Graphics card

  • Thread starter old.pala hellraiser
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old.pala hellraiser

Guest
Hi I am getting this graphics card as part of a PC package. I intend on getting a better one when I can afford it as I play a lot of the latest games.

Microstar 8891 G4MX440 8x card

Can any of you tell me please if this card is 'ok' and should it run games such as planetside without any problems just until I can get a better one?

Or is it completely useless?

I have read reviews on it and it doesn't sound that bad however I haven't been able to find a website that compares it to a graphics card I am familiar with (like the Radeon 8500)

Cheers.
 
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old.pala hellraiser

Guest
Some of you must know a little about this card :)
 
S

Scooba Da Bass

Guest
It's a GF4 MX, hence pretty pants.

You should be able to find a review of at least the chipset on most major hardware sites.

GF4 MX as part of a larger test on a fast CPU system

As you can see it comes 8th from the bottom out of a lot of cards.

It'll run PS obviously, just don't expect blistering performance in a high res.
 
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Xavier

Guest
GeForce 4 MX is basically a GeForce 2 (i.e. DirectX7) with an improved memory crossbar and vertex shading done on your CPU... if you can have the spec upgraded to a Radeon 9000/9100/9200 or GeForce4Ti/GeForce3 then you'll be much better off.
 
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Embattle

Guest
Originally posted by old.pala hellraiser
Hi I am getting this graphics card as part of a PC package. I intend on getting a better one when I can afford it as I play a lot of the latest games.

Microstar 8891 G4MX440 8x card

Can any of you tell me please if this card is 'ok' and should it run games such as planetside without any problems just until I can get a better one?

Or is it completely useless?

I have read reviews on it and it doesn't sound that bad however I haven't been able to find a website that compares it to a graphics card I am familiar with (like the Radeon 8500)

Cheers.
Click to expand...

It'll do for a while until you can afford a replacement.
 
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WOLFMAN33

Guest
mx 440

Have to agree with above m8 i had one the 128mb version it was o.k and i played the planetside beta fine on it .The only difference ive noticed moving to a ti420 8X is more eye candy, water reflections and so on and a bigger 3d mark of course, if you just want to play the game and these sort of things are not important it will do for bit longer .
Tho to be honnest nvidia should have been sued to death for having the cheek to call it a g force 4 at all, its more like a gforce 2 and a half
 
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old.pala hellraiser

Guest
ok cheers guys, it sounds like it will be ok until I can afford a Geforce 4 ti4800.
 
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Jonty

Guest
Just to clarify, the GeForce4 Ti 4800-SE is just the standard GeForce4 Ti 4400 with AGP 8x. The GeForce4 Ti 4800 is the GeForce4 Ti 4600 with AGP 8x. To complicate things further, in a measure designed to simply things, some manufacturers have decided to call the cards GeForce4 Ti 4600-8x/4400-8x (or similar). In short, nVidia have been really quite naughty, perhaps the reason the updates were rolled out without much fuss.

Here's a great little breakdown from Hexus.net.

Code: 
[b]Card[/b]			[b]GPU clock (Mhz)[/b]		[b]Memory clock (Mhz)[/b]	[b]AGP speed[/b]
GeForce4 Ti 4800	300			650			8x 
GeForce4 Ti 4600	300			650			4x 
GeForce4 Ti 4800-SE	275			550			8x 
GeForce4 Ti 4400	275			550			4x 
GeForce4 Ti 4200 8x	250			513			8x 
GeForce4 Ti 4200	250			444/500			4x
Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. The GeForce4 Ti 4200s also received an update a while back to bring in AGP 8x support, however the updated cards also came with a higher memory speed of 513MHz, increased from 444MHz.
 
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old.pala hellraiser

Guest
Hey thanks a lot for the info :)

Do you know a good online store I can get a Ti4200 with the 8X support and higher memory speed?

Cheers
 
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Jonty

Guest
Hi :)

The enhanced GeForce4 Ti 4200 8x cards can be found pretty much anywhere, such as Overclockers UK, The Overclocking Store, Komplett.co.uk etc.

If you have a particular brand in mind, then that will help to narrow things down a bit. If you're still unsure, just pick a few and post the details, and I'm sure people, myself included, will be happy to advise you.

In general, you'll find the 4200 8x cards come in roughly three flavours. The first is just the standard card. The second is often the standard card with some sort of video editting capabilities. The third is an enhanced card, often with RAM sinks and enhanced cooling. The latter is usually overclocked out of the box, but as such the performance is usually around that of the 4400 cards. The pricing for all three varieties is usually staggered according to the features available.

Kind Regards
 
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Jonty

Guest
Hi :)

That 5200 card probably couldn't keep up with the 4200. It does have the benefit of being silent (no fan), full DirectX9 support and a few other fancy features, but it is really aimed at the budget sector of the market.

As for the 4200 card you picked, that is indeed the kind of thing you're after. The price seems about right, as it hs been modified beyond the reference design.

The 4800 card you picked is really quite a well priced, considering you're getting a 4400 card. Quite how it performs in comparison to the 4200 card you picked, I'm not sure, but the 4400 would probably have a small advantage.

Not very helpful, I know, but in short: 5200 is good, but not powerful enough. 4200 8x looks like a good buy. 4800SE looks like a good deal too.

Kind Regards

Edit ~ Be aware of Komplett's postal costs, which can total around £8 :(
 
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old.pala hellraiser

Guest
Ok cheers mate you have been a big help :clap:

I will go with the 4200 I think.
 
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Jonty

Guest
No problem :) You may want to read a few reviews before making any decisions.

Good luck!
 
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Jonty

Guest
You may want to read this amazing article. It's a little old, but it covers a wide range of 4200 8x cards in a head-to-head comparison. If you don't want to read all 28 pages (?!) skip to the last page and read what they recommend, then skip back at the ones that take your fancy to get the detail.

Kind Regards
 
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Xavier

Guest
though if you can wait a little while (3 weeks more or so I'd say) the new flip chip FX 5600 Ultras will be available, giving you Ti4200-level performance and DX9 support for an extra £15-20 odd
 
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Jonty

Guest
Originally posted by Xavier
though if you can wait a little while (3 weeks more or so I'd say) the new flip chip FX 5600 Ultras will be available, giving you Ti4200-level performance and DX9 support for an extra £15-20 odd
Click to expand...
Sounds ideal :D Sorry, old.pala hellraiser, didn't know about these cards when I was posting before :(

Kind Regards
 
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old.pala hellraiser

Guest
hehe np Jonty, your info has been great, going to have a look at those reviews.
 
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(Shovel)

Guest
Originally posted by Xavier
though if you can wait a little while (3 weeks more or so I'd say) the new flip chip FX 5600 Ultras will be available, giving you Ti4200-level performance and DX9 support for an extra £15-20 odd
Click to expand...

The problem is that you'll always be waiting.

And hang on... how come they will only give Ti4200 performance? I know they keep rejigging the numbering conventions, but surely the next generation cards should do more? Or this just a side effect of the GFFX being slightly poop apart from the FX5900?

you mean more aside from full directx9 support?
 
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Jonty

Guest
Originally posted by (Shovel)
The problem is that you'll always be waiting.
Click to expand...
Very true :D That said, in this instance, it's probably worth it.

Originally posted by (Shovel)
And hang on... how come they will only give Ti4200 performance? I know they keep rejigging the numbering conventions, but surely the next generation cards should do more? Or this just a side effect of the GFFX being slightly poop apart from the FX5900?
Click to expand...
Although I don't doubt Xavier knows first hand, from the reviews I've read, the 5600 Ultra usually performs around the level of a 4400 Ti, sometimes a little lower, sometimes a lot higher (it changes a lot depending on the tests). Now there's the added complication of the Detonator FX drivers, which provide some quite astonishing results in some, but not all, tests (literally 20-30% increases, which is just unheard of).

As you say, the NV30, which the 5600 Ultra is based around, has had it's fair share of trouble. However, the 5600 Ultra is quite a cool card, and judging by [H]ard|OCP's recent Doom³ tests, it can certainly perform well, and should definitely outperform a 4200 Ti. But like I say, I've never had a play with one myself, unlike Xavier (probably).

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. Talking of waiting, there is a soon to be announced mainstream version of the NV35/5900 card which should really rock :) No firm ETA as yet, though.
 
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Embattle

Guest
Originally posted by (Shovel)
The problem is that you'll always be waiting.

And hang on... how come they will only give Ti4200 performance? I know they keep rejigging the numbering conventions, but surely the next generation cards should do more? Or this just a side effect of the GFFX being slightly poop apart from the FX5900?
Click to expand...

The gap will increase with next gen games.
 
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WOLFMAN33

Guest
G.Cards

cheers jonty i hadnt seen those reviews making my desision to buy the albatron TI4280 pv turbo a lucky good one lmao
 
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Jonty

Guest
hehe, you're welcome -sas-mikey, good choice :p

As for how the 5600 Ultra performs compared to a 4200 Ti 8x, the FiringSquad have reviewed a 5600 Ultra card which, well, this quote highlights matters nicely:

FiringSquad
In comparison to the GeForce4 Ti 4200, the GeForce FX 5600 doesn’t fare well until anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are enabled. Keep in mind that 128MB GeForce4 Ti 4200 cards can now be found for as little as $99 online (although admittedly most cards start in the $120 range).
Click to expand...
Kind Regards
 
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Xavier

Guest
that's the non flip chip without the raised clockspeeds... it's a good 75mhz on the core slower by the looks.
 
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