epson stylus colour 880, 200W RMS Surround sound amp with Mission M71 Speakers.
    .

    System 4
    Elite K7S5A, Duron 1.0, 128mb sdram, Coolermaster hsf, 80GB 120GXP IBM, Liteon 16x DVD, Radeon 7200 64MB DDR, SBLIVE.

    Linksys 4 port router/firewall

    512k Cable modem. nice

    Comment


    • #3
      I know what you mean, Salmonius.

      I've just bought the 16 mb version, although it suffers from lack of memory at higher res and 32 bit colors, I'm not so sure that the 32 mb version is fast enough anyway.

      When shopping for new hardware I always buy the cheapest option that fills my needs, as I'm upgrading it in about 6 months anyway, and want to get the most out of my hard-earned money.

      ------------------
      P3 500@560, 192 MB ram, G400 16SH
      "That's right fool! Now I'm a flying talking donkey!"

      P4 2.66, 512 mb PC2700, ATI Radeon 9000, Seagate Barracude IV 80 gb, Acer Al 732 17" TFT

      Comment


      • #4
        So far I have never experienced a hickup with Q3. Running at 1024X768 32bit color is smooth. The only thing I can't do is try to start it at 1600X1200, but I would only get a laughable 10 fps at this res so I don't care!

        ------------------
        Celeron 300A@464 2.0V, Abit BH6 G400 16meg DH@150/200, Western Digital Expert 18gig, Ricoh mp7040A, Pioneer 6X DVD slot load, Motorola Cable Modem w/DEC ethernet card, Soundblaster Live Value Ver. 2, Viewsonic GT 775


        Celeron 566@877 1.8V, 256meg generic PC-100 RAM (running at CAS2) Abit BH6, G400 16meg DH@150/200, Western Digital Expert 18gig, Ricoh mp7040A(morphed to mp7060A) Pioneer 6X DVD slot load, Motorola Cable Modem w/DEC ethernet card, Soundblaster Live Value Ver. 2, Viewsonic GT 775

        Comment


        • #5
          So is the 16MB version capable of good results at, let's say, 1024x768x32bit? The price change between 16 MB and 32 MB is pretty big, which leaves me wondering whether the performance difference is also that different.
          Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject.

          Comment


          • #6
            Damn you type fast Maniac!
            Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject.

            Comment


            • #7
              I upgraded my G400 16Mb SH OEM to a G400 32Mb DH for about $83 CDN. I did this so I could run CAD at higher resolutions. I don't play many games but I did not notice any speed increase in the games I do play.

              ------------------
              Primary system, Asus P3B-F1, PIII 600B, 128Mb PC133 RAM, 18.2Gb KA drive, HP CDRW & Travan drive, SB64PCI, Intel EPro+ PnP NIC, G400 and a ViewSonic 17" monitor.

              Secondary system, ASUS P3B-F1, C366 OC'd to 550, 128Mb PC100 RAM, 10.2Gb DMPlus, 5x CL DVD Kit, ZIP Drive, AWE64, Intel EPro+ PnP NIC, CL TNT(1) and a Sceptre 17" monitor.
              Nothing sadder than seeing a beautiful theory getting slammed by an ugly fact!

              Comment


              • #8
                I always try to think "resale", it may look more appealing to the next guy espcially with the newer games on the horizon, but if that doesn't matter to you, the 16mb version will be the best deal
                jim

                ------------------
                PIII-500mhz @ 620 ! with an Abit BE6 mobo
                128mb pc-100
                Mill G400 (YAHOO!!!) 32mb @ 167/208 with MGATweak-417mhz, (2.5, 2, 2.5), PD 5.41 & bios 1.5-22
                Maxtor 14.3 gb Uata66 hdd
                SB Live!
                Winblows 98se & DX7
                32 lbs. of fans, heatsinks and aluminum ductwork
                3DMark Result 5954.69 3DMarks
                Synthetic CPU 3D Speed 9325.69 CPU 3DMarks
                Rasterizer Score 2791.72 3DRasterMarks
                Game 1 - Race 65.07 FPS
                Game 2 - First Person 54.89 FPS
                Fill Rate 268.79 MTexels/s

                System 1:
                AMD 1.4 AYJHA-Y factory unlocked @ 1656 with Thermalright SK6 and 7k Delta fan
                Epox 8K7A
                2x256mb Micron pc-2100 DDR
                an AGP port all warmed up and ready to be stuffed full of Parhelia II+
                SBLIVE 5.1
                Maxtor 40g 7,200 @ ATA-100
                IBM 40GB 7,200 @ ATA-100
                Pinnacle DV Plus firewire
                3Com Hardware Modem
                Teac 20/10/40 burner
                Antec 350w power supply in a Colorcase 303usb Stainless

                New system: Under development

                Comment


                • #9
                  I checked some sites with benchmarks and it seems that the difference between 16 and 32 MB manifests itself in 1280x1024 and more. Which, of course for me on a Celeron 366 is really more than enough. 1024x768 will do it. And the backup voodoo to scare away any incompatibility problems, like glide only games.
                  Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    1st of all, a 32 mb card will not be faster than a 16mb, remember those video card with 1 mb or 512k, then a 2 mb video card is not faster but can do higher resolution. Same apply to 16mb and 32mb.

                    If you play games at 1024x768 32 bit color or higher then the 32mb will shine over 16mb otherwise same speed at 1024x768 16bit, 800x600 32bit etc etc etc

                    cheers

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I'd have to agree with APV

                      I did some testing on my G400 16SH with 3D mark 99 MAX

                      125/166/125
                      Resolution.....Game 1...Game 2
                      640*480*16......58,99...49,71
                      640*480*32......57,80...49,40
                      800*600*16......57,97...49,27
                      800*600*32......54,11...48,64
                      1024*768*16.....51,29...44,90
                      1024*768*32.....37,27...39,13
                      1152*864*16.....44,00...39,60
                      1152*864*32.....28,90...32,60

                      Notice the big drop off at 1024x768x32

                      Overclocking to 160/180/160 helped a bit, but still the drop is significant

                      160/180/160
                      Resolution......Game 1...Game 2
                      640*480*16......58,27....49,31
                      640*480*32......58,43....49,79
                      800*600*16......58,76....49,45
                      800*600*32......55,97....49,33
                      1024*768*16.....54,71....47,55
                      1024*768*32.....41,13....44,08
                      1152*864*16.....49,50....44,70
                      1152*864*32.....33,10....37,70

                      ------------------
                      P3 500@560, 192 MB ram, G400 16SH

                      [This message has been edited by CHHAS (edited 18 January 2000).]
                      "That's right fool! Now I'm a flying talking donkey!"

                      P4 2.66, 512 mb PC2700, ATI Radeon 9000, Seagate Barracude IV 80 gb, Acer Al 732 17" TFT

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Two words - fillrate limited!

                        [This message has been edited by Maniac (edited 19 January 2000).]
                        Celeron 566@877 1.8V, 256meg generic PC-100 RAM (running at CAS2) Abit BH6, G400 16meg DH@150/200, Western Digital Expert 18gig, Ricoh mp7040A(morphed to mp7060A) Pioneer 6X DVD slot load, Motorola Cable Modem w/DEC ethernet card, Soundblaster Live Value Ver. 2, Viewsonic GT 775

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Ok, I think that I get everybody's point. Basically:

                          1- Better resale value
                          2- Higher resolutions and textures and so on
                          3- No real speed difference, especially since at higher resolutions it becomes fillrate-limited

                          I can get the g400 at these prices (CDN$):
                          150$: 16MB
                          220$: 32MB
                          240$: 32MB DH

                          So I think that I will get the g400 32MB DH because I ilke linux too much and since Matrox will provide full support for the g400 by the summer, I will be with this card for another year or so until Matrox does something about the G800 and Linux. By getting the G400 DH, I make sure that if my "needs" change over the year, ie I want DH or 32MB suddenly, I wil be covered for $90. And also sice Matrox doesn't have a history of lowering their prices, it doesn't matter that I buy now or in 2 months. So I'll get it soon :-)

                          Thanks to everybody!

                          Salmonius
                          Salmonius

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I just recently (less than 3 weeks ago) purchased my computer system (PIII-450). I chose to go with G400 32MB DH. I think this is the best deal for most people.

                            I never buy brand new (albeit overpriced) things so the GeForce was ruled out. Since I want this card to last at least a couple of years, it is best to get 32MB. A lot of games in the future will require a large texture memory. Once 1024x768 becomes a "standard" for games, it will be impossible to use a 16MB card (depends on other factors too). The MAX is not worth it in my opinion. I am got the system for playing games only and I don't play FPS games so a few frames here and there won't matter. The MAX isn't THAT great when you take price into consideration.

                            I got the DualHead because I thought it would be cool to see a game on television. But I was really dissapointed with this. Because of resolution differences, anything on the tv looks horrible. There might be a way to improve the quality. There are two types of connectors that you can use and I was using the one that has lower quality. Since Dualhead only costs an extra $20, you should get it. It might be fun trying to hook up stuff to the tv.

                            The other card that I was considering was the TNT2. This is cheaper and offers better OpenGL performance (not counting TurboGL since this seems to depend on processor a lot). But the G400 has better D3D performance. Most of the games that I plan to play (RTS, RPG, multi-genre hybrids) will probably use D3D instead of OpenGL (not sure). So G400 should be all right for me. Also if you have new processor (ie. PIII or better) then G400 is probably better than TNT2.

                            Since you seem to be a big FPS fan and only interested in Quake 3, getting a GeForce (if it is cheap) is not a bad idea. GeForce is really good for OpenGL games.

                            ------------------
                            See Ya Later!(tm)
                            KoalaBear33
                            See Ya Later!(tm)
                            KoalaBear33

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              good choice, Salmonius
                              jim
                              System 1:
                              AMD 1.4 AYJHA-Y factory unlocked @ 1656 with Thermalright SK6 and 7k Delta fan
                              Epox 8K7A
                              2x256mb Micron pc-2100 DDR
                              an AGP port all warmed up and ready to be stuffed full of Parhelia II+
                              SBLIVE 5.1
                              Maxtor 40g 7,200 @ ATA-100
                              IBM 40GB 7,200 @ ATA-100
                              Pinnacle DV Plus firewire
                              3Com Hardware Modem
                              Teac 20/10/40 burner
                              Antec 350w power supply in a Colorcase 303usb Stainless

                              New system: Under development

                              Comment

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