UT2003 GF4 ti4200 vs. GF3 ti200 ??? (128mb)

[Soulkeeper]

what kinda difference do you guys think there is between the two cards (in UT2003) ???
enough to notice ????

worth saving a few bucks and going with the ti200 ??

 

[jiffylube1024]

For UT2k3, I'd definately recommend the GF4, as long as you have a 1.8 GHz CPU or faster. It's definately noticeable in UT 2k3. However, for slightly older games, or if you have a 1.4 GHz or below CPU, I'd say get the GF3 (similar speed on that CPU, cheaper).

 

[dannybin1742]

thats funny my gf3 ti200 (235/525) plays ut2k3 just fine, infact i've yet to have it get choppy 1280X1024 even with 16 players

then again if you look at my rig i am running 166fsb..... that might have somthing to do with it

if you wanna save money, get a gf3 ti200 and oc hte hell out of it (get a gainward golden sample like i did) but if you get a good gf4 4200 get the one asus makes- its got above spec ram andit overclocks very well

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well a 128MB GF3 or Rad8500/9000PRO are certainly cost effective considering the perf you get. GF4TI4200 is certainly superior, esp as said with the faster CPUs, rem for the added cost you're not only getting better pure 3D speed but better QxAA, image quality, TVout, dual display and your card will sell on more easily and for a higher price too! If you go GF3 and you have a decent CPU then UT2003 should still be very playable, if you can afford the little extra I'd advise the 4200-128 as these tend to hit 4400 speeds when o/c'ed ... the enahnced 4200 cards using the 4400/4600 board design and 3.3ns BGA RAM tend to cost as much as a true 4400 which isn't really worth the extra 30% cash outlay ... if you can afford that kind of money you might as well pay the extra $20-30 and get a 4600 over 4400/'4300'.

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

UT2K3 tends to be highly CPU/bus limited from what I can tell... the main thing is to have a fast system. You can always turn down visual effects/resolutions, but that mainly goes easier on your vid card. I gave up playing UT2K3 until I build a faster system. I have

Athlon 1.2 @ 1350
PC133@142
GF3 Ti200

I am disappointed with the overall quality of the card. Of course I got the Inno3D one, that could have something to do with it. I say go for the GF4, if you want a deal get the Radeon 8500LE (I just ordered that). Awesome visual quality and overclocks well if you get the retail one.

thats funny my gf3 ti200 (235/525) plays ut2k3 just fine, infact i've yet to have it get choppy 1280X1024 even with 16 players

Good God man! I'm currently running at 210/470, and I'm afraid to even push it any higher... Soulkeeper, if that Gainward's still available, that might not be so bad..

dannybin, what are the specs on your system? have you run 3DMark? I've found if I keep upping vid RAM speed, my score goes down sometimes... Kinda scary.

EDIT: Never mind, just clicked on your link... Pretty beefy dude. Do those Seagate drives make an annoying whiny noise? 15K, heavens I think DDR RAM is a necessity for UT2K3...

 

[Soulkeeper]

Welp i've decided to wait another week or two for my purchase
i'm gonna wait and get an xp 2400+ and an nv28
this should be fun seeing how/if that cpu runs with my kt133 board

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

The Radeon 9500's are due this month, you might want to wait and see what they'll do first.

 

[sep]

Can anyone point me to the roadmaps for Nvidia and Ati? I don't want to do the samething I did with my CPU purchase ($232 for a 2.26GHz...a week later...$192.50 for a 2.4B, ouch!).

 

[AnAndAustin]

sep Don't have the roadmaps to hand but the NV28 is likely to be very little more than a 4200-128MB with a 250/500 std clock instead of 250/444 which will boost it about 10% but should also ensure 4.0ns if not 3.6ns (like on the 250/500 4200-64) this would mean an o/c of 300/600! NV28 is likely to be available November, about the same time as Rad9500 which is still a total enigma at the mo but will surely retail about $200 and give 4600 3D perf but with Rad9700's AA & Aniso perf. If you can wait it is worth seeing how things shape up and make a purchase early December, otherwise 4200 is certainly the way to go at the mo, pref 128MB. As for after this, Dec/Jan should see NV30 (nVidia's Rad9700 card) and shortly after Rad9700 with super-fast DDR-II. The gfx card ball will keep rolling on and on, so long as you don't buy too near the top you're very unlikely to get stung in any significant way.

Soulkeeper, as for hoping XP2400+ will run on a KT133 you must be dreaming, very few can handle the AthlonXP core let alone 133/266FSB! NV28 should work fine in there but you really should seriously get a new mobo.

To the original question of GF4TI4200 vs GF3TI200 I looked closely at something very similar so here's a slightly modded cut-and-paste:

AnAndTech UT2003

UT2003 FPS Antalus 800x600 1024x768 Asbestos 800x600 1024x768 and AVERAGE:

GF4TI4200-64 116 75 206 144 AVE=135
GF3TI500-64 85 56 176 122 AVE=110
Rad8500-128 85 58 138 91 AVE=93
Rad8500-64 81 55 132 87 AVE=89
R8500LE-128 77 52 126 83 AVE=85
GF3TI200-64 66 43 138 93 AVE=85

This is with all cards at defaults, high detail and no 'eye candy'. Compared to TI200, Rad8500LE is 0% faster, Rad8500-64 is 5% faster, Rad8500-128 is 10% faster, TI500 is 30% faster and 4200-64 is nearly 60% faster! This will vary depending upon CPU used and precise settings but it is quite clear that a 4200 is much better than GF3 or Rad8500 when it comes to UT2003 perf. Rad8500LE will o/c to Rad8500 levels, TI200 should hit near TI500 levels and 4200 should easily hit 4400 levels ... of course Rad8500 and TI500 don't o/c much at all.

PriceWatch:

GF3TI200-64 $78
Rad8500LE-64 $84
Rad8500-64 $84
Rad8500LE-128 $89
Rad8500-128 $105
GF3TI200-128 $105
GF3TI500-64 $112
GF4TI4200-64 $120
GF4TI4200-128 $138

 

[Soulkeeper]

AnAndAustin no kt133 boards support a 133fsb but that don't mean that XP's don't work in them i had an xp 1700+ in the board
of course it will automatically run 33% slower but I am pretty sure it will run.

 

[Soulkeeper]

maybe i'll get a new board when i see the "nforce2" coming out "in force" for the "2nd" time
heh
i'm just gonna push this board as far as I can
i'm sick of wasting money on stuff
besides it is fun seeing if things work
wonder if it will handle barton heh heh......
just get me to hammer baby c'mon just a little farther.....

 

[Moishe]

I dunno what the big deal is with playing UT2k3 on a 1.2 athlon! I played the demo on my rig (heh) and although it was at 640x480x16xslowest settings, it WAS playable online and I even did quite well fraggin. I can't imagine how the term not-playable has turn into such a high standard. To me not being playable is where *literally* the game cannot be played with any success.
Not that I don't understand about wanting more... I decided not to playing UT2k3 hard until I got a new(er) system.

 

[lRageATMl]

i dont; understand why eveyone seems to think that unreal sucks using a ti200 and and slower machine.

i have a 1.4@1.567 (11.5*136) athlon, a ti200@ 235/540 (Golden Sample), and run unreal on teh highest settings at 1024*768 and it works flawlessly no matter how many people i'm playing with. And as far ausio goes...I hve a SB Live (I know outdated..but honestly it all sounds the same to me) running with the 3d accleraterated soudn adn EAX. It's not choppy at all..in fact it looks really good to me.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yup an Athlon1.4 with GF3 can play UT2003 well! Quoting from my previous post even a GF3TI200 at stock speed manages 800x600x32 66FPS & 138FPS and 1024x768x32 43FPS & 93FPS with an average FPS over these res of 85FPS! The TI500 is 30% faster, although these are quoting from a faster CPU the GF3 tends to max out around Athlon1.4ghz anyway so the FPS should be about the same. GF3 cards can perform 2xAA with only a 10% perf hit, so TI200 stock at 800x600x32 in the very demanding Asbestos BM it still achieves a very playable 60FPS and in Antalus BM at 1024x768x32 it should hit a lovely 84FPS! Since TI200 o/c to near (or sometimes above) TI500 levels it's clear these cards have some life left in them ... perhaps DoomIII will change that though LOL!