Aopen or Gainward

[Roshan]

Hey guys I was looking at two different video cards, one is an AOpen, and the other one is a Gainward. The AOpen is $150 and the specs:

Aopen GeForce4 TI4200 128MB 64 Bit Version w/ TV OUT - Retail Box
Specifications:
Model: GF4 TI4200-DVC128
Chipsets: nVIDIA Geforce 4 TI 4200
Bus Type: AGP
Video Memory (MB): DDR 128MB
OpenBios: No
TV-out: Yes
3D Engine: Yes
Highest Resolution/Colors/Refresh Rate: 2048x1536 / 32bit / 60Hz AGP 4X with Fast Write Friendly GUI for Windows 98/95/2000/NT/XP and easy-to -use tool for driver installation Model#: 91.05210.455

Now the Gainward, which is $160 and the specs:

GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GeForce 4 Ti 4200, 4ns, 128MB DDR, Power Pack Golden Sample,
Specifications:
GPU: Geforce4 Ti-4200
MEM:128MB DDR (4ns)
Fill Rate: 4 Billion AA Samples/Sec.
Operations per Second: 1.03 Trillion
Memory Bandwidth: up to 8GB/Sec.
Integrated 32-bit color and 32-bit Z/Stencil Buffer.
Ports: 1 CRT + TV out, (No DVI, or TV-In),
Overclocking enhanced mode, DVD player software. Retail. (comes with Software and Svideo-RCA cable See pic) . P/N: VGF4TI4200T Model#: GF4PP Ultra/650TV

I was wondering, which one would be better. Also, If I wanted to buy a TV Tuner Card in the future, and I wanted to see TV shows on my computer, would I need TV-In or TV-Out. Please tell me which one do you guys think is better, the AOpen or the Gainward.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Those prices seem a little expensive, 4200-64 should be closer to $120 and 4200-128 to $140. Brand matters very little for GF4TI cards as perf, image quality, features, o/c'ability etc are all pretty much identical. You do have to watch out for the odd manu skimping on the ns rating of the RAM which certainly inhibits any o/c, other than that forget about paying much extra for your favourite manu. There are special enahnced 4200-128 cards sporting higher default clocks and using 4400/4600 board design with 3.3ns BGA RAM which tend to be slightly better than a 4400 but unfortunately are a comparable price ... meaning 4600 is only about $30 more LOL! Anyway, on to your cards ...

AOpen are the company best known for skimping on their 4200-128 cards, using 4.5ns instead of the 4.0ns 99% of the others use meant that you are only likely to get from 250/444 to 300/460 instead of the 300/550 generally doable with 4.0ns. So basicly AVOID AOPEN!

Gainward are well known as a quality manu, and in the GF3 area they made very o/c'able gfx cards with the best image quality. However 'Golden Sample' is all about a label and like the 'GF4' in GF4MX is largely pointless. 1 CRT + TVout only is very disappointing, I'd look elsewhere, but from these 2 cards the Gainward is clearly the winner.

 

[LostHiWay]

This is a no brainer. GAINWARD

 

[eplebnista]

Another vote for Gainward.

 

[nemesismk2]

I've owned a few Gainward video cards they've always been excellent so I recommend Gainward.

 

[Mem]

I would go Gainward as well,their image quality is up there with the best Nvidia wise.

 

[Wiser007]

quick question:
how would a chaintech GT20 compare to these guys?

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well I'm assuming Chaintech GT20 is a std 4200-128MB card and as such it would get my vote over both the Gainward and the AOpen given above. So long as it uses at least 4.0ns RAM (nearly all 4200-128 do) then it's a good buy, if it sports DVI+CRT+TVout/VIVO or is cheaper than the other cards then all the better. Once deciding on a particular card doi see if you can find a review on it for added piece of mind. If you want 4.0ns and are afraid of getting ripped off then enquire to the manu or pref retailer, if they can't tell you then they should at least agree to a free refund or replacement if the card isn't what you stipulated. Obviously don't say you want 4.0ns RAM for a better o/c but simply as a sign of quality, stability etc ... why you need a particular ns RAM shouldn't be an issue anyway.

As said the AOpen totally sucks because the manu decided to save $1 and use 4.5ns instead of the usual 4.0ns RAM severely killing any o/c ... added to which it seems well over-priced at $150. The Gainward is let down by the totally irrelevant 'Golden Sample' sticker, only has 1xCRT+TVout and I would expect dual display functionality or VIVO considering the $160 price tag ... the lack of either DVI or a 2nd CRT port means the 2nd RAMDAC is almost totally unused ... all so the manu can save $1! I'd look for the cheapest 4200-128 card, unless a well known manu is only a little bit more, 4.0ns RAM is what you want (or 3.6ns for 4200-64) and it makes sense to mount on dual ports with either TVout or VIVO as this adds some nice functionality at very little cost. 4200-64 should be closer to $120 while 4200-128 should be about $140 ... heck 4400-128 should be about $180 and 4600-128 $210!

TVout and VIVO (VideoIn & VideoOut) refer to the gfx card's ability to either send out a signal to a TV set (TVout) or else additionally recieve a signal from a TV set (VIVO). Of course items other than a TV can also be used like VCRs, DVD players, camcorders etc. These do not act as TV cards which are used to watch TV on your PC, for that you either need a dedicated PCI card, a Radeon AIW or nVidia's Personal Cinema. A dedicated PCI card means you don't have to throw away a prefectly good TV card simply because your gfx card has had its day.

 

[BFG10K]

My vote goes to Gainward. I've owned several Gainward cards and they've all worked great for me.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Hey that's one heck of a rig BFG10K! Have you tried any o/c'ing (not that there's much point)? How are you finding it?