Is it worth the money? (TI4200 vs. FX5200)

[Mehbody]

I'll start from the beginning.. I bought a FX5200 to replace my aging MX420 that had served me since i had it (before that, a Voodoo 5 and a TNT2) but to my despair (but it was cheap on ebay :P) it is 64-bit and that is really killing everything, I think (very low 3dmark score, bad FPS in Unreal Tournament (GOTY).. at lowest settings!) I was only able to nab about 3000 3dmarks in 2001 (don't get me started on 2003/2005..) and the fps is highly unplayable on the large maps i usually play (the MX420 was slightly faster at UT, just enough for it to play good..). Halo is OK, I have gotten used to the low-low settings and 5 (large maps) to 20 (small maps) FPS.. but I like smooth, and this is slideshow-ish.

So, i just bought a Visiontek Ti4200 from eBay, thankfully 128-bit this time. Should I be looking forward to a improvement in my framerates/3dmarks? Or will this card just completly screw me again?

Heh, maybe even a small improvement in HL2? (Very CPU limited, I think, as I only get 4-7fps with the FX5200 or the Voodoo 5 (people have hit good framerates with it.) Or memory limited?)

(If i don't see an improvement, well, a secondary box is always good to have, and my other system could probably use a TI4200..)

[cooliscool]

Oh yes. The Ti4200 is much faster than the FX 5200, 128-bit or otherwise.

Depending on your CPU and Memory, expect around 14,000ish 3DMarks in 2001 with that thing overclocked. I got 14,321 when I had a Ti4200 with my current P4 3.2C @ 3.66 with the card @ 300/590 (core/mem MHz).

In short - hell yes, expect much better FPS in everything.

edit: I see you have a Duron @ 1.2GHz? Expect huge improvement, but not 14,000 3DMarks. Look for a better CPU to go with that card if possible..

[[AK]Zip]

I would have to say you will see some improvement, but very little. Your cpu is REALLY hold you back and your memory isn't far behind. Its being PC2100 isn't too bad, but only having 256mb of it is whats geting you more. The main thing is still your Duron @ 1.3GHz. I am still interested on how much it will help you, but I am sceptical and I believe that if you plan on playing any sort of 3D games its time for an upgrade way over due.

-Alex-

[ragejg]

A 266 fsb Athlon derived processor @ 1.3 ghz isn't really that bad of a thing provided you saddle it with more memory. Your rig will love the ti4200... expect 10k in 3dmark 20001, and good playability of ut2k3 @ 10x7, no aa/af.

From late 2k2 to spring 2k3 my specs matched yours pretty much, and I enjoyed Battlefield 1942, UT GOTY, Ghost Recon, Serious Sam: Second Encounter and Max Payne just fine...

At LEAST find a 128mb stick somewhere.... just 256 does not cut it anymore... and your rig won't really OC, will it...

[Mehbody]

Ah, thanks for the speedy replies on this! Yeah, this cpu and mobo are in a definate need of upgrading, and the 256mb is temporary. I had 768mb in here at a time, but the stick of 512 was causing stability issues (it wasn't fun playing games in 10-minute shift!) so I took it out.. I think a good stick of 256mb from Newegg will be enough to get this working much better. I am also looking at a Nforce2/Sempron combo, although this probably isn't the right topic to discuss it in. Say I ordered this combo (I'm tight when it's comes to a budget), how much more improvement would I be seeing now.

Perhaps i'll borrow a friend's old 5900 ultra for the weekend, just to get _some_ gaming in. Playing halo right now, it seems tedious because of the speed but it's playable.

And cooliscool, it's a 1.3ghz. But the setting is weird. 99.4x13.0 There's gotta be a way to get that changed.

The TI4200 has just a stock Visiontek fan, circular. (see auction here) What kind of speeds could I be looking at? I can't tell my current temps of the case, but i'm sure they can't be that high (hard drive usually stays around 29c (doesn't seem right?), onboard temps are stuck at 22c) and there's good airflow in my case (2 psu fans, 2 intake and 2 outtake)

quick edit: I'll post some timedemo/benchmark results of before and after I get the card in, to see how much it improved the system (for the people that are wondering)

[ragejg]

O_0

Umm, it's a Morgan core... crap... not all of those even make it to 133/266fsb, I forgot about that... I'd have to advise that you ditch that off to someone for $25 and find a tbredB 1700 at least for $30 or so...

Umm, and after looking at things, your ATI chipset mobo... umm, maybe bundle that with your Duron and ditch it as well? There's absolutely no sense in upgrading it... it'd be like putting an XP3200+ into a KT133 mobo. I'd say $20-$25.

Then go to newegg and go to the refurb section and throw down for at least a KT333 mobo. So if you had a 1700 and an overclockable KT333, THEN you'd be primed for serious improvements. You might be able to get 166-200 fsb, 1.9-2.4ghz out of it, and then your ti4200 woul dlove you even more... and heck, at those speeds, even a 6800 series card wouldn't complain too much.

[ragejg]

Here's a link to a thread I put up when I mistakenly recieved a 64 bit memory equipped FX5200... It was beat up on by a GF2ti, and was thoroughly schooled by my previous ti4200 @ 310/585. Most of the numbers I included are fillrate numbers, but thers some 3dmark01 info in ther as well. This was done on an XP2000+ and a tBird 1.33.

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...th+nail+shades

[Mehbody]

Yup, the FX5200 is just too crippled for 64-bit. Those scores were about the same scores I achived. Should try comparing it to my old Geforce 256 (in my K6-2 box) and see what happens.. Probably the only thing it can beat (excluding MX)

[ragejg]

Well, a 64 bit 5200 is about equal to a 128 bit GF2ti and GF4 MX440 in performance... it definitely kills any GF2MX (except the RARE 128 bit memory equipped ones)... definitely a card for a "gramma pc", or a rig that only plays games like Serious Sam, Unreal1 and Quake3...

[Gator]

FX5600 is on par with GF3TI performance

so that should give you an idea of just how much more powerful a GF4TI is over the FX5200 64bit. Yes it's an excellent upgrade decision.

Check some 3dmark2k1 number's, it's good measure of DX8 raw gaming performance. You'll see that a GF4TI is definetly better.

[Daneel Olivaw]

Btw. Halo will not run much better. But all other games will benefit extremely. And a 5900 is not much faster than a GF4Ti (I had both, trust me (the speed advantage is only in AA and AF)), especially with such a cpu bottleneck as yours.

[Mehbody]

Originally Posted by Daneel Olivaw

Btw. Halo will not run much better. But all other games will benefit extremely. And a 5900 is not much faster than a GF4Ti (I had both, trust me (the speed advantage is only in AA and AF)), especially with such a cpu bottleneck as yours.

Sadly and oddly, I've gotten used to the 10fps I achive in Halo, so it's no big deal. It's mainly UT and UT2003 i'm more worried about speed-wise, because I'm a lot better in Unreal then halo