Ward

I bought a BFG GeForce 6200 OC (256MB DDR,AGP8X) yesterday, to replace my current video card, a Radeon 7500. I had read about some 6200's being able to softmod to a 6600, by unlocking 4 pixel pipelines. Unfortunately, that is only for the NV43 core, the BFG has the NV44. Also, the card has a 64-bit memory bus, instead of a 128, effectively halfing the memory bandwith of the 6600.

I downloaded the Quake4 demo, just to benchmark. With the BFG card, it runs decent at 640x480, no AA. Anything higher runs like crap. I'm thinking my computer is the bottleneck now, not the video card. It's an Athlon 1900+ (1.6Ghz), 512MB DDR. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just upgrade to a new board/chip/pci-e card?

__________________

PurpleDiamond

The 6200 is not what I would choose for playing quake4. Regarding an upgrade, well it's all about the budget - you can probably get a PCI-e system (minus PSU, case and HD) for $500 (AMD64 3000, 1GB RAM, MB, 6600GT). Maybe even cheaper if you buy used parts from forum members. You can probably even overclock it if you choose the right MB and get a good heatsink.

__________________

TYCOON

Quote: Originally Posted by Ward I bought a BFG GeForce 6200 OC (256MB DDR,AGP8X) yesterday, to replace my current video card, a Radeon 7500. I had read about some 6200's being able to softmod to a 6600, by unlocking 4 pixel pipelines. Unfortunately, that is only for the NV43 core, the BFG has the NV44. Also, the card has a 64-bit memory bus, instead of a 128, effectively halfing the memory bandwith of the 6600. I downloaded the Quake4 demo, just to benchmark. With the BFG card, it runs decent at 640x480, no AA. Anything higher runs like crap. I'm thinking my computer is the bottleneck now, not the video card. It's an Athlon 1900+ (1.6Ghz), 512MB DDR. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just upgrade to a new board/chip/pci-e card?

I think you would be happy with a:

3000+ AMD 64
Cheap Gigabyte Motherboard
PCI-E 6600GT


A 6200 is hardly made to play video games, in fact, It isn't.

Its a step up from onnboard video (in some cases these 6200/x300's are built in)

The 6200's, like the ATI x300's are ment so the computer can handle light video editing/ playing, flash and VERY basic games. An addon video card also gives a better image.

A 6200/x300 series card IS NOT for gaming.

The idea if the 6200 would play Q4 was probably never a thought when it was made.

Im sorry to say but your whole PC (video care more so I would say...) is a bottleneck.

But I played HL2 on a 2000+ w/ 768mbs of ram and a 9800Pro.

Worked flawless.

Your video card is bottom of the barrel man, sorry if anyone told you otherwise.

__________________

Ward

I had hoped it was one of the soft-moddable 6200's, with a 128-bit bus. Unfortunately, it's not. Still, for $130, it was worth a try. On a side note, I am not biased towards nvida or ATI, i think they both make great cards. I just picked this one because it was cheap, and possibly hackable. I think I will start this weekend shopping for new system components, and aim for a PCI-E card. I hate to spend alot on an AGP card, only to have it be worthless in a couple of years.

__________________

turbopsi

Quote: Originally Posted by Ward I had hoped it was one of the soft-moddable 6200's, with a 128-bit bus. Unfortunately, it's not. Still, for $130, it was worth a try. On a side note, I am not biased towards nvida or ATI, i think they both make great cards. I just picked this one because it was cheap, and possibly hackable. I think I will start this weekend shopping for new system components, and aim for a PCI-E card. I hate to spend alot on an AGP card, only to have it be worthless in a couple of years.

Dude, you wasted 130dollars on that? You should have came here before buying your card.

I spent 200bucks on my card(but I could have gotten it 50dollars cheaper, but I was stupid and impatient, I wanted it THAT day), and it plays quake 4 quite damn nicely.

You could have checked neweggs refurb section for a vanilla 6800, comes with 12pipelines stock, and you have the chance to unlock them into 16pipeline cards, and overclock the hell out of them, for a VERY decent gaming card for only 150-165 dollars.

__________________

TYCOON

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125156

Start with that, its $10 cheaper and about 8times faster.............................

......x2


...........................x2

hahaha

Ok! OK! I couldnt handle it..


You got a crappy card AND!!! got ripped off.

Harsh bro...


EDIT: oh you posted before me!

__________________

PurpleDiamond

YOU PAID WHAT???? $130 for a 6200???

Dude, I have 4 words for you:

ebay, newegg, froogle, pricewatch

Next time post here before you whip out your credit card, people here will gladly help you avoid mistakes like this in the future.

__________________

Kratos

What's this about the 6200 being COMPLETE crap? I got mine an XFX of the same specs as the one above. It plays Doom 3 on high at 800x600 flawlessly. I could more than likely get it a good deal higher. But then, you guys are talking about Quake 4 which is, more than likely, a whole different story. Mine was purchased on Newegg for $70... So, that just goes to show that I did my research.

I'll grab that demo tonight and see what it makes of this thing.

I'll also use Coolbits to crank it up some. (It came on my driver disc! WTFBBQ?! I guess they WANT me to void my warrenty. )

__________________

Spectrum

Maybe it's $130 Canadian? That's like $50USD.

__________________

turbopsi

Quote: Originally Posted by Kratos What's this about the 6200 being COMPLETE crap? I got mine an XFX of the same specs as the one above. It plays Doom 3 on high at 800x600 flawlessly. I could more than likely get it a good deal higher. But then, you guys are talking about Quake 4 which is, more than likely, a whole different story. Mine was purchased on Newegg for $70... So, that just goes to show that I did my research. I'll grab that demo tonight and see what it makes of this thing. I'll also use Coolbits to crank it up some. (It came on my driver disc! WTFBBQ?! I guess they WANT me to void my warrenty. )

You have to remember, to enthusiasts, it's still crap, even if you think it does you just fine. To an enthusiast, my 6800 could be crap to them as well. It's all peoples opinions and preferences... don't take it to heart.

Also, why didn't you try unlocking it?

__________________

Kratos

Quote: Originally Posted by turbopsi You have to remember, to enthusiasts, it's still crap, even if you think it does you just fine. To an enthusiast, my 6800 could be crap to them as well. It's all peoples opinions and preferences... don't take it to heart. Also, why didn't you try unlocking it?

I don't know how, for one thing and for another thing, I'd probably kill it in the process, sending me back to my dead-weight MX 4000. :yikes:

EDIT: Turns out that that's a no-go. Downloaded Rivatuner to find that my card has the NV44 core as well, with the 64-bit bus. >< Damn. Also, this thing doesn't want to OC for some reason. Using coolbits and Rivatuner put my computer in standstill until I do a hard-reboot. Then, I am using OEM drivers which are most likely out-dated. Checking the nVidia site now to verify.

__________________

turbopsi

Quote: Originally Posted by Kratos I don't know how, for one thing and for another thing, I'd probably kill it in the process, sending me back to my dead-weight MX 4000. :yikes: EDIT: Turns out that that's a no-go. Downloaded Rivatuner to find that my card has the NV44 core as well, with the 64-bit bus. >< Damn. Also, this thing doesn't want to OC for some reason. Using coolbits and Rivatuner put my computer in standstill until I do a hard-reboot. Then, I am using OEM drivers which are most likely out-dated. Checking the nVidia site now to verify.

At least you tried.

__________________

Kratos

Yep, turns out that I not going to have any luck getting this thing to OC. I did manage to break that 140MHz ceiling on my system clock. I've effectively squeezed 120MHz out of my Celeron. I'm stable and still running under 50 C, so, no major issues. But, a 5% OC is nothing to be overly excited about.

__________________

Ward

Hey, I didn't say I kept it . I returned it to the store the day after I bought it.

__________________

turbopsi

Quote: Originally Posted by Kratos Yep, turns out that I not going to have any luck getting this thing to OC. I did manage to break that 140MHz ceiling on my system clock. I've effectively squeezed 120MHz out of my Celeron. I'm stable and still running under 50 C, so, no major issues. But, a 5% OC is nothing to be overly excited about.

Get a better cpu cooler, and then start adding some voltage.

__________________

TYCOON

Quote: Originally Posted by Spectrum Maybe it's $130 Canadian? That's like $50USD.