The many faces of nVidia

[Snarfleez]

I do hate to be a bother...

I say this because I've already asked this question, but nobody answered it. I understand that repeating a question is often frowned upon, but I think this is merited. To those who disagree, I apologize for the redundancy. But you all seem a friendly enough lot, so here goes:

After reading many reviews, and doing a fair amount of research, I've decided that the video card best suited to my price range and needs would be the nVidia GeForce4 Ti4200 64MB. However, when I searched for this exact card at Pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com), I found that nVidia makes the chipset, not the card itself. (or at least that's what I've come to understand) The best prices I could find for this card were by manufacturers like Prolink, Vision Tek, and Gainward.

My question is this: Is there a difference between these cards? Are all nVidias cards created equal? Any insight would be immensely helpful.

[Whyzman]

Yep, Snarfleez, I think you've put your finger on the situation.

I think your question would probably best be handled by iisbob or one of the other gamers who seem to have a good grasp on not only the differences between the cards themselves, but also the different manufacturers.

I seem to remember reading a short time ago his comments regarding one of the upgrades not returning much performance wise to justify the higher price.

Hang in there, hopefully he'll stop by or one of the other's familiar with the differences. But yes, you're correct that nVidia makes the chipsets used on these cards. You might want to check PNY and you'll also see GeForce cards with the nVidia chipsets.

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
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Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!

[Rick]

Another thing to think about with regard to the Nvidia.
Not all companies support what they make using the same chiptset equally.
Of those you listed Gainwald offers some good support.
I have heard good and bad about Vision Tek .

Also I have seen a number of compatibility issues with nVidia cards and some mother boards
it may be worth your effort to search for your Mother board and the GF4 you select
On some of the gamers forums.

[iisbob]

Rick makles a good point, it seems that the newest Geforce ( the 4 series ) has been responsible for quite a few conflicts on current motherboards. Possible due to it's increased power demands, and the different way it handles the AGP port.

Nvidia has already announced a new set of cards due out this fall, with a new chipset designed with a 512 bit bus ( curent card use 256 bit ) and Quad DDR support, and an entirely new programming structure. So the Geforce4 is already considered old news. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

Honestly, i run a couple of Geforce3 Ti200's ( Overclocked to the Ti 500 specs ) and i have yet to find any game currently on the market that they can't run full out. Personally i believe the Geforce 4 is a waste of money since Nvidia will be replacing it with an even more powerful card sometime by the end of this year. And the Geforce 3 series still hasn't been worn out yet.

I've found that PNY, Gainward, ABIT, Hercules, and ASUS all provide good quality boards and support. Not that i've come across any issues with my cards and various chipsets as reported in most forums, on the contrary i've had more issues with the two Raedon ATI cards than i have had with the Nvidia cards i own.

Bottom line, my suggestion is for you to save your money and get yourself a Geforce3 Ti 200/500 card and use the leftover cash to get yourself more DDRSDRAM or RDRAM, whichever you use. Or even go up a notch on your CPU.



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iisbob

Hike naked!-it gives color to your cheeks!!

[This message has been edited by iisbob (edited 05-18-2002).]

[saphalline]

I like to sing a different tune than iisbob, so I tend to recommend the GF4 Ti series for those who are interested in getting the latest power. The reason behind my madness is simple: the price is right. Right now, the price is right for the GF4 MX 440, the GF3 Ti 200, and the GF4 Ti 4200 (either 64MB or 128MB versions). These are the 3 nVidia chipsets today that offer substantial performance for their price, all at different levels.

Those on a budget will be best served by the GF4 MX 440 with its DDR RAM and GF2-class performance, as well as a few upper-level tweaks (tho this does NOT warrant its name as a "GF4"!).

Those who want power but can afford to wait until the end of the year, as iisbob suggests, will be best served by the GF3 Ti 200 and its DX 8 effects (all those vertex and pixel shaders).

Those who want power but can't afford to wait (like if you have a TNT2-class card) will be best served by the GF4 Ti 4200. At some point you have to stop waiting and start buying, or you'll spend most of your time playing slow games and whining "just another couple of months..."

Let's face it, even if nVidia releases a new chipset by the end of the year, it will take until 2003 before a wide selection of cards are out and prices become stable again (aka, no $600 pre-orders). And if you've got the money to spend ~$180 on a Ti 4200 (average price for the vendors I shop from) then why not? It's a heck of a lot less than $300 which is the standard starting price for a new graphics chipset/card, and it's not quite twice as much as a GF3 Ti 200 card. And just because nVidia is already planning the demise of the GF4 Ti series doesn't mean it's totally a bad buy.

I still plan to upgrade myself, just one more time before AGP 8X takes over and forces me to buy a new mobo. Just to be on the safe side, and in case iisbob is right, perhaps we should wait until this fall before making any final decisions? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Even if we don't change our minds, the prices on those 4200 cards will drop some more.

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"No, we do not gnaw on our kitty." - Dr. Evil

[Rick]

I’ve been noticing One thing in all these posts about the GF3-4 .
each references GAMES ,,
What ever happened to image quality ?
Color correction support?
2D performance ?

I’ll keep my opinion of the MX series to my self.

[iisbob]

I’ll keep my opinion of the MX series to my self.

No Need Rick-i think the MX series of G4 cards are the biggest rip off Nvidia's ever pushed, you're getting an older chipset GPU with a newer card name and it's extremely misleading to the average consumer.

What ever happened to image quality ?

I've ben comparing my wife's Raedon 8500 system with mine over the last couple of months-i see absolutely no differnce in image quality in either games, or Photo applications. Like Adobe-i've heard tales of Geforce cards having problems running it-not so, i've been running it on my G3 system quite well, not once have i had any problems with it. Same for the supposewd 2d " lack of perfromance ", actually, my G3 flat CRT text really blows my wife's LCD text appearance away. She was so disgusted by the LCD performance ( NEC 17" ) that we went back to a flat CRT ( same Samsung 753DF i use now ), video card had nothing to do with it. Now they both have crisp, clear text and each are using a different video card ( ATI/NVIDIA).

Color correction support?

Not quite sure what you are meaning by this. I have absolutely no color mismatching ( no misconvergance or bad Moire ) with the Geforce card, and i don't see where the Raedon does any beter in 32 bit mode than the Geforce card as far as vibrance & crispness of colors-tho i will amidt that some photo's ( those with low light especially ) do appear better on her system with the Raedon than the my Geforce system.

I realize that most people visiting here may think we are hung up on Nvidia/ATI products, that's not true-there are several alternatives out there for the people who do strictly graphics editing, and genral usage. There are even some alternative's for gamers.

I have an old Oxygen graphics card that i used to run Autocad on, now i use my Geforce3 Ti card-the old Oxygen card is still a viable choice tho, simply because it was designed for such applications. So are most Matrox cards.

My point to all this was not that he should buy a particular Geforce card only, because the ATI raedon series ( current ) are just as viable a choice. But rather that ( IMHO ) any purchase of a much more expensive G4 series is unwarented because the " older " Geforce3 series hasn't been stressed out in any applications ( games ) yet.

And in this case , it's not a matter of, " well i'll wait & wait till the new tech comes out " but that the newest tech for these cards will be completely different enough to justify the brief interlude of upgrading to the newest & baddest system. ATI also has a new chipset on the next horizon that's gonna change their entire card lineup & design.



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iisbob

Hike naked!-it gives color to your cheeks!!

[Rick]

IISBOB

I’m also waiting But not for the next GF or ati.
Heres what I am waiting on “Matrox Parhelia 512"
http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/parhelia512/home.cfm?adref=332&pageref=123

To tell you the truth If they make a Model without 3D I’ll grab that one http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif
Till then it’s the G400 max.
That old Oxygen like my poor old G400 is a work horse and compatible with everything.

What I also miss is EVERY review I see today has 3D what ever.
But little or NO 2D comparisons

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 05-19-2002).]

[iisbob]

i saw that on the Matrox site, but couldn't find a pic of the card itself. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

Looks like it might be worth a shot, as i've got a G450 and it runs on one of my old PII systems just peachy, actually that's my work machine for documentation etc. I got it from work and just added some memory, bigger hard drive to it-but did nothing else to it ( the G450 came with it ), and it's more than adequate for my " text " needs-i did wipe it and install 2k on it ( from NT ) and put Office 2k on it place of it's original '97 installed on it.

I'm also interested in the new SIS Xabre cards, they look very promising indeed.

Xabre.com (http://www.xabre.com)



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iisbob

Hike naked!-it gives color to your cheeks!!

[iisbob]

PS,
by the way, i just GOT to get me that cool 3 panel display they show!!!

Man, what a gaming xperiance that would be!! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif



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iisbob

Hike naked!-it gives color to your cheeks!!

[Rick]

And to think some are thinking about using 4 displays .
The wife will never go for the one behind me http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I may have to remount the rear view mirrors on my monitor so I can see behind me.
When that cast iron skillet comes at me http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

But that 3 panel would be great for edit work

[Snarfleez]

Sorry about the hiatus, all.

Well iisbob, that's just the thing. The price on a GeForce4 Ti4200 64MB is currently the same as a Geforce3 Ti500. The Ge4 performs significantly better too, according to the reviews I've been reading. So I've already decided on the card. It's the manufacturers I was wanting to know about. I was hoping to gleam a little insight on that subject, but I guess I'll have to brave those waters. I'll most likely get a Gainward, but might try a Prolink... not too sure just yet.

[iisbob]

Yep, that's the way things go in the modern PC world; first time a new tech debuts it's $500, within 3-4 months now it's around %80 less. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

So rock on my man, and get that G4 Ti card, my suggestion for a vendor would be PNY, Gainward, Abit, Leadtek, or even Hercules.

Though i would suggest the PNY version of the Ti4200 since PNY has a history of using higher quality/faster memory than the other vendors.

{ my PNY G3 Ti200 actually has the same speed memory as it's bigger brother the G3 Ti 500-so all it took was a brief memory overclock to get it to the same specs and it cost me about $200 less http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif )

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iisbob

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.-Mark Twain