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Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo, Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x based on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8x  Discuss  Comment Video cards: NVIDIA GPUs (Related reviews) ASUS RADEON 3850 / 3850X2, GeForce 9600GT / 9800GTX / 9800GX2 NVIDIA Quadro FX vs. Intel Core 2 in SPECviewperf 10 GeForce 9800 GT and 9500 GT Graphics Cards BFG GeForce 8800 GT, 9600 GT, GTX 280 OCX Zotac GeForce GTX 260/280 AMP! Contents Peculiarities of the video cards Testbeds, test tools, 2D quality Summary information on performance of GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x video cards Conclusion No sooner did the year of 2003 start than January flied away. However, the political situation involving two our grands, NVIDIA and ATI, doesn't change so quickly. NVIDIA hasn't released its new products yet, that is why it is now pulled to pieces and gossiped very much about; some even mention the "cruel fate of 3dfx" that has neared the Californian company the other day. You think ATI took the occasion and attacked the market with its RADEON 9500-9700? Nothing of the kind! When a rival is weak, ATI always catches political cold!  So, while one of the companies can't be delivered of, though it was sent to the maternity hospital by its President that promised the GeForce FX yet by the Xmas sales, the other is still not able to supply the RADEON 9500 in bulk (moreover this product is still a bit too pricey).  Well, the manufacturers have no choice but to keep on producing Ti 4200 and add all possible bells and whistles. The testers have no choice but to test such solutions. Although the chip is quite old, the cards are new on the market, and we are to show them to you to make simpler the choice among innumerable video cards on the Ti 4200 (with AGP 8x at that).  Theoretical materials and reviews of video cards which concern functional properties of the NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti GPU NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti review MSI GF4Ti4600 on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti - concerns anisotropic filtering in the 3DMark2001 SE, and new Advanced Pixel Shader Test from this packet. Leadtek WinFast GeForce4 Ti 4600 on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600 - tests based on the Vulpine GLMark with anisotropy enabled. Gainward PowerPack GeForce4 Ultra/700XP and Ultra/750XP Golden Sample on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400/4600 - Codecult Code Creatures and Novalogic Comanche4 Benchmark. Chaintech A-GF61 SE on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600 - dependence of the performance on a CPU speed (AMD Athlon 750, 1000 MHz, Athlon XP 1250, 1666 MHz; in Serious Sam II, Return to Castle Wolfenstein). Creative 3D Blaster GeForce4 Ti 4400 on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400 - dependence of the performance on a CPU speed (Intel Pentium III 1000, Pentium 4 2000, 2200 MHz; in Serious Sam II, Return to Castle Wolfenstein). ASUS V8440 and V8460 on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400 and 4600 - dependence of the performance on a CPU speed (Intel Pentium III 1000, Pentium 4 2000, 2200 MHz, AMD Athlon 750, 1000 MHz, Athlon XP 1250, 1666 MHz; in 3DMark2001 SE). ABIT Siluro GF4 Ti on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400 - AA operation in the 3DMark2001 SE.  Palit Daytona GeForce4 Ti 4600 - examination of anisotropy on different platforms in 3DMark2001 SE (Game1, Game2).  Joytech Apollo Bloody Monster II GeForce4 Ti 4600 - examination of anisotropy on different platforms in 3DMark2001 SE (Game3, Game4).  S/U/M/A/ Platinum GeForce4 Ti 4400 DVI and GeForce4 Ti 4600 SE - examination of anti-aliasing on different platforms in 3DMark2001 SE (Game1, Game2).  Triplex Millennium Silver GeForce4 Ti 4600 - examination of anti-aliasing on different platforms in 3DMark2001 SE (Game3, Game4).  Leadtek WinFast A250LE 64MB and Gainward Powerpack Ultra/650XP 128MB on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 S/U/M/A/ Platinum GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB, GeForce4 Ti 4200 SE 64MB, GeForce4 Ti 4200 SE 128MB - examination of anisotropy in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter. S/U/M/A/ Platinum GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB, 4200SE 64MB and 4200SE 128MB - examination of anisotropy in 3DMark2001 SE, RtCW, Serious Sam: TSE.  Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4400 and GeForce4 Ti 4600 cards. ABIT Siluro GF4Ti4200, Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200, Palit Daytona GeForce4 Ti 4200 128MB and Gainward Powerpack Ultra/650XP 64MB on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 Albatron GeForce4 Ti 4200 128MB, Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200 128MB and Gainward Powerpack Ultra/650XP GS 64MB on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 - analyses of the Nvidia's quick anisotropy under the 30.* drivers in 3DMark2001SE.  Galaxy 3G Graphic GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB, MSI GF4Ti4200 VIVO 64MB, Triplex Millennium Silver GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 - operation of VIVO on such cards of the GeForce4 family, and performance in Unreal Tournament 2003 DEMO final release  Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4200P Turbo 128MB and GeForce4 Ti 4600 Galaxy 3G Graphic GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB, MSI GF4Ti4200 VIVO 64MB, Triplex Millennium Silver GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 - operation of VIVO on such cards of the GeForce4 family, performance in Unreal Tournament 2003 DEMO final release NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 With AGP8x (NV28)  Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4200P Turbo 128MB and GeForce4 Ti 4600  ABIT Siluro GF4 Ti4200 OTES and ASUS V8420S on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200  Sparkle Platinum GeForce4 Ti 4600 on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600 and ASUS V9280S (Super Fast Series) on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8x ABIT, Albatron, Joytech, Leadtek, MSI and X-Micro video cards on NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8x   Today we have probably the last summary review of the video cards based on the GeForce4 Ti 4200. Certainly, it deals with the new version - Ti 4200-8x. In our lab we tested 6 cards from well-known companies.  Cards

Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo
Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE
Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample
Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x

All cards have AGP x8/x4/x2 interface, 128 MB DDR SDRAM (except the Prolink's card carrying 64 MB) located in 8 chips on both PCB sides.
Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo
The memory chips are made by Samsung, in BGA package. The access time is 3.3ns, which corresponds to 300 (600) MHz, but the memory works at 275(550) MHz. The GPU runs at 250 MHz which is typical of the Ti 4200. We tested an identical card (but without AGP 8x) earlier (Albatron GeForce4 Ti 4200P Turbo).
Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE
The memory chips are made by Samsung. The access time is 4ns, which corresponds to 250 (500) MHz, but the memory works at 256 (512) MHz. The GPU runs at 250 MHz.
Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample
The memory chips are made by Samsung. The access time is 3.6ns, which corresponds to 275 (550) MHz but the memory works at 256 (512) MHz. The GPU runs at 250 MHz. As you know, the Golden Sample series has the Extremal mode as well where the frequencies are higher - 270/270 (540) MHz.
Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
The memory chips are made by Samsung. The access time is 4ns, which corresponds to 250 (500) MHz, but the memory works at 256 (512) MHz. The GPU runs at 250 MHz.
Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
The memory chips are made by EtronTech. The access time is 3.3ns, which corresponds to 300 (600) MHz, but the memory works at 285 (570) MHz. The GPU runs at 250 MHz. Note that this card is equipped with 64 MB instead of 128 MB.
Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
The memory chips are made by Samsung. The access time is 3.6ns, which corresponds to 275 (550) MHz but the memory works at 256 (512) MHz. The GPU runs at 250 MHz.

Comparison with the reference design, front view
Reference card NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200
Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo
Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE
Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample
Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x

Comparison with the reference design, back view
Reference card NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200
Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo
Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE
Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample
Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x

All cards except the Albatron are based on the standard NV28 design. The Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo, like the Ti 4200P Turbo, is built on the altered design of Ti 4600 with higher memory frequencies. Remember that the card has the marketing name; the graphics processor is Ti 4200, not Ti 4600 with AGP8x. I don't value such attitude toward inexperienced users when the first thing that arrests attention is "Ti 4680", while the font of "Ti 4200" is much smaller. Besides, everybody knows that AGP 8x on such cards is of no help at all, at least in today's games.  Now let's turn to the GPUs.    Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo  The marking of the processor is not standard, though we are already used to it. It's not indicated that this is exactly 4200. The chip is produced at the 46th week of 2002 (i.e. at the end of the year).  Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE  This is a standard marking. The chip is produced at the 40th week of 2002 (i.e. in the middle of autumn).  Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample  And here we have the 41st week of 2002.  Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  The marking differs again, though it's written below that this is 4200. The chip is produced at the 46th week of 2002.  Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  The conventional marking and 39th week.  Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  The "new" marking and 40th week.    It's ironic that all 6 cards received from different sources have processors made at the almost same time :-). And it's clear that in the middle of autumn after the 40th week NVIDIA decided to change the marketing to an unknown reason.  Now let's look at what is traditionally considered a piece of art on graphics cards, i.e. coolers.    Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo  This is a very beautiful and efficient cooler on a copper base.  Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE  The distinguishing feature of the SE (Special Edition) series is exactly a cooler. It consists of a very effective catchy closed heatsink with the fan shifted off the center (almost a copy of the reference model), plus heatsinks of the same style for memory modules. On the back there are also heatsinks for the memory, though they are smaller.  Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample  Earlier the coolers of such design were used by Gainward only on Ti 4400/4600 cards while Ti 4200 based models were equipped with usual roundish coolers with fans in the center. Now such effective cooler can be seen on the Ti 4200 as well.  Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  This is a copy of the reference cooler, though in the colors of Inno3D (by the way, it looks nice together with PCB's color, plus the distinguishing style of InnoVision).  Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  The fame of Leadtek which dresses its cards into armor provoked Prolink to make a single cooler for chip and memory on the front side of the card. The advantage is that the heatsink is attached to the memory with thermo stickers instead of clips which do not provide proper contact. On the back the chips are cooled with small separate heatsinks. It's also a strong point because it allows the heatsinks to be pressed tightly to the chips.  Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  This is a usual reference cooler. Sparkle considered it unnecessary to deviate from the reference design even here.    All 6 cards come with external processors for TV-out (Video-In).        Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo, Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  Philips 7104 works only with TV-out, that is why the card doesn't have VIVO. Unfortunately, the TV-out quality of such processors from Philips is inferior to Conexant. I wish the developers from Albatron installed the Conexant's codec considering that the PCB's design allows it.  Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE, Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample, Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x, Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x  Philips 7108 supports VIVO.    As you can see, 4 cards support VIVO, and the other 2 only TV-out. The Prolink's card doesn't have a "second head", i.e. it's deprived of the DVI connector. But if you don't need a card for two monitors, you can buy this solution at a relatively low price.  Now the accessory packs:

Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo
The box contains: User Guide, CD with drivers and utilities, S-Video-to-RCA adapter, TV-out extenders, and 2 CDs with old games.
Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE
The box contains: User Guide, CD with drivers and utilities, Cyberlink PowerDVD and PowerDirector (for VIVO), AquaNox, MDK2, VIVO adapter/splitter, S-Video-to-RCA, adapter, TV-out extenders, DVI-to-d-Sub adapter.
Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample
The box contains: User Guide, CD with drivers and utilities, WinDVD, WinCoder/WinProducer (VIVO), VIVO adapter/splitter, DVI-to-d-Sub adapter, sticker.
Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
The box contains: User Guide, CD with drivers and utilities, other software shown on the photo on the right, VIVO adapter/splitter, DVI-to-d-Sub adapter, mouse pad.
Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
The box contains: User Guide, CD with drivers and utilities, Venom, Ballistics games, WinDVD, S-video-to-RCA adapter, DVI-to-d-Sub adapter.
Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
The box contains: User Guide, CD with drivers and utilities, CyberLink PowerDirector (VIVO), VIVO adapter/splitter, DVI-to-d-Sub adapter.

All the cards ship in retail packages. 

Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo
A traditional mirror-like shining box from Albatron picturing the Medusa looking like a pretty girl. Remember once again that the card's name is a marketing trick, - Ti 4680 doesn't exist.
Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE
A very stylish package for the whole Special Edition series of Chaintech! Through the cutout you can see the card.
Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample
This Gainward's package is becoming boring as the design remains the same for several years already. Why don't they think of something more effective for the Golden Sample than just a sticker...
Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
This is a standard package of InnoVision the developers do not want to part with, though it's high time they invent something new.
Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
This is a showy combination of the standard design, an interesting picture and a striking font of the writings.
Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x
The designers from Sparkle managed to find a cheap and effective solution. The design is unsophisticated but the holographic patterns shine and attract attention!

That's all about the peculiarities of the cards. 

Overclocking

Note that: 

• during the overclocking you should provide additional cooling, in particular, for the card (first of all, for its memory):

 



• overclocking depends on a sample, and you shouldn't generalize the results of one card to all video cards of this trade mark or series. The overclocking results are not the obligatory characteristics of video cards. 

Test system and drivers

Testbeds: 

• Pentium 4 2530 MHz based computer: 
• Intel Pentium 4 2530 MHz; 
• ASUS P4T533 (i850E) mainboard; 
• 512 MB 32bit RDRAM PC4200; 
• Seagate Barracuda IV 40GB HDD; 
• Windows XP. 
• Athlon XP 2600+ based computer: 
• AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz); 
• EPoX (nForce2) mainboard; 
• 512 MB DDR SDRAM PC3200; 
• Seagate Barracuda IV 40GB HDD. 

The test system was coupled with ViewSonic P810 (21") and ViewSonic P817 (21") monitors.

In the tests we used NVIDIA's drivers of v41.09. VSync was off, S3TC was off in the applications. 

Unfortunately, the developers supply nothing interesting with the cards except the Gainward's utility ExperTool: 

Test results

Before we start examining 2D quality I should say that there is no a complete technique of objective estimation of this parameter because:

1. Almost all modern 3D accelerators can have 2D quality much dependent on a certain sample, and it's impossible to trace all cards; 
2. 2D quality depends not only on a video card, but also on a monitor and a cable; 
3. Besides, certain monitors do not get along with certain video cards.

As for the tested samples, together with the ViewSonic P817 monitor and BNC Bargo cable the cards showed excellent quality at the following resolutions and frequencies: 

Test results: data from 3Digest

For the performance estimation we used: 

• Return to Castle Wolfenstein (MultiPlayer) (id Software/Activision) - OpenGL, multitexturing, Checkpoint-demo, test settings - maximum, S3TC OFF, the configurations can be downloaded from here

 
• Serious Sam: The Second Encounter v.1.05 (Croteam/GodGames) - OpenGL, multitexturing, Grand Cathedral demo, test settings: quality, S3TC OFF 

 
• Comanche4 Benchmark Demo (NovaLogic) - Direct3D, Shaders, Hardware T&L, Dot3, cube texturing, highest quality 

 
• Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo v.927 (Digital Extreme/Epic Games) - Direct3D, Vertex Shaders, Hardware T&L, Dot3, cube texturing, default quality 

 
• 3DMark2001 SE Pro (MadOnion/Remedy), Game2 "Dragothic" - DirectX 8.0, Hardware TCL, multitexturing, LOW Details, DXTC OFF, double buffering, 24-bit Z buffer

 
• 3DMark2001 Pro (MadOnion/Remedy) - DirectX 8.0, Hardware TCL, Game1, Game2, Game3, Game4, Low, High detail levels

 
• RightMark Video Analyzer v.0.4 (Philip Gerasimov) - DirectX 8.1, Dot3, cube texturing, shadow buffers, vertex and pixel shaders (1.1, 1.4). 

Summary diagrams of performance of the video cards on the latest drivers for December 2002

The overclocked cards are marked with red color, the frequencies reached follow the sign o/c (overclocked). 

For the summary diagrams we used drivers v.41.09 for the NVIDIA cards, v.6.218 for the ATI cards, v.3.07 for the SIS cards and v.1.01.02.090 for the Matrox cards. 

• 1. Return to Castle Wolfenstein - maximum quality settings
• Windows XP 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1280x1024 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1600x1200 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200 
• Windows XP, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 


 

• 2. Unreal Tournament 2003 DEMO - standard settings
• Windows XP 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1280x1024 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1600x1200 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200 
• Windows XP, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768 


 

• 3. Comanche4 DEMO 
• Windows XP 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1280x1024 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1600x1200 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200 
• Windows XP, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 


 

• 4. 3DMark2001, Game2 Low Details (Dragothic) 
• Windows XP 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1280x1024 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1600x1200 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200 
• Windows XP, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 


 

• 5. Serious Sam: The Second Encounter 
• Windows XP 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1280x1024 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1600x1200 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200 
• Windows XP, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 


 

• 6. 3DMark2001 
• 6.1. 3DMark2001 standard test
• Windows XP (November 2002) 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, 3D Marks 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, Game1 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, Game1 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, Game2 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, Game2 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, Game3 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, Game3 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, Game4 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, 3D Marks 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, Game1 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, Game1 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, Game2 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, Game2 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, Game3 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, Game3 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024, Game4 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, 3D Marks 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, Game1 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, Game1 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, Game2 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, Game2 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, Game3 Low 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, Game3 High 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200, Game4 


 

• 7. RightMark 3D 
• Windows XP 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1280x1024 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1600x1200 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1280x1024 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1600x1200 
• Windows XP, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz), 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 
• Tests on Pentium 4 2533 MHz, 1024x768, AntiAliasing+Anisotropy 

In closing I must say that all the cards performed stably (each worked 24 hours) and have good build quality. 

Conclusion

1. Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo is a good example of combination of perfect quality, high speed and a relatively low price. But they trick users by using the name of Ti 4680; besides, the card has no VIVO or TV-out via Conexant; 
2. Chaintech A-GX21 GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x SE: the frequencies are standard, but the accessories and appearance are very attractive, and the price is not too high, plus VIVO; 
3. Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample - this is a high-society card. The golden bar showed very good results, in contrast to the old package; 
4. Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x is an ordinary card working at ordinary frequencies, if the price is attractive the card will be in demand (provided that the quality doesn't worsen with time); the VIVO makes it more interesting; 
5. Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x is the cheapest card on the Ti 4200-8x because it has only 64 MB memory onboard and only one d-Sub connector. No VIVO, only TV-out; 
6. Sparkle GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x is also one of the cheapest cards in its class, but it sports VIVO and, with its 3.6ns memory, it is a good find for overclockers. 

In our 3Digest you can find complete comparison characteristics of video cards of this and other classes. 

Highs:

• Very good performance in 3D games (in the overclocking mode up to Ti 4600 and higher!); 
• Nice build quality; 
• Increased frequencies of the Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo, Gainward GeForce4 Powerpack Ultra/650-8X XP Golden Sample and Prolink PixelView GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x ; 
• TV-out on all cards, and Video-In on four of them; 
• All necessary adapters for TV-out (VIVO); 

Lows:

• No DVI-to-d-Sub adapter for the Albatron Medusa GeForce4 Ti 4680 Turbo. 

Related reviews: ASUS RADEON 3850 / 3850X2, GeForce 9600GT / 9800GTX / 9800GX2 NVIDIA Quadro FX vs. Intel Core 2 in SPECviewperf 10 GeForce 9800 GT and 9500 GT Graphics Cards BFG GeForce 8800 GT, 9600 GT, GTX 280 OCX Zotac GeForce GTX 260/280 AMP!

January 29, 2007 · Motherboards ECS GeForce7050M-M Motherboard

March 10, 2008 · Video cards: ATI GPUs Four Overclocked RADEON HD 3650/3850/3870 Graphics Cards

January 17, 2008 · System Memory DDR2-800 vs. DDR3-1333

August 18, 2008 · Video cards: ATI GPUs ATI RADEON HD 4870 X2 2x1024 MB

August 28, 2008 · Motherboards Gigabyte MA78G-DS3H Motherboard

October 3, 2008 · Video cards: NVIDIA GPUs ASUS RADEON 3850 / 3850X2, GeForce 9600GT / 9800GTX / 9800GX2

October 2, 2008 · Motherboards ASUS M3N-H/HDMI Motherboard

October 1, 2008 · Video cards: ATI GPUs HD 4850 / 4870 / Golden Sample and Bliss 9600 GSO Golden Sample

September 30, 2008 · Processors: Intel Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 in Real-Life Apps

September 29, 2008 · Video cards: NVIDIA GPUs NVIDIA Quadro FX vs. Intel Core 2 in SPECviewperf 10