GeForce4 Ti4200-8X 128MB DDR v Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis 128MB

The_Scary_Man · 10-01-2003 3:46pm #1

I am buying a new graphics card and am wondering which of these is the best option for gaming?

If anyone has any insight please share.

Both are priced at 275euro

BTW it doesn't have to be one of these but does have to be in this price range.

Ta Kindly

Gerry · 10-01-2003 4:24pm

Buy the radeon, it will kill the geforce. The 4200 is not even the fastest geforce available, it just has agp 8x which offers no improvement in games.

WhiteWashMan · 10-01-2003 4:35pm

get the ti4200 64mb, either by gainward or pny.

both can be purchased for about 110 sterling, and both are faster than the 128mb version (ramdac clock speed coming at 500mhz as opposed to 350mhz on the 128 version)

Matt Simis · 10-01-2003 4:37pm

Option C: Buy the cheapest card you can now and get a Geforce FX or cheap 9700 Pro in 6 weeks.

Matt

BigEejit · 10-01-2003 4:56pm

I have to agree with Matt there ... wait a short while ... Geforce FX will be out and there are rumours that ATI will be bringing out a upgraded / updated radeon to counter it .... it wont drop the price by loads ... but its better in your pocket than theirs..

Gerry · 10-01-2003 4:58pm

The gainward golden sample ti4200 64mb appears to have 3.3ns ddr ram, same as the asus ti4200-8x. So the memory would be capable of the same speed. Still worth going for though, since theres little advantage to 128mb of ram really, and you save a lot of cash. Ramdac speed is the speed of the chip which converts the digital output from the gpu into into separate analog voltages to drive the monitor. It affects refresh rates, not video performance.

leeroybrown · 10-01-2003 5:07pm

As said above, waiting for the FX is the obvious choice. Otherwise the 9700 should be the better card by far. (64 Mb Ti4200 is generally better than 128Mb)

Aside:

It would be interesting to see if nVidia would consider doubling the width oif the FX's memory bus in the future (It being half that of the Radeon 9700).

The bandwidth from that combined with the DDR2 RAM would be something to behold.

The_Scary_Man · 10-01-2003 5:29pm

Thanks for the info lads.

Coming at it from a future-proofing POV am I better off with the radeon?

WhiteWashMan · 10-01-2003 5:29pm

Originally posted by Gerry
The gainward golden sample ti4200 64mb appears to have 3.3ns ddr ram, same as the asus ti4200-8x

afaik, its core speed it 2x250mhz, and ram speed is about 4.5mhz.

how and ever, i do know that they are faster than the 128mg versions, making them faster and cheaper.
actually, unless youa re doing some serious graphics work i dont see the point of the higher ram, and if i was doing serious graphic work, id be using something a whole lot bigger and better than an nvidia shipset

Gerry · 11-01-2003 5:01pm

what I was saying, is that the asus 4200 8x agp, 128mb card, appears to have the same speed ram as the 64mb ti4200 from gainward, but I'm not sure if thats true for all manufacturers. In fact the asus card is clocked at 600mhz memory, and 275 core, which would hardly make it slower than a normal 64mb card.

spooky donkey · 12-01-2003 10:43pm

So is there any advantage in games or anywhere is having an 8X agp card ( regardless of make ). Should i make sure my next mobo has 8x is what im really asking?

I read some where that there is little difference, but will there be any difference with future 8X graphics cards. Gerry can you rub youre crystal ball for me?

red_ice · 12-01-2003 11:16pm

dont bother with either of em...
Nvidia are bringing out a new card called the Geforce FX or the Nvidia FX, and its ment to be 40% faster than any graphics card known to mankind!

ITs gonna cost in and around the 300 Sterling mark, so be warned!

If its between the geforce 4 and the radeon id go with the radeon, apparently its better. Although im never going to get one ever again, as i have a radeon 7500 in a p4, 2.4 gig and i get 60 fps in an 8x6 res, where as in my other machine i have a geforce1 DDR in an amd t-bird 1.2 gig and i get 100fps solid in 1024 res...

Wait for the new card my son, patients is a virtue!

Its due in the next month!

reD.

BKtje · 12-01-2003 11:40pm

Got the big brother of thr 9700. (the 9700 pro).

Gives me at least playable fps in everygame i own and way more than needed in 90%.
With AA etc on it looks the bomb and at lower res performance is still great.
Played the e3 doom demo with 60-70fps at 1024*768 (or was it 800*600? (1.7ghz machine with 512mbram etc)

The non Pro is identical apart from the fact that the core is slower as is the mem but they can be overclocked to pro levels, or near at least.

Between the 2 cards you mentioned there is no competition. The Radeon wins without breaking a sweat. It will pull further ahead when directx9 games come onto the market as its fully equipped for it while the geforce aint.

That said , if you can wait for the FX then i would. It should lower prices. Fx should be available in Europe in April. (earlier but will be hard to get). It will probably be delayed.

Estimated price in states is $600ish. They are on pre-order in germany for a whopping €700. Wonder how much they will drop in price if at all.

red_ice · 13-01-2003 12:46am

<edit>snooty remark on the cards as i read over the post again

</edit>

GeForce4 Ti4200-8X 128MB DDR v Sapphire Radeon 9700 Atlantis 128MB

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