Radeon 9200 vs. GF FX5200

[Chu]

Hello all. I am looking to buy a video card that is significantly faster then my 3+ year old Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO to tide me over until I drop $300 or so on one when HL2/Doom3 come out. Over at newegg, I noticed the Radeon9200 and GF FX 5200 128MB models are both sitting at $62. The problem is, I can't find any benchmarks out there that compare these two card.
My first concern is video quality. I run 1200x1600, and have returned 2 video cards in the last 3 years since the video quality wasn't up to the standard of my original video card. Will this be a 3rd?
Secondly, is this upgrade even worth it? The two reasons I want to up grade are C&C Generals and Sim City 4000. At 800x600, my card chugs on SC4K, and chugs on Generals when the action gets intense. This is especially bad with Generals since when you start chugging, everyone else does too.
And finally, which is faster? I have zero problems overclocking either of them, if one of them has significant headroom to work with.

Thanks in advance,

-Chu

P.S. - CPU/Memory is not an issue. I do a ton of encoding on this computer so I am pretty much forced on the upgrade treadmill there

 

[Kaiser__Sose]

i think you'd be much better off buying a used GF3 from the forums or a 9100/8500 in that price range..
add a few more $$ and get a gf4 ti4200.. and that's blow everythning else away.

 

[Chu]

Originally posted by: Kaiser__Sose
i think you'd be much better off buying a used GF3 from the forums or a 9100/8500 in that price range..
add a few more $$ and get a gf4 ti4200.. and that's blow everythning else away.

How much do ti4200's go for used? The cheapest ti4200 on newnegg is $120, quite a bit more, and GF3's are pretty hard to find (though I haven't checked pricewatch yet . . .)

-Chu

 

[ponyo]

You can get new Gainward 64meg Ti4200 for $81 shipped at Gameve.com

 

[Blastman]

Here's a review ...5200 vs 9200 ...

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDkwLDE=

 

[Blastman]

You can get a 128MB 9100 at Newegg for $71 with free shipping. 9100 would be much better than the 5200/9200.

newegg

 

[Kaiser__Sose]

Originally posted by: Chu

Originally posted by: Kaiser__Sose
i think you'd be much better off buying a used GF3 from the forums or a 9100/8500 in that price range..
add a few more $$ and get a gf4 ti4200.. and that's blow everythning else away.

How much do ti4200's go for used? The cheapest ti4200 on newnegg is $120, quite a bit more, and GF3's are pretty hard to find (though I haven't checked pricewatch yet . . .)

-Chu

check the for sale forums.. the GF3's are about $50.. ti4200's about $90

 

[modedepe]

You can get a used ti4200 128mb for $70 sometimes in the fs forum or in the newegg refurb section. Granted either a 9200 or a fx5200 would still be a huge upgrade from your current card, but a ti4200 would blow those both away and is a much better bang for the buck.

 

[Pudgygiant]

My vote is for a ti4200. You'll definitely be satisfied. Correct me if I'm wrong, but ti4200 can hold with, if not in front, of 5600, and very close to 5600 ultra, right? (dx8.1-wise, of course.)

 

[Chu]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I should be in the market for a ti4200. My question is, is 64mb sufficent, or should I really be looking out for the 128mb model? There seems to be $20 price difference, which in this price range is fairly significant.

-Chu