Comparison...Video Card....Need Help...

[Kazekage Gaara]

Hi. I am Ravi. First of all, I wanna tell you guys that I live in India.

I am thinking of getting a good video card. Right now I am interested in getting a Nvidia GeForce FX 5200. I am not sure which one to get, the plain one or the Ultra one.

At first I was thinking of importing one from the United States, but there is some problem with the cost factor.

Suppose the price of that card is $100 + shipping 20% + custom duties in my country approx 20% + 1% insurance. The total would be approx 100 + 20+ 20+ 2 = anywhere $142 to $150.

So I eventually dropped the idea of importing it coz of the price and the tension as to when is it gonna arrive and the protection of my card, etc, etc.....

I am getting two types of Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 over here in India...here goes the pricing...

Asus Geforce FX 5200 128 MB DDR for about approx $150.

Gainward Geforce FX 5200 128 MB DDR for about approx $130.

So was just thinking which one was better. I don't mind paying up $20 more for "good quality".....

If you know some other company's chipset card supporting Nvidia Geforce FX 5200, then can you please tell me the name and I will try to look it over here in India and see whether its available here....

I am really very sorry for writing this post so BIG...

Any help in this regards will be greatly appreciated.....

Thanx in Advance....

[MolsenMI]

As far as benchmark tests go, the following cards are all much better then the FX 5200, and most are pretty cheap. If you can get one of the following for around the cost of the FX 5200 in India, then do it.

Radeon 9600 Pro
Radeon 9500 Pro
Geforce 4 Ti 4800-8x

I personally wouldn't recommend the early FX series (5200, 5600). They are too pricey for the performence you get out of them. I would suggest the Radeon 9600 Pro for a cheap, high performence card.

[Shadowrider]

check out this thread .
there you can find one with less than $80

[Kazekage Gaara]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I will check out the Radeon series and see whether its available in India and probably compare the prices with the FX 5200.

Thanx again.

Oh yea, one more thing, more replies are always appreciated....

[violineb]

more replies. ok. I can tell you that if you got the FX 5200 ultra or plain you would be dissapointed if you were looking for a good card. Beh it's extremely slow compared with the other cards listed. The 5600 Ultra isn't bad however only the newer version is of any value and is still more costly than an ATI solution. In this case I'd suggest a ATI Radeon 9500/9600 PRO. The 9600 pro has very good overclocking http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/r...9600pro_1.html
Although with my 9500pro I am getting better 3dmark scores and better UT2003 fps. And the 9500pro I have I went from 277/270 (core/mem) to 367/290 max stable speed. I admit it runs very hot at that speed but nothing to be afraid of if you were to run it a little slower and only that speed for longer time periods with extra cooling. As far as performance boosts are concerned...my 3Dmark 03 score went from 3560 to 4160 so not bad IMO . Hope this doesn't confuse you too much. bye
Vio

[Kazekage Gaara]

Ya...to some extent you did confuse me....

Well, I was more into kinda Nvidia thing but no harm in checking out the Radeon series as I stated before.....

Thanx.

[Lord Riff Raff]

Well considering no-one answered his original question which was: is it worth paying the extra $20 for the more expensive card.

Unless the card that costs the extra 20 has a feature you really want (ergo TV-out) then get the cheaper card. The reason for this is that the Nvidia reference cards are really really good so even if you buy a Lucky Dragon Golden Epsilon gf2mx then it will only vary a very tiny amount from another gf2mx.

[Kazekage Gaara]

Originally posted by Lord Riff Raff
Well considering no-one answered his original question which was: is it worth paying the extra $20 for the more expensive card.

Unless the card that costs the extra 20 has a feature you really want (ergo TV-out) then get the cheaper card.

Okay Lord Riff Raff, can you put some light on "ergo TV-out"....

Thanx in Advance....

[Lord Riff Raff]

Has an output that lets you plugin your computer to your TV. (You can also do nifty stuff like run two moniters)

[Kazekage Gaara]

Originally posted by Lord Riff Raff
Has an output that lets you plugin your computer to your TV.

This is COOL.....

Then I can attach my PC to my 25" color TV.....and play all the games on it......

Hey, thanx for that info, I will check that out whether its available with the card I am going to purchase.....and Lord Riff Raff, you get a vote for that......

[Magus]

Sorry, ravi. I thought you knew that, otherwise I would have pointed it out in the PM. The card I recommended for you has S-Video and TV outputs and it might also have a DVI output. So no matter what, you will be able to hook up your television to it for video games and movies.

[Kazekage Gaara]

Originally posted by Magus
Sorry, ravi. I thought you knew that, otherwise I would have pointed it out in the PM. The card I recommended for you has S-Video and TV outputs and it might also have a DVI output. So no matter what, you will be able to hook up your television to it for video games and movies.

Hey, no probs....

The vendor of the Asus Geforce FX 5200 did say that it was having a DVI output....By the way, what can I do with that DVI output thing.....

Today, I am having lots of free time, so am gonna checkout the Radeon Series today and see whether its available over here and at what price....

[Shadowrider]

i think it just supports the higher resolution digital flat-pannel output display.

oh btw, check out asus FX5900 ultra .
really cool looking

[Magus]

Yes, DVI is only supported by newer monitors, mostly LCD panels. The DVI output is handy if you have a DVI monitor or a television with a DVI-I port. If not, then you must use the standard VGA port. This probably won't affect you, but it is nice to have a DVI port on the card for the future.

[jerome187]

dose DVI have any advantages over VGA?