GeForce4 Mx440 - Should I buy it?

[Guest Quaxo]

Hello, I've found this card for sale in Rome. The price is just 70 Euro.Considering I now have a GeForce2 Mx400, and my CPU is an Athlon XP 1600+, and OS is Win98SE, and that I could afford the card... ... should I buy it? Will there be a big performance increase?Thanks,Cristian

[Guest]

The following article will give you an idea of the relative merits of each card:http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/02q2/020418/index.htmlIt will be an improvement, but don;t be misled that a GeForce4 Mx440 has a GeForce 4 core. It is based on the same GeForce 2 chipset as your MX2 Mx400, but with faster RAM and core.Also, from what i have seen, FUIII is largely cpu speed dependent, unless you push your graphics card to the endge of its capabilities with lots of FSAA.I have seen similar framerates in FUIII at 1024x768 with no FSAA with a TNT2, Voodoo5 and Radeon 8500.Ian

[Guest Quaxo]

Thanks! I suspected I wouldn't have big improvements with FU3, but this isn't the only 3D program I run :) !!! I was talking about the overall performance... anyway, I'll check your link! (Does the FSAA work better/faster with this card?)Cristian

[Guest]

FSAA will work faster, as there is more memory bandwidth. Not sure about better, as the card is essentially the same core, IIRC. The link (and nearby pages) should have all the details for you.Ian

[Guest Quaxo]

Thanks Ian. I've checked the graphics in the site. It seems that the MX440 will be, on some apps, only 25-30% faster than the MX400, but on other applications, more than twice as fast... After all, I think it can be worth 70 Euro...

[Guest]

Hi,I have the Ge4Mx440 and I

[Guest Quaxo]

Yes I know, I'm not expecting a performance increase in FU3, but the AA should be better (there's the Quincunx, even if I still don't know what it is, and the 4xS...)But on other modern 3D apps it should be quite faster (even if not like a true GeForce4).... And I've already sold my old GeForce2 Mx400 for 40 Euro... :)Cristian

[Christopher Low 5,341]

Cristian,You may well be able to find a GeForce 3 Titanium 500 for a similar price. If you can, then get this card instead. It is more powerful than the GeForce 4 MX, and the 4xS anti-aliasing is also available using a utility like RivaTuner. This feature isn't advertised by Nvidia, simply because they want you to buy a GeForce 4 instead !Trust me, the GeForce 3 Ti 500 is a superior graphics card to ANY GeForce 4 MX............Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Quaxo]

Hi Chris,Thanks for the advice but here the only GF3 I can find is the Ti-200... And the cheapest costs 150 Euro :-(Thanks anyway... but after all I went and bought the MX440. It installed without problems, I still didn't test it deeply but it works well... (it has a passive cooler though ?!?, they say it generates less heat)... Cristian

[Christopher Low 5,341]

Cristian,When you said Euros, I was still thinking in pounds ! 70 Euros is approximately