GF4 TI4400....SOOO many different names!

[yeknomboy]

Hey I'm going to try and build a new system...but i'm having trouble looking on newegg.com for the GF4 card...
is there a brand name for it or is everythign about the same?
I see all their specs are the same...
sorry i'm kinda out of the loop on recent computer parts
Also, i'm probably not goign to wait around too long for a super hot deal like ones that have passed in the summer....so, is there another store that is cheaper than newegg.com?
I'm probably going to order everything from the same place to save on shipping and stuff
IE AMD xp2200+ mobo, ram, etc

thanks for any help!

 

[DaveSimmons]

PNY and Gainward are good brands for a GF4 ti, Visiontek is supposedly shutting its doors so you might not want to buy one of theirs. Don't buy any "mx" model they're not as good as even a GF3.

You won't find day-to-day prices much lower than newegg from any reliable company, except for "hot deals" type specials at CompUSA/Buy/etc. usually requiring some complicated pricematching ritual and possibly a mail-in-rebate that may never arrive.

 

[AnAndAustin]

For GF4TI cards brand makes no significant difference at all. Shop by price looking only for the features or sw bundle you want. Do consider the GF4TI4200 cards. The are a fair bit cheaper and perf very close to 4400. The 4200 are also underclocked far below their true potential to promote sales of the more expensive cards, it is VERY easy to get a 4200 to 4400 or even 4600 speeds. 128MB is the better 4200 even though they don't generally o/c as far as the 64MB type.

It is well worth buying from Newegg, prices are good but recs, reliability and customer service are excellent.

XP2200+ is NOT a wise decision, buyting the fastest anything is never a good idea, you pay a premium, they devalue quickly, are rapidly superceded and the next couple of speeds down are a fair bit cheaper and perf almost identical anyway. IMHO go for XP1900+ or XP2000+.

If you want info on the RAM or mobo just ask.

 

[shurato]

So the GF4 Ti4200 is the same card as the 4400 but underclocked? I'm trying to buy a ti4200 128 but its almost the same price as a 4400. Are the 4400's more easily o/c'ed to 4600 levels than the 4200's? What is the advantage of buying a 4400 over a 4200 besides the fact you might be able to sell it later for a little more.

 

[AnAndAustin]

The 4200 cards are technologicly speaking identical to the 4400 and 4600 except thatthey use lower clocks, so a 4200 at 275/550 gives IDENTICAL perf to a 4400. The techie ways in which 4200 differ to 4400 and 4600 is that it uses a shorter board design, 6 layer PCB (vs 8), TSOP RAM (vs BGA) and has less power regulation onboard. Default clocks are 4200-64=250/500 4200-128=250/444 4400=275/550 4600=300/650. Once o/c'ed we usually see the following; 4200-64=300/600 4200-128=300/550 4400=300/620 4600=300/700. The enhanced 4200-128 reach 300/640 (Asus Deluxe) or 300/700 (Suma Special Edition). No o/c is 100% guaranteed but these are very common attainable speeds.

 

[AnAndAustin]

So basicly 4200-128 even though it isn't as fast clocked is still better than 4200-64. A 4400 is better than any standard 4200 card, but the enhanced 4200 cards are better than 4400 cards, but won't sell on as such 2nd hand. A 4400 will certainly hit near 4600 speeds more easily than standard 4200 cards and with the full 128MB too. 4400 are happier than standard 4200 at the higher clock speeds due to the longer design, extra layers and BGA RAM. If prices are very close get a 4400.

 

[yeknomboy]

but then when i overclock the ti4200 to the limit, do I need to get a fan or somethign to put on there or can it hold with what it has originally?
of so, what fan would be a good bet to get?
thanks!

 

[AnAndAustin]

It really isn't worth modding the 4200 cards in any way, it simply invalidates your warranty and speed returns are VERY low. Of course o/c'ing effectively invalidates your warranty BUT if you experince problems and have not modded your card then there's a decent chance that the retailer/manu will replace the card, esp if it is something which cannot be caused by o/c'ing like a small manu defect. If you mod the card they won't even look at it.

How far your 4200 will o/c is 98% dependent upon the ns rating of your RAM. Fancy HSF and RAM HS do next to nothing to enhance o/c'ing and there is only a very tiny diff between all 4200 HSF designs. Some people who have modded their 4200 with compound, RAM HS and new HSF have found that all they got was from 285/550 to 300/550, a diff of 0% RAM and 5% core which will deliver 2% perf gain if you are lucky.

 

[yeknomboy]

So I'm going to go with epox 8k5A2+, the gainward gf4 ti4200 golden sample. I know I want to get 2700DDR ram, but what brand should I get? i'm thinking about 512 or maybe another 256 just for fun.... is there one that won't kill my wallet on price and still give me excellent performance?
also, just out of curiosity, do you know much about hte gainward card? I was thinking about watching tv on it and maybe recording stuff....do you know if it's pretty good at doing that?

thanks a bunch!!

 

[AnAndAustin]

Everybody seems to have good things to say about Epox. Gainward are widely reagrded as having the best build and image quality. The 'Golden Sample' tag on the Gainward 4200 means pretty much nothing, but if you're not paying a whole lot more for it then it doesn't matter. All GF4TI cards use the same types of chips etc so TVout and esp VIVO should be almost identical on every GF4TI card, not as good as Radeon TVout but a whole lot better than older cards TVout and VIVO comes very cheap too. If you are getting a VIVO card then I'm not sure what sw you may need or if there are certain bundles to go for so maybe someone else can help you out more specifically there.

 

[AnAndAustin]

When it comes to RAM, so long as you stick to the true JEDEC type then brand makes relatively little diff unless you really want maximum o/c'ability. True JEDEC DDR are DDR200/PC1600 DDR266/PC2100 DDR333/PC2700 and that's all, anything else at this moment in time isn't certified and is aledgedly hand-picked existing stuff which is meant to o/c to the rated speed, ie. PC2400 is just PC2100 which is meant to o/c to PC2400 speed. If you go with a good brand like Crucial, Mushkin, Samsung etc then you should get more tweaking and stability/quality but generally there isn't a huge diff if you buy PC2700 to run at PC2700 speed. 512MB is more than sufficient and I'd wait a few months for prices to fall before buying any more than that, it may even be worth considering 256MB PC2700 now and adding more (256-512) in 1-3 months as prices come down.

 

[soup or man]

I just bought the Gainward GeForce 4 Ti 4200 650 Ultra XP Golden Sample 128MB (this is starting to sound like a "Street Fighter 2" title ) and i've been playing with it all night...it's a fabulous card, which i can OC to about 290/540 before some games start glitching a little(only some games though). This is what i bought at $190.50 shipped, and This is a similar card for $169 shipped. The only differences is that the second card is not the 'XP' it's the 'TV', it doesn't have VIVO or DVI like the XP, and it doesn't come with the video editing software of the XP(atleast i don't think). Otherwise it's the same card. Unless you really want VIVO and DVI, go with the cheaper card . Ditch the EXPERTool software that comes with the card and stick with the RivaTuner for all of your OCin' needs. Your results may vary in the OC field, i only have 256 of PC2100, runnin' on an XP 1800 and i got the 290/540 with no troubles.