Really Annoying GFX Card Problem

Speedway

Ok basically i built a new machine and on the strength of some reviews I bought a Gainward GeForce FX5200 256MB W/TV&DVI 8x AGP Card. It was less than €100 and looked like an amazing bargain. BUT ITS AWFUL. trying to get Doom 3 running smoothly at all means i have to set the res at 640x480 with ALL advanced options off! Far cry was a little bit better but the lag with doom was unbelievable. Even when playing Vice City every once in a while it will jerk a small bit. Some people told me the card was just crappy but have a look at these 2 reviews:

http://www.dealtime.com/xPR-Gainward_Gainward_GeForce_FX5200_256MB_W_TV_DVI_AGP_Video

both reviews say that Doom 3 ran well on their systems. I'm running

Abit Mobo
p4 2.8Ghz w/ hyper threading
1024mb PC3200 DDR Ram
120GB Seagate Barracuda S-ATA Drive

etc etc

PLEASE somebody help me i just want to know do i really need a new card, is the FX5200 that bad or is it just some error that i am making myself.

Sir Random

The FX5200 really is bad, worse than a GeForce3

Doom 3 needs a good card to play it at a nice resolution, 9800 Pro minimum.

Mutant_Fruit

a 9600pro can play at 1024x768 with all advanced options on except shadows at an average of 30-40fps.

You're card however is fairly ****e. You were unfortunately misled. If you were getting a new card, i'd go with the 9800pro, it'd give you a nice bit of future-proofness. A 9600pro would be the absolute min you should get. If you have spare cash, one of them new Geforces look tempting.

A geforce4 MX is worse than a GeForce3, and is the absolute min recomended for Doom3. Also, always read the BENCHMARKS before you buy any piece of hardware. They are vital!

EDIT: Dear god, it is worse than i thought it was! That card is seriously ****.

Azza

A driver update may help a small bit.

Look carefully at the first review. The guy says doom III worked perfect. But the post was made well before doom III was out.

Speedway

already Azza, i had the most up to date nvidia drivers running then I found a great site where custom Omega drivers were up for download to optimise the performance but they didnt do much either

Azza

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD01OTQmdXJsX2hpc3Rvcnk9LTI=

Less positive review. Its a bad card mate. Your best off getting rid of it and getting a 9600xt or something like that.

Mutant_Fruit

Azza wrote:

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD01OTQmdXJsX2hpc3Rvcnk9LTI=

Less positive review. Its a bad card mate. Your best off getting rid of it and getting a 9600xt or something like that.

you linked the fx5200 Ultra Pro version, not the one he has. His one is infinately ****er than the one you linked. THe Ultra Pro vesion seems to be able to hold its own against a 9600pro (which i was surprised at).

Azza

Opps sorry about!
A geforce 6800 Ultra would also do for doom III

Speedway

this is the card i bought from Komplett.ie Azza

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=118630&cks=PRL

Speedway

I don't know whether to try the GF 6800 or go for the Radeon 9800 to be honest. I just want to get a card that will be future proofed for a while and will allow me to not have to worry bout framerates dropping etc.money isn't a huge issue because i've been budgeting for a new card but i would like to spend around €300 - €350

Sir Random

If you want some future proofing, get a 6800GT.
Are you o/clocking your cpu? You should get up to 3.2, maybe even 3.5Ghz with a 2.8c.
If you can get it up to 250fsb, with your ram at 400ddr (5:4 divider), plus a 6800GT, you shouldn't have to worry about framerates for another 12-18 months.

BadCharlie

Get the Geforce 6800 GT version and Overclock it if you like to Ultra Speeds. Thats the card i would go for but make sure you have enough power coming from your PSU to power this card.

I know how bad the card you have is. Was at my friends house last weekend and we were playing a 4 player Lan of doom3. There was 6 of us there in all but we just took it in turns.

The cards we were using that night....

no1. Geforce 5200. p4 2600mhz With H/T.
no2. Geforce4 ti4200. p4 1500mhz.
no3. Ati 9200. p4 2800 With H/T.
no4. Ati 9800np. Amd 2500 at 2250mhz "my Machine".
no5. Ati 9800pro. p4 3200mhz With H/T,
no6. Ati 9800xt 256mb ram. p4 3400mhz With H/T.

Which computer do you think played this game so badly ? Yeah you guess it its computer no1 by miles, it was infact umplayable on his machine. I was very sirprised that the game played very well on both no2 and even better on no3. When i saw he had an Ati9200 i said thats a crap card but at the end of the night i had changed my mind.
No2. computer played the game well i think due to his card. And doom3 running best on nvida cards as we all know.

So everone reading this post just stay away from the Geforce 5200 if your planning on doing some gaming.

Speedway

thanks for the help, def getting rid of the fx5200. Sir Random my fsb is running at 800 at the mo but i have no o/clocking done.i've had bad experiences with o/c in the past and might just stay away from it.

uberpixie

Speedway wrote:

I don't know whether to try the GF 6800 or go for the Radeon 9800 to be honest. I just want to get a card that will be future proofed for a while and will allow me to not have to worry bout framerates dropping etc.money isn't a huge issue because i've been budgeting for a new card but i would like to spend around €300 - €350

If you are going to spend €300/350 or thereabouts get a 6800. A 6800 is a bit faster that a 9800pro.

If you could strech another €100 get a GT. The 6800 is a nice card but soon falls behind the GT when you start to crank up the resolution and af or aa. GT is only marginally slower than the highest end stuff out at the mo. (i'm talking 4-8 frames at most!)

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/graphics-cards-2004.html

Have a look at that. Give you an idea of whats out at the mo.

Never totally trust reviews on a sales site, reviews are written, on average, by total smacktards who only want to claim what they bought was great.

Hard luck on the card. But you know for next time:eek:

Azza

Yeah best bang for buck as they say is the 6800GT and it overclocks to performance levels close to the ultra.

airetam_storm

i no u sed 300$ish but i got a msi5600xtan i runnin doom3 an far cry on high set its real cheap but not future proof but the way i c it is spend haf the money and upgrade more often can save u alot of money

Ciaran500

airetam_storm wrote:

i no u sed 300$ish but i got a msi5600xtan i runnin doom3 an far cry on high set its real cheap but not future proof but the way i c it is spend haf the money and upgrade more often can save u alot of money

You ever hear of capital letters and punctiation? :rolleyes:

BloodBath

Ouch 100 euro for a 5200. You could have got a 9600pro for 115.

Don't touch the fx range full stop. Apart from the 5950 ultra the whole range is pretty dire.

Jes-computer.de have a 6800gt for 400 euro but it's out of stock atm.

If you can't stretch to that get the normal 6800. It's a great card as well and overclocks quite a bit for about 300 euro.


BloodBath

Mutant_Fruit

airetam_storm wrote:

i no u sed 300$ish but i got a msi5600xtan i runnin doom3 an far cry on high set its real cheap but not future proof but the way i c it is spend haf the money and upgrade more often can save u alot of money

You're damn right its not future proof! ITs bearly better than what he has! A 9600SE beats that cards ass to the ground! And the SE is the highly crippled crap version of the 9600 range. Getting the 5600 would be a waste of time and money. It'd only be worht it if it was about EUR40. Thats the max i'd spend on it. Here's the benchmark

At the moment the 9800pro is the best performance/price value. But if you want toprange, get one of them GeForces, they offere better value per performance than the X800's (says me with my 9600pro )

airetam_storm

but 5600 overclocks very well

BloodBath

It still sucks


BloodBath

Mutant_Fruit

airetam_storm wrote:

but 5600 overclocks very well

My TNT2 overclocks well, but i still wouldn't use that anymore...