|
 |
|
The
Remote Control and Media Center Deluxe II |
|
Adding Versatility to the Picture |
|
One of the more versatile items to be included with the MSI
GeForceFX 5200 is the Remote Control and Media
Center Deluxe II software. These two components
work together to give the user complete control of the
system's multimedia functions, clearly and easily. The
remote control seamlessly maps to the Media Center Deluxe
II's major functions and can also be customized to run third
party products as well, integrating with a TV and FM Tuner
card. The remote control works in connection with a
small infrared receiver that plugs into the FX5200 and can
be routed to the front of the PC. We've seen a number
of products hit the market as of late that offer remote
control functions and it's hard to argue the benefits of
such an item.
The Media
Center Deluxe II comes with 8 major components for
viewing TV, DVDs, pictures and video clips not to mention
easy access to music files and select games and programs.
Compared to other proprietary software we've tested from MSI,
the Media Center Deluxe II is by far the most versatile,
professional looking and useful we've seen. When we
first loaded the software it became immediately clear that
MSI was aiming for a clean, easy to read menu system that
could be viewed on a TV or monitor. Below are a number
of screen shots of the major components of the Media Center
Deluxe II software.
Main Menu |
Play Music |
View Pictures |
Play Video Clips |
Watch DVDs |
Play Games |
Run Programs |
After we used the Remote Control and Media Center Deluxe II
software, we were very impressed, but there is still room
for improvement. We found the infrared sensor that
connects to the rear of the FX5200 to be tethered to a
rather short wire which may be limiting to some users.
This, in our opinion, makes for a strong argument to
dispense with the infrared design altogether and move to an
RF based design, eliminating the need for lengthy wires and
clear line sight. The other issue is the overall
application of the Remote Control and Media Center Deluxe II
software. We must admit, when we first saw the
inclusions of the remote control we were a bit puzzled as to
why MSI would include such an item with a card that doesn't
have a TV Tuner. Traditionally these types of features
make the best compliment to a TV/Video card, but MSI
obviously felt it was still a valuable addition. This
is evident in that the Media Center Deluxe II is highly
configurable and is designed to integrate with other TV
tuner products. In the end, we began to see the value
in the remote control features, but even then, these
features are best reserved for specific applications.
We doubt the average user would have much of a use for the
Remote Control and Media Center Deluxe II with a standard PC
setup unless outputting the video signal to a TV is planned.
The strength of the Remote Control and Media Center Deluxe
II lies with users looking to integrate a PC into their home
entertainment system. In a situation like this, the
Remote Control and Media Center Deluxe II software is well
suited and an invaluable convenience. The only thing
missing is video-in capabilities which would balance out the
package a bit.
|
|
|
HotHardware Test Systems |
|
AMD
All The Way |
|
|
MSI
GeForceFX 5200
Detonator 43.45
ATI All-in-Wonder 9000 Pro
Catalyst Driver 3.2
AMD AthlonXP 2100+
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
512MB PC2700 RDRAM
Western Digital 30GB
ATA-100 7200RPM Hard Drive
Creative 52X C-DROM
Windows XP Pro SP-1
DirectX 9.0a
|
Methodology:
We chose to test the MSI GeForceFX 5200 on the
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
with an
Athlon XP 2100+.
The first thing we did when configuring this system was
enter the BIOS and "Load Optimized Defaults". We
then configured the Memory CAS Latency and other memory
timings to be set by the SPD. The hard drive was
formatted, and Windows XP Professional w/ SP1 was
installed. After the Windows installation was complete,
we installed the nForce chipset drivers and then hit the
Windows Update site. We downloaded all of the
available updates, with the exception of the ones
related to Windows Messenger. Then we installed all of
the necessary drivers for the rest of our components,
disabling and removing Windows Messenger.
Auto-Updating and System Restore was also disabled, and
we set up a 768MB permanent page file. Lastly, we
set Windows XP?s Visual Effects to "best performance",
installed all of the benchmarking software, defragged
the hard drive and ran all of the tests at the CPU's
default clock speed. For comparison, the scores of
the GeforceFX 5200 were compared to those of an
ATi All-Wonder-Radeon 9000 Pro.
|
|
|
|
FuterMark's 3DMark03 |
|
Direct X 9 Benchmark |
|
Lately there
have been some questions as to how NVIDIA drivers function
with FutureMark's 3DMark03. Each side has their own
take on the issue but in the end it is you and I who have to
deal with the doubts on the accuracy of the benchmark.
These questions were serious enough for FutureMark to issue
a patch to insure that the scores were accurate which was
followed by a response from NVIDIA. It is unfortunate
that this has occurred, but until this situation is resolved
the best we can do as reviewers is to make sure the software
we test is current and have faith that the scores are fair
and accurate.
All in all, the
MSI GeForce FX5200 TDR128 put up a fair score, but until we
get more value based DirectX 9 hardware in our labs, we have
little to compare it to. Next we'll jump into more
familiar territory with some of our trusted DirectX and
OpenGL benchmarks.
3DMark2001SE and UT2003
|
