ATI 8500LE (Clone) 64mb VS Geforce MX440 or MX460

[XKShadow]

I am buying a video card in a month or so... I do not have the money for the high tech Geforce TI's and can't wait for 4200 which still will be priced more then a ATI 8500LE clone 64 MB ddr... So I am stuck between 2 video cards... A Geforce MX460 or an ATI 8500LE 64 MB (probably clone) both with ddr ofcourse since they do not come with SDRAM... So I would like anyone that knows this cards or has heard of them, to tell me their opinion, which one I should go for, and why... I know from specs Geforce MX460 has no NFINITY 2 chipset, unlike ATI 8500LE which has their 8500 chipset...So ATI 8500LE has a LOT more capabilities... And on specs it seams to be faster then Geforce 2 MX460... But I just want everyones opinion... Thanks...<BR><BR>PS If you are using any other video cards which you think are better and they are in the price range of the above, feel free to tell me about them... Anything would be better then the Geforce 2 MX400 which I have...<BR>

[Zero]

Out of those cards that your have mentioned. I would definetly go with with ATI 8500LE. The geforce4 MX cards are just advanced geforce2mx cards with the geforce4 memory controller. The geforce4mx are not fully compliant with DX8, and they lack vertex and pixel shaders. You would be better off going with a geforce3 ti200 or ti500, rather than the geforce4mx as they would be more future proof. On the other hand the ATI 8500 cards .. are excellent value, I am considering getting one of those cards as well.<BR><BR>Just my $0.02

[XKShadow]

Yap... Researched it myself... ATI 8500LE is a little bit slower then a Geforce 4 ti 4200... But I can get a clone for 100$ less then any geforce 4 ti 4200 out there... Plus I am Canadian <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> and ATI is a Canadian company <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">... No but it is true what you said... I have a geforce 2 MX and by paying pretty much the same money then a 8500LE and getting a geforce 4 mx I am just getting a faster Geforce 2 mx... Which is a rip off... Since if I am gonna put 200$ on a video card, I better get one that is gonna last me for a while... And Geforce 2 MX sucks... Maybe not a year ago, since there weren't any video cards as cheap as that with reasonable graphics, but now it does... An ATI 8500LE has pretty much every advantage that a Geforce 4 TI has with small differences, except that is slower... No question about it, Geforce 4 TI are the best video cards out there, but I am not paying no 300 to 700 dollars for any video card like that (Canadian), taking in account that in 2 years or so they will be too old the way the industry is advancing... And although NVIDIA did for once one cool thing and created a cheaper TI 4200, which just ends up with 15% less speed then better ones, the price doesn't beat the 8500LE of ATI which is a little bit slower then a 4200 but has same advantages pretty much... And also ATI improved their drivers the last month or 2 so that is another bonus... Either way, I can get an ATI Radeon 8500LE 128MB for 234$ (Canadian), and the cheapest Geforce 4 Ti 4200 128MB is 330$... Actually I will probably be getting an ATI Radeon (Clone) 8500LE 64MB for 194$ (Canadian)... Still if anyone has any opinions... Feel free to Write which one is the best card by your opinion and why?...<BR>

[Zero]

Just out of curiosity, umm when you say "clone" do you mean a card made by a different manufacturer (i.e. I seen some Sapphire ATI cards) or do you just mean the OEM of the ATI card. I'm not sure what part of Canada you live in, but for Toronto these are some of the prices I have seen, all prices in CDN of course.<BR><BR>FS of all places ATI Radeon 8500LE 128MB Retail Box $249.99<BR>Radeon 8500LE 128MB OEM $209.00<BR>Radeon 8500LE 64MB OEM $179.99<BR>Geforce4 Ti 4200 128MB Retail Box $289.00<BR>Geforce4 Ti 4200 64MB Retail Box $249.00<BR><BR>You can get some other branded names for a bit cheaper, (I have seen some Sapphire cards).<BR>BTW I believe that all the LE cards .. lack DVI. Just incase you perhaps need that, or are thinking about having dual monitors.

[Colin]

Hey, fellow Canucks! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>Ya, the Radeon 8500LE will totally beat the pants off the GF4 MX line of cards. <BR><BR>XKShadow, if you buy a 8500 though, try to get an ATI. It'll probably be a little more expensive, but most ATI OEM (it has to be made by ATI!) can be flashed to run at retail speeds! If you need more info, let me know.

[XKShadow]

When I meant clone I meant exactly what you mentioned, like Saphire... Which are cards made by others with ATI chipsets... Oh and yes I am getting probably an original ATI...<BR>

[Colin]

XKShadow don't get a Saphire... Get an original ATI OEM. On the back of the videocard, if you see ATI's logo it's an ATI OEM, if you don't or see soemthing else (like S on the Saphire cards) then it's made by a 3rd party. The BIOS Flash doesn't work very well with the 3rd party 8500's.