5200 Ultra questions

This looks like the best price/performance upgrade to replace my MX440SE.
Does anyone know if it has the fan control like the 5600 and 5900 ultras?
Thanks.


bluestringer

No fan control on the 5200 Ultra. The 5200 Ultra will definitely beat your
MX440SE card. You may get a better deal for a FX 5600 (non-ultra) with
256Mb of memory tho. Both will run you around $200 (give or take $20-$30).

Ron

"bluestringer" wrote in message
. ..
This looks like the best price/performance upgrade to replace my MX440SE.
Does anyone know if it has the fan control like the 5600 and 5900 ultras?
Thanks.


bluestringer

IMO, the FX5200 is nothing more than a DX9 version of the GF4/MX440.
While it is slightly faster, you will have minimal perfomance increase
unless you go to the FX5600 or higher. (If money is a issue then the 5200
Ultra at minimum). The best way to research this is download 3dMark2001
and test your current card, then go to project manager online at their site
and using your computer specs see what others are running points-wise with
the card you are thinking about getting. The 2 tests on there now with a
XP2200+ cpu score 6025 and 5378 when i am getting 6100 with a GF4/MX440 64
MB memory (original, not the SE).... I'm personally getting the 5600 Ultra.

3dMark2001 = http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml

"bluestringer" wrote in message
. ..
This looks like the best price/performance upgrade to replace my MX440SE.
Does anyone know if it has the fan control like the 5600 and 5900 ultras?
Thanks.


bluestringer

"Helion" wrote in message
. com...
IMO, the FX5200 is nothing more than a DX9 version of the GF4/MX440.
While it is slightly faster, you will have minimal perfomance increase
unless you go to the FX5600 or higher. (If money is a issue then the 5200
Ultra at minimum). The best way to research this is download 3dMark2001
and test your current card, then go to project manager online at their
site
and using your computer specs see what others are running points-wise with
the card you are thinking about getting. The 2 tests on there now with a
XP2200+ cpu score 6025 and 5378 when i am getting 6100 with a GF4/MX440 64
MB memory (original, not the SE).... I'm personally getting the 5600
Ultra.

3dMark2001 = http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml



I am planning on getting the 5200 Ultra version. Like you said the plain
5200 doesn't look any better than the MX440. The Ultra looks to be on par
with a Ti4600 in some of the reviews I've seen.

bluestringer

"bluestringer" wrote in message
news

"Helion" wrote in message
. com...
IMO, the FX5200 is nothing more than a DX9 version of the GF4/MX440.
While it is slightly faster, you will have minimal perfomance increase
unless you go to the FX5600 or higher. (If money is a issue then the
5200
Ultra at minimum). The best way to research this is download
3dMark2001
and test your current card, then go to project manager online at their
site
and using your computer specs see what others are running points-wise
with
the card you are thinking about getting. The 2 tests on there now with
a
XP2200+ cpu score 6025 and 5378 when i am getting 6100 with a GF4/MX440
64
MB memory (original, not the SE).... I'm personally getting the 5600
Ultra.

3dMark2001 = http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml



I am planning on getting the 5200 Ultra version. Like you said the plain
5200 doesn't look any better than the MX440. The Ultra looks to be on par
with a Ti4600 in some of the reviews I've seen.

Why not just go for a Ti4200 or 5600 non-ultra? Both will be about the same
price or cheaper, and both will beat out a 5200 ultra.

"A.C." wrote in message
...
"bluestringer" wrote in message
news

"Helion" wrote in message
. com...
IMO, the FX5200 is nothing more than a DX9 version of the GF4/MX440.
While it is slightly faster, you will have minimal perfomance increase
unless you go to the FX5600 or higher. (If money is a issue then the
5200
Ultra at minimum). The best way to research this is download
3dMark2001
and test your current card, then go to project manager online at their
site
and using your computer specs see what others are running points-wise
with
the card you are thinking about getting. The 2 tests on there now
with
a
XP2200+ cpu score 6025 and 5378 when i am getting 6100 with a
GF4/MX440
64
MB memory (original, not the SE).... I'm personally getting the 5600
Ultra.

3dMark2001 = http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml



I am planning on getting the 5200 Ultra version. Like you said the plain
5200 doesn't look any better than the MX440. The Ultra looks to be on
par
with a Ti4600 in some of the reviews I've seen.

Why not just go for a Ti4200 or 5600 non-ultra? Both will be about the
same
price or cheaper, and both will beat out a 5200 ultra.




That's not what I've seen. The 5200 Ultra is right there with the Ti4200,
even better in some tests, and beats the 5600 non-ultra. The 5200 Ultra has
625mhz memory where the 5600 non-ultra is only 500. Besides, I like to buy
my cards local and there are no Ti4200's or 5600's in my little southern
city.


bluestringer

"bluestringer" wrote in message .. .
"A.C." wrote in message
Why not just go for a Ti4200 or 5600 non-ultra? Both will be about the
same
price or cheaper, and both will beat out a 5200 ultra.




That's not what I've seen. The 5200 Ultra is right there with the Ti4200,
even better in some tests, and beats the 5600 non-ultra. The 5200 Ultra has
625mhz memory where the 5600 non-ultra is only 500. Besides, I like to buy

Hmm, the benchmarks I've seen show the non-ultra 5600 easily beating
the 5200 Ultra. The 5200 ultra memory speed is nice, but I think the
lower memory bandwidth and weaker engine push it down. I can't find a
single category where the 5200 ultra beats the 5600.

my cards local and there are no Ti4200's or 5600's in my little southern
city.

Well to each his own, but I always buy my video cards online; the
local places just mark it up too much. For example, CompUSA lists the
PNY 5200 ultra for $200, while newegg lists the same exact card for
$165. For $200 you can actually get a 5600 ultra from neweggg.

"A.C." wrote in message
om...
"bluestringer" wrote in message
.. .
"A.C." wrote in message
Why not just go for a Ti4200 or 5600 non-ultra? Both will be about
the
same
price or cheaper, and both will beat out a 5200 ultra.




That's not what I've seen. The 5200 Ultra is right there with the
Ti4200,
even better in some tests, and beats the 5600 non-ultra. The 5200 Ultra
has
625mhz memory where the 5600 non-ultra is only 500. Besides, I like to
buy

Hmm, the benchmarks I've seen show the non-ultra 5600 easily beating
the 5200 Ultra. The 5200 ultra memory speed is nice, but I think the
lower memory bandwidth and weaker engine push it down. I can't find a
single category where the 5200 ultra beats the 5600.

my cards local and there are no Ti4200's or 5600's in my little southern
city.

Well to each his own, but I always buy my video cards online; the
local places just mark it up too much. For example, CompUSA lists the
PNY 5200 ultra for $200, while newegg lists the same exact card for
$165. For $200 you can actually get a 5600 ultra from neweggg.


After looking further I did find that the 5600 is better than the 5200 Ultra
when aniso and AA is implemented. Not enough to make a difference in the
real world though. I only play one game, NASCAR 2003, so I think the 5200
Ultra will do fine for me. But, if I could find the 5600 locally, I would
probably get it over the 5200 Ultra.

Yea, the local stores like Circuit City, Office Depot, etc do mark them way
up. I'm getting mine from a local homegrown computer shop for $150. Senior
citizen discount. :-)

bluestringer

Actually it's also got the 128 bit floating-point color and some other
updated features. Face it, the 5200 is an entry level card. If you want
some more serious gaming go with the 5600 or 5900. Eventhough the 5200
Ultra is definitely better than the 5200 (non-ultra) it's still an entry
level card with some additional speed. As far as performance goes, I can
consistantly get 3DMark01SE scores of 10500+ from an eVGA GeForce FX 5200
Ultra card, while the Albatron, ABit and ASUS FX 5600 (non-ultra) turns in
scores around 9978-10000. All of this is without any FSAA or other bells
and whistles turned on. I do see, in almost every review, that when you
turn on FSAA and turn up the resolution the 5200's start to pay a HEAVY
price in performance; and for that reason alone if you are going to play
"heavy duty" games you will definitely want something like a 5600 or 5900
(Ultra or otherwise). One word about the ABit Siluro FX 5600 with 256Mb, I
was able to overclock it to 400Mhz Core and 415Mhz Memory clock and it ran
like a top; never crashing or giving any trouble. The Albatron FX5600 EQ
with 256Mb had heatsinks on the RAM and not quite as good of one (IMHO) on
the GPU and it would overclock to 385Mhz Core and 455Mhz Memory. Any
attempts to push the Albatron above 390 Mhz Core would result in video
lockups and problems - I even opened the case and put it so a cold A/C vent
blew directly into the case and it didn't matter with the Albatron card; but
the ABit card gained another 15Mhz by the A/C vent with no change in memory.
The Abit card costs about $1-$2 more from www.tornadocomputers.com and has
free shipping from them.

Ron


"Helion" wrote in message
. com...
IMO, the FX5200 is nothing more than a DX9 version of the GF4/MX440.
While it is slightly faster, you will have minimal perfomance increase
unless you go to the FX5600 or higher. (If money is a issue then the 5200
Ultra at minimum). The best way to research this is download 3dMark2001
and test your current card, then go to project manager online at their
site
and using your computer specs see what others are running points-wise with
the card you are thinking about getting. The 2 tests on there now with a
XP2200+ cpu score 6025 and 5378 when i am getting 6100 with a GF4/MX440 64
MB memory (original, not the SE).... I'm personally getting the 5600
Ultra.

3dMark2001 = http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml

"bluestringer" wrote in message
. ..
This looks like the best price/performance upgrade to replace my
MX440SE.
Does anyone know if it has the fan control like the 5600 and 5900
ultras?
Thanks.


bluestringer

Tom's has the 5600 about 50% faster than the 5200 Ultra.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic..._guide-12.html

Dave


"bluestringer" wrote in message
news

"A.C." wrote in message
om...
"bluestringer" wrote in message
.. .
"A.C." wrote in message
Why not just go for a Ti4200 or 5600 non-ultra? Both will be about
the
same
price or cheaper, and both will beat out a 5200 ultra.




That's not what I've seen. The 5200 Ultra is right there with the
Ti4200,
even better in some tests, and beats the 5600 non-ultra. The 5200
Ultra
has
625mhz memory where the 5600 non-ultra is only 500. Besides, I like to
buy

Hmm, the benchmarks I've seen show the non-ultra 5600 easily beating
the 5200 Ultra. The 5200 ultra memory speed is nice, but I think the
lower memory bandwidth and weaker engine push it down. I can't find a
single category where the 5200 ultra beats the 5600.

my cards local and there are no Ti4200's or 5600's in my little
southern
city.

Well to each his own, but I always buy my video cards online; the
local places just mark it up too much. For example, CompUSA lists the
PNY 5200 ultra for $200, while newegg lists the same exact card for
$165. For $200 you can actually get a 5600 ultra from neweggg.


After looking further I did find that the 5600 is better than the 5200
Ultra
when aniso and AA is implemented. Not enough to make a difference in the
real world though. I only play one game, NASCAR 2003, so I think the 5200
Ultra will do fine for me. But, if I could find the 5600 locally, I would
probably get it over the 5200 Ultra.

Yea, the local stores like Circuit City, Office Depot, etc do mark them
way
up. I'm getting mine from a local homegrown computer shop for $150. Senior
citizen discount. :-)

bluestringer