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Spectrum · 15-April-04, 02:53 PM

Most of you have heard horrors about the FX5200, the underprivileged sibling of the FX5600. However, here is the truth, all laid out. Among the onslaught of video cards based on the NV34 processors, come the FX5200, FX5200 Ultra, FX5600, and the FX5600 Ultra. The budget card, the FX5200 is very appealing, DirectX 9, 8X AGP, 128MB DDR and loads of outputs. This low-end card, costs a mere $64.85, and you can find the card here.

The differences between the GeForce FX 5200 Ultra and standard 5200 series are simply clock speeds. The 5200 Ultra has a 325 MHz GPU clock, whereas the standard 5200 series has the core dropped by 23% to 250 MHz. The memory clock also drops by nearly 40% from 650 MHz to 400 MHz. In comparison, nVidia's ultra-high end GeForce FX 5800 Ultra series runs at a 500 MHz GPU clock with 1,000 MHz DDR memory.

Packaging:

The card comes nicely packaged. It flaunts a full color retail box, with some non-cheesy graphics. As soon as you open it up, you notice one thing, red. Everything is red. The card itself is red, as is the enclosed DVI to VGA adapter, and the S-VIDEO to RCA adaptor. Surprisingly though, the packaging does not include any games or bundled software. That is a check mark under cons. However, you would not expect games from a budget card.

Chip: NV34
Manufacturing process: 0.15-micron
Transistors: ~45 mil.
Core clock speed: 260 MHz
Memory clock speed: 440 MHz / 6.9 GB/s
Pixel Shader: 2.0
Vertex Shader: 2.0
Pixel Pipelines/Pixel Fill rate: 4 / 1040 MP/s
TMU's/Texel Fill rate: 1 / 1040 MT/s
RAMDAC: (2) 400 MHz
Amount of memory: 128 MB
Type of memory and interface: 128-bit, DDR-SDRAM
In- and outputs: VGA, DVI-I, S-Video Out
Extra peripherals: DVI-VGA adapter, S-Video-Composite adapter
Software: Expert Tool

The clock speeds stated above are using Gainward's 'Enhanced Mode'. This is a mode in their tool called Expert Tool that overclocks the card slightly. This overclocking is endorsed by Gainward and does not void your warranty. Since the tool is provided by Gainward and the overclocking is applied through the click of a button I decided to test the board using these speeds for all the benchmarks.

The Card:

Gainward's GeForce FX 5200 series cards are based on bright red PCB's, something that ATI and MSI have also picked up on since Gainward started this trend. The card uses a PCB size that is roughly the same size as a GeForce4 Ti4200 card, so there should not be any space issues that we can foresee. Unlike the high-end GeForce FX 5800 series cards, neither of these cards takes up two case slots.

Surprisingly, the card only uses passive cooling. You would think that this would cause overheating, but since the core only runs around 250Mhz, it does not pose a problem.

Overclocking:

While the chip goes up noticeably - up to 315 MHz, the memory has clambered up to 405 MHz from 400 MHz. You will see that the card's performance is much limited by the memory, and GPU alone does not boost the performance. Please take notice that overclocking will most likely require better cooling

Test Setup:

The test bed is a budget gaming system costing about $350, so it will be close to what people buying this card will be using. The cards used for comparison are sadly just an old ATI Radeon 7200 32MB PCI card and an ATI Rage Fury Pro 128 32MB 4X AGP. The benchmarks will be taken from 3DMark2001 SE.

AMD Duron 1.8Ghz
Mercury KT166A FDSUX
512 PC2700 DDR
Western Digital 160GB 7200 RPM
Windows XP Pro SP1; DirectX 9.0.
nVidia v43.45 drivers
Rage 128 Drivers 6.13.3279
Catalyst 4.3 drivers

Tests:

Conclusion:

I did not bother showing frame rates, because the FX5200 obviously murders the two other cards. Both older cards did not have hardware support to complete some tests.

The GeForce FX 5200 is a good substitute for the GeForce4 MX, and would probably hold its own against the Radeon 9000. Buyers should realize that this is not GeForce FX 5800, but only its shadow bundled with all the same functions. This fact should be accounted for in the price.

On the one hand, GeForce FX 5200 Ultra is a solid card with a striking accessory pack. Nevertheless, some accessories are not needed for all users. On the other hand, its performance is not top notch, but those who would be buying a card like this, budget gamers, will find it enough to play Unreal Tournament 2004, Halo and the likes.

Highs:
High build quality
Nice accessory pack
Inexpensive
Silent
Low profile

Lows:
Poor performance compared to cards as of now
Bundle lacks software

PimpRig Rating:

(6.5 Pimp hats)

15-April-04, 02:53 PM		#1 (permalink)
Spectrum Former GameApex Editor	Gainward GeForce FX5200 Most of you have heard horrors about the FX5200, the underprivileged sibling of the FX5600. However, here is the truth, all laid out. Among the onslaught of video cards based on the NV34 processors, come the FX5200, FX5200 Ultra, FX5600, and the FX5600 Ultra. The budget card, the FX5200 is very appealing, DirectX 9, 8X AGP, 128MB DDR and loads of outputs. This low-end card, costs a mere $64.85, and you can find the card here. The differences between the GeForce FX 5200 Ultra and standard 5200 series are simply clock speeds. The 5200 Ultra has a 325 MHz GPU clock, whereas the standard 5200 series has the core dropped by 23% to 250 MHz. The memory clock also drops by nearly 40% from 650 MHz to 400 MHz. In comparison, nVidia's ultra-high end GeForce FX 5800 Ultra series runs at a 500 MHz GPU clock with 1,000 MHz DDR memory. Packaging: The card comes nicely packaged. It flaunts a full color retail box, with some non-cheesy graphics. As soon as you open it up, you notice one thing, red. Everything is red. The card itself is red, as is the enclosed DVI to VGA adapter, and the S-VIDEO to RCA adaptor. Surprisingly though, the packaging does not include any games or bundled software. That is a check mark under cons. However, you would not expect games from a budget card. Chip: NV34 Manufacturing process: 0.15-micron Transistors: ~45 mil. Core clock speed: 260 MHz Memory clock speed: 440 MHz / 6.9 GB/s Pixel Shader: 2.0 Vertex Shader: 2.0 Pixel Pipelines/Pixel Fill rate: 4 / 1040 MP/s TMU's/Texel Fill rate: 1 / 1040 MT/s RAMDAC: (2) 400 MHz Amount of memory: 128 MB Type of memory and interface: 128-bit, DDR-SDRAM In- and outputs: VGA, DVI-I, S-Video Out Extra peripherals: DVI-VGA adapter, S-Video-Composite adapter Software: Expert Tool The clock speeds stated above are using Gainward's 'Enhanced Mode'. This is a mode in their tool called Expert Tool that overclocks the card slightly. This overclocking is endorsed by Gainward and does not void your warranty. Since the tool is provided by Gainward and the overclocking is applied through the click of a button I decided to test the board using these speeds for all the benchmarks. The Card: Gainward's GeForce FX 5200 series cards are based on bright red PCB's, something that ATI and MSI have also picked up on since Gainward started this trend. The card uses a PCB size that is roughly the same size as a GeForce4 Ti4200 card, so there should not be any space issues that we can foresee. Unlike the high-end GeForce FX 5800 series cards, neither of these cards takes up two case slots. Surprisingly, the card only uses passive cooling. You would think that this would cause overheating, but since the core only runs around 250Mhz, it does not pose a problem. Overclocking: While the chip goes up noticeably - up to 315 MHz, the memory has clambered up to 405 MHz from 400 MHz. You will see that the card's performance is much limited by the memory, and GPU alone does not boost the performance. Please take notice that overclocking will most likely require better cooling Test Setup: The test bed is a budget gaming system costing about $350, so it will be close to what people buying this card will be using. The cards used for comparison are sadly just an old ATI Radeon 7200 32MB PCI card and an ATI Rage Fury Pro 128 32MB 4X AGP. The benchmarks will be taken from 3DMark2001 SE. AMD Duron 1.8Ghz Mercury KT166A FDSUX 512 PC2700 DDR Western Digital 160GB 7200 RPM Windows XP Pro SP1; DirectX 9.0. nVidia v43.45 drivers Rage 128 Drivers 6.13.3279 Catalyst 4.3 drivers Tests: Conclusion: I did not bother showing frame rates, because the FX5200 obviously murders the two other cards. Both older cards did not have hardware support to complete some tests. The GeForce FX 5200 is a good substitute for the GeForce4 MX, and would probably hold its own against the Radeon 9000. Buyers should realize that this is not GeForce FX 5800, but only its shadow bundled with all the same functions. This fact should be accounted for in the price. On the one hand, GeForce FX 5200 Ultra is a solid card with a striking accessory pack. Nevertheless, some accessories are not needed for all users. On the other hand, its performance is not top notch, but those who would be buying a card like this, budget gamers, will find it enough to play Unreal Tournament 2004, Halo and the likes. Highs: High build quality Nice accessory pack Inexpensive Silent Low profile Lows: Poor performance compared to cards as of now Bundle lacks software PimpRig Rating: (6.5 Pimp hats) Last edited by Spectrum; 11-May-04 at 11:13 AM. Reason: Rage Fury is AGP, not PCI