On Wednesday 18 October 2006 11:14, Matthias Hopf wrote:
On Oct 17, 06 10:11:00 -0700, BRUCE STANLEY wrote:
I am thinking about replacing my ATI RADEON 9250 PRO with a NVIDA Geforce FX5200 card.
How well is the FX5200 supported under Suse 10.0 ?
Works well, but I would suggest getting a 6200 instead. Is approx. the same price and much faster in certain cases (avoid the TurboCache variants). That said, if you already *have* a 5200, use it.
Would if be worth replacing the ATI card with the FX5200?
IMHO it's always worth replacing an ATI by something else... Hope this changes now after the AMD merger.
Matthias =============
Here is the additional info I have for the nVidia cards. I don't see that replacing a good 9250 ATI card with a 5200 would be a good move, but it's your money, so choose what pleases you. ============ Here is a excerpt from a lug list I am on. A little long but very informational about nvidia. The guy that wrote is a pretty good hardware guy. Helped me to decide. Maybe it will help you. --------------------------------------------------------------- Yeah. In a nutshell, here's the deal. #1: nVidia Generation comparison (this is mega-oversimplified): NV2x (GeForce 3 and 4"Ti" series): Old best bang for the buck NV3x (GeForce "FX" 5000 series): Not so good bang for the buck NV4x (GeForce 6000 series): New best bang for the buck Pure "performance-wise," there is not much difference between the NV2x and NV3x series. In fact, some of the cheaper NV3x series (GeForce 5200, 5500 and 5700LE) are typically _slower_ than most of the NV2x series (GeForce 4 Ti4200-4800). BTW, don't confuse the GeForce 4 "Ti" products (NV25) with the cheaper/more-common GeForce 4 "MX" (NV17). The latter is the _previous_ generation NV1x series (GeForce 1/2 core). The only thing the NV3x has is some extra capabilities that make it perform better at OpenGL (and DirectX 9) software, especially when you use Full Screen Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) which reduces the number of "jaggies" on the edges between objects. It basically takes a GeForce FX5700 ("true"/non-"LE") or FX5700Ultra to being to "equal" the GeForce 4 Ti4200-4800 at most titles, and even then it still loses on older DX apps without FSAA. The new NV4x series is best of both worlds, more performance at both older and newer features. #2: Here are the typical options you have for PCIe and AGP: PCIe (PCI-Express): $ 75-100 GeForce 6200 $125-150 GeForce 6600 $175-200 GeForce 6600GT $350-375 GeForce 6800 (aka 6800GE) $375-500 GeForce 6800GT $600-700 GeForce 6800Ultra [ NOTE: I _purposely_ left off the GeForce PCX 5000 series because they are not worth a dime if you have PCI-Express ] AGP: $ 50- 75 GeForce Ti4200/4800 $ 50- 75 GeForce FX5200 $ 75-100 GeForce FX5500 $ 75-125 GeForce FX5700LE $100-125 GeForce FX5600XT $125-200 GeForce FX5700 ("true"/non-"LE" _very_ hard to find!) $175-200 GeForce FX5700Ultra $175-250 GeForce 5900 $225-250 GeForce 6600GT $250-275 GeForce 6800LE $275-325 GeForce 6800 $325-400 GeForce 6800GT $300-600 GeForce 6800Ultra [ I won't list the GeForce 5900Ultra/5950 as they are $350+ and can't be the cheaper 6800 series for the same bang ] Looking at the list, you'll realize the following: A) On PCI-Express, the 6200/6600 are cheap, but the 6800 tends to be more expensive than its AGP equivalent. Long story short, the newer NV4x (43/45 6200/6600) is natively PCI-Express, while the older NV4x (40/41 6800) is natively AGP. A bridge chip is required for the older, but faster 6800 series. B) On AGP, it's the opposite. The 6600GT is more expensive because it requires a bridge to AGP, but the 6800 series is cheaper because it is native to AGP. In fact, the 6800LE is probably a better option than the 6600GT for $25 more. C) The "cheap" AGP solutions _suck_ because the NV3x is still "selling well" for nVidia -- especially the 5600XT (NV31) and 5200/5200 (NV34). These things can be _half_ the speed of the older GeForce Ti4200! nVidia won't introduce an AGP version of the 6200 or 6600, only the 6600GT (which is almost the cost of the 6800LE, so not worth it), because it competes with the 5200/5500/5600XT. So given these facts, here are some conclusions: 1. If you want a "solid AGP video card" for $50-75, the GeForce Ti4200 (Ti4200-8x or Ti4800 -- which isn't too much different) is still good. Aim for 128MB for a few bucks more. 2. _Avoid_ the GeForce FX5200, 5500 and even 5600XT, even if they have 256MB of RAM. They _suck_. In the "best case scenario," about the only place they can "match" the GeForce 4 Ti4200-4800 is in Doom3 with _all_ of the options _jacked_up_ (including Isotropic Filtering). But then you're running at 10fps, so it doesn't matter. ;-ppp 3. If you can find a "true" GeForce FX5700 for AGP for cheap (like $125), and not the overwhelming number of FX5700"LE" cards (which is 40% _slower_), then that will be near-equivalent in older titles to the Ti4200, but faster in more OpenGL or when you use FSAA. 4. If you really want a "higher-end" card, you've got two options: AGP: Start with the GeForce 6800LE or 6800 for $250-325 PCIe: Buy a new, "regular" nForce4 mainboard (due in January) for about $125, and then a GeForce 6200, 6600 or 6600GT for about $75-175 (your choice) The 6200-6600 are not quite a 6800, but they are _far_closer_ than a GeForce FX5700, and even the FX5900 series is not quite any 6000 series card. Bob S. ----------------------------------------------------- Prices have probably changed a lot from this review, but I think the guy's findings will hold up. Good info and I think should be considered before making a purchase. bye Lee