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More
Quake III |
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2X
FSAA & Maximum Anisotropic Filtering |
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In our last
Quake 3 test, we left the Anti Aliasing settings at 2x and
set the Anisotropic filtering to maximum. This
combination offers decent picture quality while keeping the
hit to performance reasonable.
At the
conclusion of this benchmark we found the performance of the
MSI GeForce FX 5200 TDR128 to be pretty good. While
enabling Anisotropic filtering on top of 2X anti aliasing,
we saw a 14FPS drop in performance at 1024x768, maintaining
triple digit frame rates. When the resolution was
increased to 1280x1024, we saw a lesser decline equalling
roughly 4 frames, managing to keep ahead of the minimum 60
FPS threshold.
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Serious Sam-TSE |
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Causing a "Little Trouble" |
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Another
excellent OpenGL benchmark is Serious Sam The Second
Encounter. This is one of the few games that can be
configured to run under OpenGL or DirectX, although we find
it to be more suited for OpenGL testing. This is a
fairly intensive test that severely taxes a video card even
at lesser resolutions. In this round of tests, we
opted to run the benchmark at 1024x768 and 1280x1024.
Scripts were run to insure both cards were run with the same
settings.
It seems as
though Serious Sam was a "serious" challenge for the GeForce
FX5200. At 1024 the card wasn't capable of breaking
triple digit frame rates as the Radeon 9000 Pro could.
As we increased the resolution to 1280x1024, the performance
hit was even more severe, dropping below the 60 FPS minimum.
Keep in mind these tests were run with Maximum Quality
settings and would certainly improve with a "Normal Quality"
setting.
From a
performance perspective, the MSI GeForce FX5200 TDR128
shaped up to be a decent low cost video card.
Throughout our tests the card maintained respectable scores
for an entry level product, proving it to be a capable
little card. When we take into account the hefty
bundle of software and hardware that accompanies this
graphics card, the overall package is quite attractive.
MSI is clearly focusing on giving a lot of value for the
money with an impressive bundle of software and remote
control. While we did have mixed feelings as to the
usefulness of the remote except under specific
circumstances, we think in the end it will be up to the
individual. When tested, the remote control worked
quite well and the Media Center Deluxe II software was
extremely functional and easy to use. We also found
the price point attractive as well.
We looked
up the MSI GeForce FX5200 TDR128 on pricewatch and found the
card selling for a little over $100. That's a very
affordable price for a card with so many extras. We
found Radeon 9000s selling in the $75 price range, but they
don't include a remote control nor AGP 8X and entry level
DirectX 9 support.
From a "budget" perspective, we give
the MSI GeForce FX5200 TDR128 a Hot Hardware Heat Meter
rating of a 8.5
HotHardware's PC Hardware Forum is all the rage! Are
you in?
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