The GeForce FX 5200 GPUs deliver best-in class performance and features at a great price. Experience cinematic-quality effects and studio-quality color, and the industry-leading... more
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A review by sting_of_the_scorpion on XFX GeForce FX 5200 April 10th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Speed
Fast
Stability
Stable
Ease of Installation
Good - quick to install
Picture Quality
Excellent
Value For Money
Good
Advantages:
cheaper than most
Disadvantages:
older than most
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
This graphics card is a couple years old, literally, and it is still around in online stores and even certain pc parts suppliers.
I have had this graphics card over a year and even now, it is still working like a charm.
I must advise, however, that because PCI Express has been released last year, you may want to opt for a newer PCIx graphics card, if your wallet can afford it. Otherwise, if your pc only has an AGP slot, then look for this graphics card.
While ATI seems to be making a comeback in the market, this card shows what made NVidia the leader in the market (please note the past tense).
I tested this graphics card under the entire line of Need for Speed games (including Most Wanted), Quake 2 and 3 (I have no cash currently for the 4th installment of Quake), Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Microsoft Age of Empires II and III, and even Halo.
One misconception that people seem to have is "if I get a better graphics card, then my graphics will improve". This is true, in essense. However, you have to upgrade your RAM and CPU power before you can truly see any benefit - otherwise it is like installing a turbo on a twenty-year old engine.
Considering the budget I was working with, a Sempron 2400 CPU, 1GB DDR RAM, and an MSI KM4M-V mainboard was all I needed to really get things going. While I was limited in some games to 1024x768 resolution, this was really a restraint of the CPU and the RAM (I was running on 512MB when I first tested some games).
Speed was remarkable in all the games I have played, using this as my primary graphics card - in racing games, places were not just blurred as they passed by, I could actually recognise product billboards, buildings, finer details; in Quake and Unreal, I actually took the graphics resolution as far as the game would allow, and it worked like a charm.
Oh, because of the age of this card (computers age worse than dogs - two years means REEEEEALLY OLD) you would have to check NVidia's website to ensure that you are using the latest device drivers - otherwise, the system reverts to the old Windows default drivers, and while they are good, they are not the best thing to be running Halo on. Luckily, NVidia's website is organised so that you can find and download the drivers very easily.
First Person Shooter games were rather well-detailed and shading was excellent, according to the game engine. One misconception I had was that games' look and feel was entirely dependent on the graphics card, but I realised that the game "engine" had a lot to with it. For instance, Quake 3 Arena was the benchmark game of its day, but when you look at Unreal, the graphics look decidedly better - this is because of the game's "engine" which determines how it interfaces with the graphics card.
I love games, but in spite of everything, I do not fall in the category of "hard core gamer" - I am in the bracket of "casual gamer", playing games maybe once a day for an hour or so at a time.
My one complaint about this graphics card is its lack of a fan. When running Need for Speed: Most Wanted, this card got so hot, it actually made the game's frame rate drop dramatically, to the point of being unplayable. (And as a technician, my pc side cover is never on, so that says a lot...) So, I went and purchased one of those smaller fans which mount like a PCI expansion card and placed it in the slot right next to the card and set it to blow out the back - this seemed to work, since I then went on to finish the game "Most Wanted" without any trouble after that.
Long story shortened: Because of the age of this card, and its lack of a cooling fan, I would recommend looking elsewhere, however, if your pc has no PCI Express slot or if you are on a tight budget, I would recommend this card.
Advantages: Probably one of the cheapest 256MB DDR cards around. Disadvantages: That huge heatsink... Where's the fan??
I would like to start by saying I would recommend this card to other users, but I would like to make it clear that this is a good budget card, If you want the best then this isn't the card, It's good quality for the price you pay.
This card has decent specs and high memory for such a cheap card. It can cope with fairly recent games, but don't turn your graphics to max if you want to play without hanging.
I play some of the most modern games on ... ...at all, othes it overheats and leads to hanging or complete crash of the game. If you want to play the most recent games, Turn your graphics down!!
Why this card doesn't come with a fan I have no idea, the heatsink is huge, but it just can't cool the card down enough, I've seen that this card could cope with some of the most recent games with graphics turned up.. but it overheats so quickly.
On a positive note it is possible to get fans for this ...
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Advantages: Cheap Price Disadvantages: Very out dated now
Although this card is considerably better than it's 128MB counterpart, it still falls short in performance nowadays.
If you're at all interested in getting the most from your games then it's best to avoid this card now. Back when it first came out this card was fantastic, but it's been a few years since then and video card technology and graphical content has come a long way since then.
For someone who only wants to use their computer for the most ...
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Advantages: Holds up well with 3D modelling and rendering Disadvantages: Fan gave out quickly
This card is good, but its not the best. It wont compete with the PCIE cards now available, and if you do have a PCI E slot on your motherboard I would reccomend going for one of those.
However, its still a good card. It is capable of running high graphicsc games such as Doom 3, although obviously not to the highest quality.
The one bad thing about this card is the fan. After a year or so the fan on mine started making a horrific noise till it ... ...the card overheated and died. If you do get this card, look at having a spare fan handy and replace it as soon as it groans.
During its lifetime it did serve me well, there are a few good features included in the software and NVidia have done well with teh set-up menus. They can seem a bit confusing but you get used to them. The quick access to screen settings is handy and easy to use. When you go into teh NVidia control panel you get features such ...
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Advantages: value for money!!, decent memory, speed Disadvantages: can't think of any
Like most gamers, I would like to play my games with the full graphics capability on, but at the same time, like most gamers I can't afford the super high-end video cards out there.
Because I am on a budget I find this graphics card amazing value for money! It provides you with a massive 256Mb and the wonderful, fast AGP 8x Interface
I bought mine a few months ago, from Amazon and I can't remember the price exactly, but they are still available ... ...what this card offers.
When it arrived it was very easy to install and had an instant impact on the games I play (normally these are modern 3D Sports games, other 3rd person shooters, etc). Immediately I could set the settings to maximum in most games. The only game which I have tried in maximum and have noticed it to be a bit slower was America's Army, but I think it is more to do with my other pc specs and my Internet connection and not the video ...
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Speed
Stability
Ease of Installation
Picture Quality
Value For Money
helpful
07.08.2006
Did I Say £40? Review ofXFX GeForce FX 5200by
ReviewDude
Advantages: £40! Disadvantages: Nothing Special
I was a fan of Radeon a few years ago. I wanted to upgrade my computer and went into my local computer shop and purchased a Radeon 7000. At the time I didn't know the shop sold nothing but crap.
A few months past and I learnt more about computers and found out that my graphics card was not very good. So I set out to find a new card.
I visited a much better computer shop and ordered a Radeon. A few weeks past and it still weren’t in stock. I decided ... ...the 5200. I didn't want a pile of rubbish as I wanted to play up to date games such as Splinter Cell 2.
I got the card some put it in and away I went. I played for hours without problems. Another main reason why I wouldn't a new graphics card was because my S-VIDEO port was on another older graphics card and I didn't want to keep switching computers.
The 5200 has a S-VIDEO port and comes included with a cable but not the cable I like so I used ...
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Advantages: Cost Disadvantages: As it's a budget card probably speed
...advatages.
This particular graphics card is the XFXGeForceFX5200 with 128mb of memory. It also has AGP 8*. I will attempt to explain what this means.
Obviously the memory is the amount of memory it has. This is particularly important if you do anything which requires heavy graphics usage. For example video editing or gaming. The AGP 8* figure refers to the type of card this is. AGP is the latest standard of video card and 8* (where*=times) is the latest speed. Previously 4* was the standard. An AGP card should be quicker than a PCI video card.
Other features of this card are:
TV/DVD out. You can connect your pc to your tv or dvd player via the svideo socket of the card.
Cinema quality graphics via the CineFX Engine.
nView Multi-display Technology. If you want to run something accross several screens.
DirectX 9...
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Advantages: Great Performance, Value For money Disadvantages: None
...If you’re still stuck at deciding Radion or NVIDIA, let me put an end to it, ive had both of them and would like to tell you NVIDIA beats Radion hollow!! The performance of Geforce FX5200 is far better than the Radion 5800.
If you want an economical 3D GPU (graphics processor unit) alternative then don’t look further, this card actually has the ability to make your games come to life no matter how high the requirement of the game might get. The Geforce FX5200 has a maximum memory limit of 128 MB DDR and will pull you into your PC for some fast paced 3D action!! All my games proved to be much speedier with the addition of this product. It has a maximum AGP of 8x and come with a power chord which enables you to view everything you can view on your PC on your TV. It also comes with DVD software and the new n view technology software...
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Digital Video Standard: Digital Visual Interface (DVI)
Video Compression Standards: MPEG-2
Analogue Video Format: S-Video
Max Monitors Supported: 2
Manufacturer's product description
The GeForce FX 5200 GPUs deliver best-in class performance and features at a great price. Experience cinematic-quality effects and studio-quality color, and the industry-leading performance and rock-solid driver stability you expect from NVIDIA. The only DirectX 9 compatible GPUs in their class, the 5200 models are engineered for compatibility with the latest gaming and multimedia software.
This card is made by Zotac-a relativrly unknown company compared to MSI and Gainward however it was cheaper than both of those so it seemed like a good choice . I would say that offers excellent value for money, i mean this cost under £30 and it can play more
With everyone checking there pc's for those little stickers that say Windows Vista compatible, or for the gamers who are thinking about Direct X 10 then this card will eat those thoughts for breakfast!
The XFX Geforce 8800 GTX is like most of the... more
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