On the way...

[McC]

Well, I ordered new parts to upgrade my entire system. Once they arrive, here's what I'll be running with: (* denotes a new component)

Case: 787 Series 4Q ATX Full Tower*
Motherboard: MIS K7266*
Processor: 1.333 GHz Athlon Thunderbird* (cooled by a Swiftech MC370-0A Supercooler*)
RAM: 756 MB PC2100 SDRAM*
Hard Disk I: IBM DeskStar 75 GB*
Hard Disk II: 37.2 GB
Video Card: WinFast GeForce256 DDR
Sound Card: Creative Labs SB Live!
Operating System: Windows 2000*

Basically, it's going to go screamin' fast Add to that I'm upgrading from Inspire3D to LightWave 6.5b, and I think we'll be seeing a lot more volume and quality work come from this little workstation in very short order!

You got DDR ram correct?

You also must really like those long scandisks and defrags. lol

You need to change your graphics card out. Sorry but it's restricting your sysytems performance already.

Overall it's a nice system.

I have to agree. A GeForce 256 DDR is way to slow for a system like yours. Consider at least a GeForce 2.

If you have the money, of course.

[McC]

No, no DDR -- SDRAM.

What would you guys suggest in terms of actual brand names/models? And preferably $350 or less. I saw a really hot 64 MB 3DLabs card, but it's more than I've paid on all of the other components so far (including shipping!).

[McC]

What do you guys think about this one?

GeForce 3 is nice... nice and expensive. But it really breaks down to two things.

*for Games or Production.
**Price

For Production porposes I've heard that the Oxygen line of cards are really good. VERY expensive.

But on the same hand I've heard that Kyro kicks Geforce butt. And is supposed to be cheaper.

[McC]

Yeah, Oxygen is great, but I ain't paying more than $500 for a single component I can get a GeForce3 (the one I showed you) for $350.

Your kidding right?

[McC]

Not at all.

Just buy a GeForce II Pro (64 MB) from Hercules or Elsa. Then go to http://www.nvidia.com/, download the newest reference drivers - and have some fun!

I picked up a GForce 2 GTS Pro from MSI for under $200 US Dollars, and the 3D2001 Mark scores jumped anywhere from 52 to 71% depending on the test.

AND I have nowhere near the lockup problems I had using my Asus GForce 256/ Asus K7V MoBo combination.

It even has SVideo out.

[McC]

I settled on a GeForce3 from VisionTek

Kinda dumb for me to forget, but what inputs are you going to have for the new computer. I mean, since your current tower is going to your dad, you're going to need a floppy drive, DVD drive and a CD-RW

Also, the motherboard is MSI, not MIS

You could just ignore that comment now