 |
free hosting image hosting hosting reseller online album e-shop famous people |  |
  |
||
|
free hosting image hosting hosting reseller online album e-shop famous people | |
|
||
| V-Media: V-Media is one of the ongoing soap operas of the
active
computers. Originally a Duron based system, a dead Gateway
provided a 300 Watt power supply that allowed a backup Abit NF7-S to be
activated once again. However, during bencmarking, PCmark 2k4
failed at test #41, repeatedly. While working on other projects,
Windows began throwing up write to C: failures. Suffice to say,
the drive was toasted, and was replaced with a 20 gig from Viri. Faced with reinstalling WinME and Win2k again, a hard choice was found. The system had been running a Radeon 8500 AIW, which was what the Duron system could support. The system had also been used for TV watching, but the completion of ViriTV and Viron made such features redundant. I refuse to run Nvidia GeforceFX, DeltaChrome, and Volari products in active day to day use. Geforce6 and Radeon X800 are still outa of current price range. While the 8500 benifits from DX 8.1 support, it is supposedly significantly slower than a Geforce Ti 4200. So I decided that while rebuilding the system to evaluate the Geforce4 card as a possible replacement for the 8500. AthlonXp 2400+ Thoroughbred Cpu Clock Speed : FSB Speed : 266mhz Artic Cooling Copper Silent 2 Abit NF7-S : Nforce MCP-T Radeon 8500 128meg ATi All In Wonder | Geforce4 Ti 4200 Chaintech ViVo 1 gig Dual Channel 333mhz Ram : 2.5, 3, 3, 7 Hercules GameTheater Xp: Output to headphones 5 gig Maxtor ATA 33 / 20 gig WD ATA 100 30 gig Samsung ATA 100 52X CD 19” Samtron 96B Datel PowerBoard Kensington Mouse In a Box Win2k: Radeon 8500 Scores: Default Speeds Catalyst 4.8 Nforce 3.13 FFXI 3370 3dmark 2k3 1583 3dmark 2k1 10123 Aquamark Gfx: 2,340 Cpu: 5,744 Overall: 19,437 HalfLife 2 Source Demo 49.99 Pcmark 2k4 : Drive Failed Ut2k4 Official Benchmark Flyby: 103.77 Botmatch: 39.77 AthlonXp 2400+ Thoroughbred Stable: Cpu Clock Speed : 2138 Mhz FSB Speed : 266mhz Artic Cooling Copper Silent 2 Abit NF7-S : Nforce MCP-T Radeon 8500 128meg ATi All In Wonder | Geforce4 Ti 4200 Chaintech ViVo 1 gig Dual Channel 333mhz Ram : 2.5, 3, 3, 7 Hercules GameTheater Xp: Output to headphones 30 gig Samsung ATA 100 52X CD 19” Samtron 96B Datel PowerBoard Kensington Mouse In a Box
Notes: 1: While the Geforce was able to complete a pass of FFXI, attempting multiple passes resulted in the computer shutting off then turning back on. 2: The Geforce4 continued to CTD when attempting to run 3dmark 2k1. 3: After a while of processing, the system just froze and would not respond. 4: The system would hang and give a not enough memory error when trying to complete the benchmark. 5: The system repeatedly froze on High Poly Count with 8 lights. Unable to complete the benchmark 6: System froze on second Aquamark test and would not respond 7: Attempting to run the Source Benchmark resulted in CTD 8: dropping back to the Source defaults ( 800*600, simple reflections ) allowed the GF4 to complete the test. 9: CTD A: This score does not stand as the rendering was completely innaccurate. The transparent soldier was a grey shape, and the floors and walls covered with a pink tint. Different driver versions caused the system to crash, and a complete deletion and reinstallation of steam failed to fix the issue. AthlonXp 2400+ Thoroughbred Stable: Cpu Clock Speed : 2088 Mhz FSB Speed : 333mhz Artic Cooling Copper Silent 2 Abit NF7-S : Nforce MCP-T Radeon 8500 128meg ATi All In Wonder | Geforce4 Ti 4200 Chaintech ViVo 1 gig Dual Channel 333mhz Ram : 2.5, 3, 3, 7 Hercules GameTheater Xp: Output to headphones 30 gig Samsung ATA 100 52X CD 19” Samtron 96B Datel PowerBoard Kensington Mouse In a Box
Notes: 1: While the system was able to complete 3dmark2k1 on a single pass, it was unable to complete multiple passes required for the test. 2: System could complete a pass, but would CTD after multiple passes 3: Repetative CTD 4: The system would give a not enough memory error during the benchmark and CTD 5: system froze on second Aquamark test and would not respond 6: System locked up on CS Source Menu screen 7: Repeatitive CTD A: This score does not stand as the rendering was completely innaccurate. The transparent soldier was a grey shape, and the floors and walls covered with a pink tint. Different driver versions caused the system to crash, and a complete deletion and reinstallation of steam failed to fix the issue. It's not often when testing hardware equipment that I come across a device or card that is deliberately set at not working, but the Geforce4 is most certainly that. I had originally started out with Detonators 45.33 and Nforce 3.13. However, the system could not succesfully complete any benchmark, so I tried every single driver set between then and now, settling on the cheat laden ForceWare 61.76 and 61.77 drivers, and the bugged Nforce 4.27 drivers. Keep in mind that many of these tests should actually not be compared to each other. While the Geforce competed with the Radeon 8500 at launch, time has favored the radeon card. Most of the benchmarks use can use Pixel Shader 1.4 paths which gives the Radeon card a superior image in most cases. Win2k: I remember when the Radeon 8500 launched that it was supposed to compete with Geforce3, and that Geforce4 blew it away. Sadly, that is not what I found. The Radeon 8500 remained competitive with the stock Geforce4, and continued to remain competitive against the overclocked GF4 in WinNT applications. Outside of the tests, general computer stability under Detonator and Forcware was abysmal. Eventually, it got to the point of fustration that the speed of the computer was cut back, but I boosted the Front Side Bus. The result was a more powerful CPU, and a more stable overclocked Geforce4. However, while the Geforce4 was able to complete the benchmarks with the lower speed of the processor, it was unable to complete any of the stability or stress tests. WinME: A lot of people have written to me stating I should try Geforce this, Geforce that. Well, take a real good look at the performance Nvidia put forth in WinME (and look back to 2kPro as well). Considering the abysmal performance of the Nvidia rep, why on earth would any sane person want to use Nvidia? Also, taking an overall look at WinME compared to Win2k paints an even bleaker picture. WinME simply cannot even think about handling today's titles, even with the best hardware available at the time WinME came out. Maybe the picture might change, but honestly, if your using WinME, you are not going to be using modern Radeon 9500+, Radeon X300+, GeforceFX, or Geforce6 products. If you are, give it up. Please. Move to Linux and use WineX if it means that much. ***For those who want to complain that Nvidia didn't get a fair shake, feel free to donate some extra change my way and get me a few other test subjects.*** Changelog 1.0 : removed 6gig drive for 20gig drive Changelog 1.2 : removed 20gig drive due to bad sectors causing WinME to crash randomly. Win2k percieved no issues... possible bad IDE cord? Tests were completed without additional 20gig drive.  |