Which 128MB Graphics Card Is Better?

[Daniel-Man]

Hi, just wondering which brand of video card is better? I want to spend about $120 - $150 on a 128MB one. At the moment Little Computers has an MSI Geforce FX5200 TV/Out 128MB for $147, PC Century has a Sparkle Geforce FX 5200 128MB TV/OUT 8 x AGP for $125, Adrenalnie has an Asus FX5200 NU34 128MB, DVI/ TV/OUT for $154.55, IT Warehouse has an MSI FX5200 T128 Geforce 4 FX5200 AGP 8 x 128MB for $135, an Asus U9520 Magic 128 FX 5200 128MB, TV Out for $156 and an Nvidia Geforce 4 MX 440 SE 128MB for $125. I'm thinking the Nvidia doesnt' have TV/Out though, which doesn't really matter. I'm thinking the Sparkle Geforce one for $125 must be pretty crap, does anyone know about this brand? What's the MSI FX5200 like??

[akif]

Why don't u try ATi Radeon-9800?
The reviews suggest it better than the GeForce counterpart.

[Daniel-Man]

how much is it?

[pave_spectre]

For the price range you specified you would be looking at the ATI Radeon 9600 not the 9800($300+). HERE (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1126&description=radeon%209800&Order=price)

The non-pro 9600 is $152 at NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com) HERE (http://www.newegg.com/app/Viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1126&description=&srchFor=radeon%209600) .

[NX74205]

You shold also stay away from antyhing names Geforce 5200, believe me its overpriced and for abotu 30 bucks more you could get a Geforce 5600 or a Radeon 9600, which are far superior.

[gwallen4]

First of all go to NewEgg.com for all your computer needs. You won't beat the price, fairness, and support anywhere.

Here would be my choice in your price range:

VGA CHAINTECH A-GX20 TI-4200 128MB 8X VGA, DVI & TV-OUT - a Geforce4-ti4200 card that will outperform most of the cards listed above = $125 at NewEgg including shipping.

Comparison of features and performance of the current crop of video cards may be found at Tom's Hardware:

http://www20.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030714/vga_card_guide-12.html

[Daniel-Man]

ok, are u saying the 4200 is better than a 5200 and 5600 ?? aren't the others newer models??

[gwallen4]

The Geforce4-ti4200 is marginally better than the 5600 but not as good as the 5600 Ultra. It runs circles around the 5200.

Plus some models of the ti4200 with 64 MB of memory can be had for less that $100:

VGA CHAINTECH A-GX20 TI-4200 64MB 8X NO TV OUT, VGA RETAIL BOX $85 at NewEgg.

[iisbob]

The 5200 Ultra performs on par with the ti 4200 series; and when you enable AA, it outperforms them.

i have built 6 different public lan gaming systems and have replaced all the Ti4200's in them with the PNY 5200 Ultra's- they perform flawlessly.

Stay away from the vanilla 5200 series cards; especially the 64bit memory bus cards that generally run around $70-80-they make a TNT look good. :rolleyes:

your best bet for good/value priced gaming card at this time is a 9600pro-for between $150-200 they have so far outperformed the 5600/5900 Ultra seris of GFX cards and given the 9700/9800np cards a run for the money. I'm going to put one in my Nephews system this weekend as an upgrade from his Ti4600.

I of course run a 9800 pro 128 MB w/256bit mem bus, just cause i like my deaths to be Glorious! :D

[josemavicente]

yup i learned my lesson on this one!!!

i got an Inno 3D Geforce 5200 and it sucks!! Well, to cut it some slack, its OK in the sense that you CAN play games and you get slightly better lighting effects than the 4200, but with value for money, you're better off getting something else.

I think the 5200 line is like the MX200 or something except if uses CineFX and performs with DX9