ASUS v8420 DELUXE. Where to by??????

[SnoopyDog]

As topic says.


Cheers,


SnoopyDog

 

[rawhyde]

Bump. I want one too... 3.3ns BGA memory... HardOCP got theirs to 310/640!! Tasty stuff... too bad they don't have one with those specs but without the extra crap like 3D glasses... still if under $200... this is a great card!

 

[Dulanic]

Wish I knew, Asus really went nuts with this card, and I want one

 

[AnAndAustin]

Sorry to rain on your parade guys but that Asus 4200 Deluxe using the 4400 design and 3.3ns BGA RAM is pretty pointless.

Any run of the mill 4200 will reach an o/c core of 280-320 and the standard TSOP RAM will usually o/c as below:

4.0ns = 550mhz.
3.6ns = 620mhz.

So the cheapest 4200 cards will certainly use 4.0ns TSOP RAM and yet still usually hit 300/550 (4400=275/550), the slightly more expensive 4200 cards will offer 3.6ns TSOP RAM and usually reach 300/620 (4600=300/650). By implimenting the 4400 design and BGA RAM Asus are doing the now common marketing spin without the actual perf gain (AGP8x, ATA133, GF4MX, Rad9000, KT333, nForce dual RAM, Parhelia's 20GB/s RAM bandwidth etc). By using 4400 design and BGA RAM the Asus 4200 Deluxe is thereby losing the best advantages the 4200 has to offer, cheap to produce and fits more mobos/cases whilst not actually delivering the perf it should. All you are gaining are higher standard clocks, with the expensive and largely unnecessary 4400 design coupled with BGA RAM there is no way this card can be produced at 4200-128MB 3.6ns pricing, and as such seems to be rather pointless. IMHO you'd all be better off with any 4200-128MB using 3.6ns or a 4400 if you want the guaranteed higher default clocks.

What this Asus 4200 Deluxe should do (and doesn't) is shown by the Suma 4200 Special Edition which uses 3.3ns BGA RAM and the design from the 4400. It has a default of 250/550 and has o/c'ed to 305/705 beating the GF4TI4600! 700mhz is what that 3.3ns BGA RAM should achieve, but in any case these cards are really GF4TI4300 and NOT GF4TI4200.
Suma

 

[terminalmind]

AnAndAustin How about providing a link to someone selling
the Suma 4200 Special Edition or any GF4 4200-128MB using
the3.6ns memory. All the GF4 4200- 128MB cards I've found
use 4.0ns memory. I've only found one place selling a Suma
brand card and it was a GF2.
I am currently using the integrated graphics on a Epox 4G4A+
so I'm desperate to get one. I've even considered getting a
GF4 4600 but if I'm going to spend that much I might as well
wait and get a Radeon 9700 for a little more money.

 

[Dulanic]

What this Asus 4200 Deluxe should do (and doesn't) is shown by the Suma 4200 Special Edition which uses 3.3ns BGA RAM and the design from the 4400. It has a default of 250/550

Uhhhh the 4200 Deluxe uses 3.3 BGA RAM and the 4400 design... and has a default of 260/550... what are you talking about?

 

[AnAndAustin]

Unfortunately I believe Suma are most prominent in the Eastern market and they certainly don't respond to emails. I would expect these '4300' cards to cost as much as a 4400 anyway, so you'd prob be just as well getting one of them, or better still get a 4200-128MB, even with 4.0ns TSOP RAM 300/550 is not to be sniffed at considering the prices.

It is VERY difficult to find the ns rating of the RAM, in many cases the manu's and sellers don't even know it themselves!

UK:

www.dabs.com sell 4 4200-128MB cards (Inno3D/DabsValue, Abit, Albatron and Aopen) and none state the ns of the RAM they use, even when checking on the manu's website.

www.komplett.co.uk sell 2 4200-128MB cards (Asus and Gainward) and again no luck.

www.insight.com/uk don't appear to sell any 4200 cards LOL!

www.simply.co.uk sell 4 4200-128MB cards (Gainward?, Albatron, Sparkle and Creative?), Creative's website only has 1 link for a 4200 but I believe they do 128MB and 64MB versions, in any case the high res picture they provide clearly uses 3.6ns RAM (but is probably the 64MB version).

www.watford.co.uk - site is down 26/07/2002 03:15am

www1.novatech.co.uk only sell 1 4200-128MB card (NovaTech), once again no info on the ns rating of the RAM.

Australia:

www.auspcmarket.com.au sell 3 (Triplex, X-Micro), nowt.

www.techbuy.com.au sell 3 (Triplex, Sparkle and Leadtek),

I checked all manu's websites except Triplex who seemed ellusive, how about you trying some ground work now? You can try reviews of 4200 cards, maybe they can help as I know I've read reviews of 4200-128MB TSOP 3.6ns cards.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Try reading Dulanic. The Asus Deluxe uses the 4400 design and 3.3ns BGA RAM but only reaches 310/640 o/c, the Suma uses exactly the same technology and hits 305/705. The puny o/c of the Asus Deluxe is matched by nearly all 4200-64MB cards and also all 4200-128MB using TSOP 3.6ns. So all you are gaining from the Asus Deluxe is default clocks of 260/550, a longer less compatible design and a higher price tag because when it comes to o/c'ing it just plain sucks considering what it uses!

 

[Dulanic]

The way you worded it was very confusing. And anyways... they use the same memory, it is very very possible HardOCP got a lower OCing one and the Suma one that did that good was a very very good one... Its really hard to base it off one case of each.

 

[bigzeo69]

I know of a place but its located in San Diego, Mira Mesa are. Its called CompCity Coputers they should have it, or can atleast get it. CAll them (858) 622-1900 or website... www.compcity.com.

 

[rawhyde]

AnAndAustin: are you sure there are any 4200 cards that use 3.6ns TSOP RAM? I honestly don't think there are any. I remember early on seeing some that were listed as such on Newegg, but all were thought to be typos, even the Gainward SE and the Visontek, both good (~550-600Mhz) overclockers, use the 4.0ns RAM. While I do believe there are a few 64MB cards that use 3.6ns TSOP RAM instead of the BGA type to further reduce costs, if you're only looking at 128MB cards, I think the best you can hope for is a card with high quality 4.0 TSOP RAM. That being said, any links to 128 MB cards with the 3.6ns TSOP RAM would be much appreciated b/c you know this card will be more $$ than the other 4200's...

 

[AnAndAustin]

I know what you mean, it is very frustrating to find the ns rating of the RAM implimented in a 4200 so bloody hard to find. However I know I have read reviews of 4200 cards using 3.6ns RAM using all of the standard 4200 stuff including TSOP use. The cost to a manu of using 3.6ns TSOP RAM over 4.0ns TSOP RAM is actually incredibly small, $10 tops IMHO. I don't recall ever seeing a 4200 using 4.0ns RAM reaching above 560mhz, since the technical limit of 4.0ns RAM is actually 500mhz (1000 / 4.0 x 2 = 500mhz) it seems that 600mhz is totally unreachable (but stanger things have happened). To be honest I'm very happy with my 4200-128MB from Inno3D and its 4.0ns TSOP RAM, I've set the clocks to 250/500 (where all 4200 would at least be if nVidia weren't scared of damaging 4400/4600 sales) but haven't pushed the card to find its limit yet. I would say make your choice and hope for 3.6ns RAM, if you don't get it then 300/550 average o/c (above the 4400 BTW) is not to be sniffed at, esp for £150/$150!

If I can find the time I will scour the 4200 reviews checking for any confirmation of 4200-128MB using 3.6ns TSOP and will note the source and manu of the card.

 

[SnoopyDog]

It seems to be a very interesting post we got started her guys.

Keep up the good work, and I am reading your replys to my initial post with great interest.

And "AnAndAustin" I am as always reading your replys regarding the GF 4 series with great interest. Keep up the good work it seens like you have done your homework regarding the GF 4 series,

Cheers,


SnoopyDog

 

[AnAndAustin]

Thanks, just a note though, I am in no way biased towards the GF4 family. I simply like to get my facts as straight and unbiased as possible and use a wide variety of sources to do so. There is no doubt that the Rad9700 is by far the best gfx card out there, unless something goes severely awry with the actual release cards. Below that GF4TI4200 definitely seems the best thing for those of us on a more humble budget, esp with how well the cheapest versions o/c. For those on a budget of 100 notes the GF3, Rad8500 and to a lesser ectent the Rad9000 cards all offer excellent perf for the price they cost. If severely limited by budget then GF2TI/GTS, Rad7500, SiS Xabre400 and GF4MX cards are all fine cards considering the price tags (and their cost a year ago).