NVIDIA GeForce 6200 with TurboCache
Summary & Conclusion
Summary: Neither of the GeForce 6200's with TurboCache technology performed at very high-levels in any of our benchmarks, but these cards aren't all about performance. They're about bringing true DX9 class features, with PS 3.0 support, to a very affordable price point. There is something we should mention about performance, however, especially considering the measurable performance hits the 6200's took with AA enabled. Here's a quote from NVIDIA that explains what was happening...
"The 6200 with TurboCache was designed for the mainstream user. Because of this we made some architectural design decisions such as not supporting color and z-compression. This is not a TurboCache limitation. This was a conscious design decision as most mainstream users play at medium resolutions with little or no filtering. In addition, there is also a known bug in the current ForceWare driver that effects AA performance. NVIDIA engineering is aware of this bug and is working on a fix now for a future driver release that will substantially increase filtering performance."
NVIDIA's new GeForce 6200 with TurboCache succeeds on a couple of different levels. First, it brings the very same feature set found on the flagship GeForce 6800 Ultra down to a very affordable price point. Technically speaking the GeForce 6200 with TurboCache has perhaps even more features than the 6800, with its revamped video engine and TurboCache technology. And by bringing the GeForce 6 series' feature set to virtually every price point, NVIDIA gives developers more incentive to produce games that use DX9 features, like Pixel Shader 3.0, for example. The GeForce 6200 with TurboCache is also a very power efficient design that surpasses the capabilities of virtually all integrated graphics processors. Non-gamers looking to upgrade from an IGP without spending a fortune would be well served by a GeForce 6200 with TurboCache, especially if they're main interests lie in digital video. And, as we learned in testing the GeForce 6200 with TurboCache, even though it's gaming performance isn't all that impressive for serious gamers, it is completely capable of running even today's most demanding games and rending the scenes properly. Turn the detail settings down and lower the resolution and the GeForce 6200 with TurboCache will make due for a casual stint of Doom 3 or Half Life 2. You can expect GeForce 6200 cards with TurboCache technology to arrive in the next few weeks with price points ranging from $79 for the GeForce 6200 TurboCache 16-TC/128MB, on up to about $129 for a 64MB card. The GeForce 6200 TurboCache 32-TC/128MB version will debut at about $99.
