What is the Difference in TI4200's????

[sianof]

Hello,
I am a newbie looking to purchase a TI4200 in hopes of overclocking it a bit. Now I have read tons of reviews ranting and raving that this card can hit speeds of it's higher model ti4600,etc etc.
Does anyone recommend this card? I am not that big of a gamer. I am mainly a graphic designer and web designer mainly working with photoshop,and some 3d studio max rendering. I would like to tweak it a bit for the hell of it. Here are the different TI4200's I have found, which is the best and why????

Asus V8420 GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB AGP TV/DVI-Out - Refurbish 30Days Warranty price $129
Leadtek WinFast A280 LE TD GeForce4 Ti4200-8X 128MB DDR 8X AGP - Retail price $135
Abit Siluro GF4 Ti4200-8X 128MB DDR TV-Out DVI 8X AGP - Retail price $145
Asus V9280-TD GeForce4 Ti4200 AGP 8X 128MB DDR TV-Out, DVI - Retail price $145
Leadtek WinFast A280 LE TDH MyVIVO GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB DDR 8X AGP - Retail price $145
MSI Geforce4 Ti4200-VTD8X ( MS8894-010 ) 128MB DDR 8X AGP VIVO Retail price $148
Albatron Geforce4 Ti4280P Ti4200-8X 128MB DDR DVI/TVOUT - Retail price $149
Gainward GeForce4 PowerPack! Ti4200 Ultra650-8X TV 128MB DDR - Retail price $149
Aopen Aeolus Ti4200-8X 128MB nVIDIA GeForce4 Ti AGP with TV-OUT - Retail price $158
Gainward GeForce4 Ti4200 PowerPack! Ultra/650 8X XP Golden Sample 128MB DDR VIVO - Retail price $169
Abit Siluro GF4 Ti4200-8X OTES 128MB DDR TV-Out DVI 8X AGP - Retail price $175
Albatron Geforce4 Ti4680P Turbo Ti4200-8X 128MB DDR DVI/TVOUT - Retail price $179

So back to it, besides the obvious options such as vivo,etc what is the main difference? Anyone overclock or just have one of these chips? What is recommended?
I basically just want a decent 128 MB AGP card that will do the job. Any other cheaper suggestions?
Let me know
Thanks
Frank S

 

[billyjak]

I have the MSI 128 version and have it oc/275-575 right now, it will go higher but I'm not pushing it.

 

[Batman5177]

*ALMOST* all manufacturers follow nvidia's reference designs, so the speed should be close between the cards.

i haven't seen every single one of the cards, but compared to my visiontek geforce2, my leaktek geforce4 ti4200 gives a noticable 2d image quality difference.

i would just buy the one with a good warranty, and low price.

dont worry about driver support since you should be using the nvidia detonators anyways.

 

[Peter D]

whichever one you get, see if you can do the Quadro mod. it'd be better for the photoshoping/3dsmax you do i think

happy hunting!

 

[ultimatebob]

I have an Abit Siluro (non-OTES) model. It works great, and I'd recommend it. I wouldn't get a refurbished model, however, because you'll never know what kind of abuse the previous owner gave it.

 

[Batman5177]

oh, and my leadtek geforce4 ti4200, despite coming with a HUGE heatsink, only clocks to 300/550

my friend's gainward ti4200 golden sample hits 310/540.

another friend's albatron ti4200 hits 310/530.

bad luck? or bad batches?

 

[eviltoon]

My leadtek Ti 4200 is sitting at a comfortable 315/540. I haven't bothered to go higher. Personally, I went for the leadtek over all the others because it was given the highest 2D rating of all the GeForce 4 cards. It works well on all the games I've played exept having some trouble with Unreal 2, but that may be partially due to my P4 1.5 processor. But it still played the game at 1024x786 with settings on full. Ummm, well I think they were on full, can't remember.

 

[loafbred]

Some models have faster memory, typically 3.3ns BGA clocked at 550. I just got an Asus v8420s, which has default clock of 260/550. The memory on mine runs 650, got an artifact once in a while at 670. With a decent gpu cooler, the core should run over 300.

 

[Boobers]

My Gainward TI4200 64Mb Golden Sample has a sweet spot @ 300/600...

 

[Audiofight]

Asus V9280TD GF4 Ti4200 128MB AGP 8x

Got it from Newegg for $145 shipped. I have in overclocked from the stock 252/512 settings up to 300/600 with some ramsinks installed. My previous "ceiling" before ramsinks was 605 w/o artifacts. With the ramsinks, I managed to bump it up to 610 stable, but I backed it down a bit to keep within my range of stable settings.

I second the advice to avoid a "refurb" model simply b/c you can't prove what the previous owner did to it. Plus, the added software and accesories can be nice. My Asus came with some cool games and demos plus DVI-to-Analog adapter and S-video cable. Worth the extra $20 if you ask me.

 

[NYHoustonman]

I would go Gainward, they make great cards, as long as that is a golden sample...and even if not, they make great cards.

 

[Boobers]

My Gainward was a REFURB from Newegg and cost $100 (at the time). It came with all the accessories, including the DVI adaptor. The fan was dusty, but easy enough to clean...