Identifying memory bus width on Geforce 5200 cards

[JackDanielsDrinker]

Hi all. I am in the market for a Geforce 5200 card with a passive cooler. I want this for my server at home that stays on all the time. My needs are:

1. Silent (passive cooler)
2. VGA/DVI outputs
3. 128 bit memory bus width
4. Cheap (~$50)
5. AGP

I know this card is not going to cook on games, but I want it to at least be decent. Some of these cards have a 64 bit memory bus width, and some have 128. I have read that the 64 bit cards are almost unusable in games, while the 128 bit ones can chug along OK.

I found an XFX card that I think meets my specs.

http://www.xfxforce.com/product_view.php?sku=PVT34KNA

What I'm trying to determine is if it is a 64 bit or 128 bit card. This information is seldom mentioned in the technical specs and of course, XFX doesn't mention it. I have read that if this class of card has 8 memory chips, it is 128 bit...4 memory chips and it is 64 bit. From the picture, I can see 8 memory chips (barely).

Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[GTPoompt]

I know you're looking at silent, but i still think you'd be better off with a TI-4200... I personally don't think mine is very loud, and i'm sure you can buy a third party cooler if you think so.

 

[JackDanielsDrinker]

I did look at 4200's. They are faster, though DirectX 8.1 or lower.

I even thought about putting a passive cooler (Zalman, etc.) on a 4200. But then I'm spending $40-$60 for a card and $35 for a cooler.

I can deal with the relative puny-ness of the 5200 as long as it has a 128 bit memory bus width. This computer will have games played on it for maybe 5% of the time.

I have a big rig for playing Far Cry, Doom 3, etc.

 

[2Xtreme21]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-444&depa=1 Radeon 9250 passive cooling, 128-bit. Get ANYTHING but the FX5200.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: JackDanielsDrinker
I did look at 4200's. They are faster, though DirectX 8.1 or lower.

I even thought about putting a passive cooler (Zalman, etc.) on a 4200. But then I'm spending $40-$60 for a card and $35 for a cooler.

I can deal with the relative puny-ness of the 5200 as long as it has a 128 bit memory bus width. This computer will have games played on it for maybe 5% of the time.

I have a big rig for playing Far Cry, Doom 3, etc.

Get a Gateway (MSI OEMed) Ti4200 - It's downclocked to 225/444 and is factory passive.

- M4H

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-444&depa=1 Radeon 9250 passive cooling, 128-bit. Get ANYTHING but the FX5200.

I don't know about that, I had a 128 bit 5200 awhile back, it really wasn't all that bad, let me play WCIII great However if I were you jack i'd look into a Radeon series card, because to be honest, the FX series isn't really up to par with newer games, and the GeForce 6 series is a little out of your ~$50 pricerange. 3DMARK05 brought my old 5700 ultra to a crawl, I can't even imagine that on a 5200 Look for a passively cooled 9600 series, for a few bucks more, you'll be pleasantly suprised

 

[MisterChief]

How about you do some searching and buy a 9600 or a refurb. 9700? Way better and decent prices

 

[Paktu]

I think you're much better off going with a Radeon 92xx or 95xx than anything in nVIDIA's FX series. Should you decide to buy the 5200 anyway, I suggest avoiding XFX, people on here seem to have a lot of problems with them. Go with eVGA, Gainward, or Leadtek. MSI or ASUS should also be ok.

 

[MisterChief]

Agreed. Stay far away from the FX series.

 

[AristoV300]

I'll third that. If you can still find the 95xx cards they are great bargain.

 

[JackDanielsDrinker]

OK, I will look into the Radeon 92XX cards...

I actually just sold a Radeon 9600 pro that was in the machine. It has a fan and I don't need that much power.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: JackDanielsDrinker
OK, I will look into the Radeon 92XX cards...

I actually just sold a Radeon 9600 pro that was in the machine. It has a fan and I don't need that much power.

Why didn't you just stick a Zalman or other brand passive cooler on that? You may not need the extra processing power, but it is nice to have the extra headroom should you need it for something unexpected.

 

[JackDanielsDrinker]

A Zalman would be another $35. On top of $105 for the 9600. This is for a server that just sits in the corner and hums away. I have another computer with a 6600GT for games.

So I really don't need a lot of power for this server's card.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: JackDanielsDrinker
A Zalman would be another $35. On top of $105 for the 9600. This is for a server that just sits in the corner and hums away. I have another computer with a 6600GT for games.

So I really don't need a lot of power for this server's card.

Just get the 5200, it seems cheap enough. I dodn;t know you had a 6600GT