Older tech: GeForce 4 Ti 4800 question

[niall]

I'm looking at this card as a potential buy, but I'm having trouble finding any specific review or specs on it. I know it's older tech (NV28), but my needs aren't as big as most others on here, I don't tend to overclock, and I don't play demanding recent games. (I'm just here for the insights, the knowledge and the support given by the forum members.)

For all those who make requests about which low-tech card to get, the response is "Ti 4200". Kinda difficult as it's no longer produced, but one may get lucky. It'd be in my range for my new rig, at least. Then I found this:

Asus V9480 (possibly - it's labelled on the website as "V9200 S2" which doesn't exist on Asus' site)
- GeForce4 Ti4800 (from what I understand, it's simply an AGP8x 4600; the 4800SE is an AGP8x 4400)
- 275MHz core speed
- 600 MHz memory speed (Asus says 550, but it seems very easily OCeable to 600)
- 128 MB of memory
- 350 MHz RAMDAC
- VIVO, which would work for what I want (simple editing from VHS and back to VHS in some cases)
(All specs are from Asus' site, since I can't find reviews to confirm or give additional info)

It's sold at a reasonable price for that card's performance (Cdn$170), cheaper than the same store's AIWs, or the FX5200 VIVO which I already know is much crappier and had no intention of getting, thanks. (Before anyone asks, I'm in Canada and Newegg doesn't deliver up here; also, any online Canadian retailer I have looked at usually had higher prices than local stores, so they tend to not be in my consideration.)

They also have a Ti4400, but it's used, while the 4800 is rated "New retail". Normally any Ti, even used, stays up for mere days on their website then is snatched up, but this one's been posted for several weeks now.

It seems a good deal for what I'm looking for, but does anyone have any knowledge about this? Even a search for reviews for this specific card has come up blank in all the major review sites I could find. Performances for 4800SEs or non-Asus 4800s seem pretty good for content creation - not as good as current gen tech, but I'm willing to wait longer; I already am with most of my setup as it is...

Thanks.

 

[ForceCalibur]

Uh, it's a fine card. LIke it said, its just an 8X agp 4600.

 

[jagec]

looks good to me...the price seems a little high IMHO but I guess that's for the VIVO.

 

[SickBeast]

Well, for $170 you could easily find a R9600PRO here in Canada. I'm pretty sure that the Ti4800 would beat it in most things, but the 9600 supports DX9. Check out Tom's Hardware's video card roundup to check things out.

 

[niall]

Thanks for the confirmations, everyone.

Jagec: remember this is in Canadian dollars, so it'd be around US$125.

SickBeast: At the risk of getting lynched, I'll say that DX9 support is completely irrelevant to me. Also, the 9600P at that price is not the VIVO version (AIW), so I'd need to spent even more to get the video editing capabilities.

(And as it would happen, I got sick last night and wasn't able to go to the store today; who wants to bet it got bought by someone else in the meantime? They don't do holds on those cards...)

 

[Dufrane]

I believe that a core of 275 is a ti 4400. I have one and that is what mine runs. It overclocks to 325 but 275 core is a ti 4400

 

[niall]

275 core is more than 4400, apparently. I called, and it was a Ti4200 SuperFast by Asus, extremely stable at insane overclocks (315/690). And yes, it was sold around noon today, when I was still recovering from being sick last night. Sigh. Their also-new 4400 was sold within the hour after that, too. They guy said they had received them in error, but couldn't put them in the "new" section.

Ah well, the search continues yet again...

 

[niall]

Originally posted by: niall
And yes, it was sold around noon today, when I was still recovering from being sick last night.

Heh! Turns out the guy who bought it returned it the next day, wanting a 9800 VIVO instead. So they relisted it, and I pounced on it today.

They had two Asus 9280 cards: the S SuperFast and the S2 SuperFast, respectively a 4200 and 4800SE (OCed 4200 and OCed 4400). The S, from reviews I read, was already overclocked to maximum, but the S2 isn't, giving me a little leeway. I'd need to install some memory fin coolers on the back of the card since the plate is known to be ineffectual, not touching the memory modules, but that can wait until I have time to install the card.

I also found in their used section a Turtle Beach Montego A3DXStream audio card, actually a little newer (I think) than my Soundblaster PCI-128, and in any case probably better. It may not work when I get my new rig, but it'll work in my current one, it looks like. For $12, it was worth the gamble.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their input and patience with a newbie to the world of current technology (coming from so long ago, even what I bought is 'current' to me! ). I learned a lot, and will continue to monitor this and a few other sites to keep me up to date.

Now, to find a motherboard...

 

[Megatomic]

I see you have already made your purchase so I'll make this a "you made a good decision" post. I have an MSI 4800SE right now. This is my third GF4 AGP8X card and I DO play lots of games and this card plays all my games well. My current lineup of games is UT2K4, Painkiller, Halo, Freelancer, SW: KOTOR, and Serious Sam SE. Great games, great graphics in each one with this card.

:beer:

 

[MichaelZ]

you'll like the S2, very good value for money even back a year ago when i got mine.

btw, i've replaced the stock cooler and just to let you know, it's not a 4400. the core just says ti-8x and doesn't specify the particular chip. i'm guessing asus is just chucking on the best 4200 chips they have and selling it off as a 4800SE. it's a softmod 4800 to say the least. i've look arouned and the real 4800SE asus makes actually cost 10 or so dollars more despite being slower than the S2. the S2 has big OC potential too. definatly do some testing so see what the bad boy can do.

 

[niall]

Thanks Megatomic; it was a case of "I missed it on the first time around, let's not waste this second opportunity" decision. Gaming for what I'll play will be more than decent, and Vivo functionality, while not blazing fast, will actually be available, and I'll just wait a bit. It'll do for now until some years from now when I can afford something like a cheaper 6800 with built-in encoding, or the like.

i82lazyboy, I don't know how much, if at all, I'll overclock, but pushing it a tad may be difficult to resist considering how easy it can be on the S2. I'll at least look into taking off the non-connecting back plate and installing those ramchip fans, if I can find any locally. As for exactly what was that Asus 4800S2 before they overclocked it, it seems that only Asus really knows. Normally it'd be a 4400, since the 4200S SuperFast box said it was "20% faster than a generic 4200!" and the 4800S2 SuperFast box said "10% faster than a generic 4800SE!" So since normal 4800SEs are OCed 4400s... The 8X AGP is of little use in all this, of course.

As long as it works, that's all I'll ask. I won't know for a month, though... although I think I could try and install it on my current P5A, that'd be just a silly thing to try. But tempting, just to try. If it works, the OS will already have the video drivers installed for the new MB... but I figure it's not that simple anyway...

It's late and I'm babbling, so goodnight everybody.

 

[imported_Aelius]

I also have a similar card. See sig.

Not sure what I can accomplish right now with a stable OC (changed BIOS settings for RAM after a reformat and the current RivaTuner doesn't work yet with the later nVidia Det Drivers, plus the vid card has half its AGP RAM disabled due to faulty nVidia drivers that are only corrected by a Registry hack by RivaTuner which doesn't work yet with this driver version) but previously I reached a core clock of 336. Not sure about the RAM on the vid card but I think it was aprox 695 or higher.

I tested it, at the time, with 3DMark2001 and considered it safe after several runs without any artifacts.

The performance boost of the OC was aprox 15-25% (I honestly can't remember exactly) in the 3DMark2001 score. Not sure how that translates into real world performance since all benchmarks are really just for show.

Of course the difference is that my card came with RAM heat sinks on top and bottom and the RAM chips themselves were super high quality. The card's components were also hand picked to ensure high OCing ability. The cycles on the RAM chips was also lower than on any other card.

This card is what Gainward calls a "Golden Sample". It aint free. It still costs upwards of $300 CDN if you can even find one. I paid about $330 CDN for mine just before fall of last year so price has hardly dropped.

My 15-25% OC was just a drop in the bucket. You may still be able to find a few reviews where the card OCed to a core of around 350 or more with the RAM at well over 700. However that depends on the quality of the chips included so its a crapshoot when you buy these cards. They are all super good but they vary on how far they can go.

Of course it doesn't compare to a 9700Pro let alone a 9800Pro which goes for maybe $30 CDN more these days. Or less.

 

[niall]

Thanks Aelius; in my research I did encounter mentions of that Gainward Golden Sample and needed a boat to navigate the reviewers' drool. I think there's one copy locally, and the price hasn't changed. And the 9800Pro is still around $326 retail...

I'll have to take some time to research driver installation, specifically which to pick. I already have information on the perils of installing on Win98, so I hope to avoid that problem area. It won't be totally smooth, that much I expect. If only for information, I'll post here how it went, and how I resolved problems; it might still help someone else, who knows.

 

[skiddy]

Yea the ti4800SE's weren't too shabby. I had a Gainward one and it overclocked to ~330/740ish.... best GeForce4 made as far as I'm concerned. If those cards could have taken less of a hit from AA/AF, I'd probably still have it today.

 

[imported_Aelius]

That's exactly why I'm getting rid of mine, or rather my whole system. Can't handle max AA/AF on newer games.

 

[niall]

I'm used to 8x6 no aa/af. Even if I get 10x7 2aa/2af I'll be supremely happy. It's not the absolute quality, it's the relative quality change that'll make me happy.

The only newer game I'd want to get after my new rig is put together would be Flight Simulator 2004; though it's DX9 and the card only supports DX8, it's still playable, and I won't miss or need the ultra-high eye candy anyway, since my monitor probably wouldn't support it, so I figure I'm fine. (He said, hoping the upgrade bug won't start burning his bank account...)