help me choose please

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Thu Dec 12, 2002 11:28 pm

I am stuck between choosing a GeForce 4 Ti 4600 and 4200, I don't know which one to choose. Although money is a consideration, but I would like to buy the one that's worth the most of my money. Thinking that most of you guys here are very informed, which one should I buy to get the most bang out of my buck? I am a gamer, and I want good performance on my games. So if you have any experience or have either a 4200 or 4600, please give me some suggestions. Thank you.

smass · Post by **smass** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 8:00 am

Just checked price watch to see what the going rate is. Looks like you can have a TI 4200 64mb for $113 and a TI 4600 for $210.

Heres my theory whenever I buy new hardware (which is often). I always go for the component that is not the newest and greatest - but that will play current games at the highest levels of performance. With this in mind I bought a TI4200 64mb about 3 months ago for $150.

I upgrade my video card about every year - I figured that I could get a good 12 months out of the TI4200 - and then move up to an 8X AGP card - probably next generation Nvidia chip when I upgrade my MB and processor next year.

That being said - the price of the TI4600 has come down considerably in the last few months. If I way buying now I would seriously consider the TI4600 - the extra memory and faster clock speed would be attractive for the $100 extra. I would definitely not look to the ATI 9700 pro - its still too expensive. In the end - for my money - I would still buy the TI4200 - the price is great and it will power your games for a good 12 months or so.

So - if price is a big concern (and when the heck isn't it

)- go with the 4200 - and save the $100 or so for an upgrade next year.

My two cents.

smass · Post by **smass** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 8:06 am

One more thing - just be sure you have adequate system specs - at least an Athlon 1.0 ghz or a Pentium 4. If not - consider upgrading your mb and processor as well. You can get an Athlon XP2000 and motherboard for less than $120 - gotta love that!

Which means you could get the 4200 and a MB/processor/ram - for only a little more than a 4600 - and for less than a 9700pro by itself!

Factor in selling your old mb/cpu/memory on ebay - and you got yourself a square deal brotha!

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 8:13 am

How long are you going to keep this card in service? I have a Visiontek Xtasy GeForce4 Ti 4200 (128 MB DDR RAM) and I expect that it will serve me well for at least two years. Our friend Mr Sleep says that most games don't use the full capabilities of the 4X AGP bus, and he's right.

One thing to consider is that hardware developments almost always outpace software because it takes less time to put more transistors on a chip than it takes to write software code. I was playing NWN on my old Rage Fury Pro card and had very few video issues, and even though I had to dial back some of the effects, its performance was still acceptable.

It is my opinion that the best card, bang for buck, is the GeForce4 Ti 4200, but I would also get the 128 MB version (becasue I believe that more memory is better). I was at Best Buy the day after Turkey Day and they had an Asylum GeForce4 Ti 4200 for $199 with $110 in rebates. I still have yet to see a GeForce4 Ti 4600 retail for less than $300, but unless it comes down into the $250 range, I believe that you're better off spending your money on the GeForce4 Ti 4200.

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 2:06 pm

Thanks for the advice, and here's my the new comp I will be getting

P4 2.4 Ghz
Shuttle AS45 motherboard
512 PC2100 Pc266 MB RAM
60 GB HD
GeForce4 Ti 4200 128 RAM

Also, another thing is, is there a significant or noticeable performance improvement between 4X AGP and 8X AGP? I am buying a 8X AGP motherboard so that I can upgrade in the future, but I am curious about the improvements.

smass · Post by **smass** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 2:20 pm

Currently there is not software that I am aware of that takes advantage of the 8x pipeline - that being said - If I were buying a new MB today I would absolutely want it.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 2:28 pm

A small question, what is the speed of your hard disk is it 7200 and what brand as well.

I got a TI4200 and I have not been dissapointed at all, you could always go for the TI4400 which might be cheaper but it is more or less the same card as the 4600 it just has a few less features.

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 4:47 pm

Mr. Sleep:
It's a Maxtor 7200 RMP ATA 133

Ok, thx for the advices, I'll be choosing the Ti 4200 then. Hopefully my new comp can handle Doom 3.

KidD01 · Post by **KidD01** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 5:53 pm

Originally posted by humanflyz
<SNIP>Doom 3.

Dude that game has not being released officially unless you're playing it as beta tester.

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 9:03 pm

@Kid:

No, I don't have it, but I am saying that I wish that my computer can play Doom 3 once it comes out.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Sun Dec 15, 2002 5:46 pm

Nice Hard Disk

Doom 3 is the impossible dream, apparently it will work on the X-Box but everyone also reckons it needs an ATI 10'000 to run it or a GeForce 20, to be honest Doom 3 will have the normal tone down features that all games have and all this crap Carmack has been coming out with has probably much to do with his affiliation with ATI as anything.

I say buy a TI4200 cheap for the time being and when Doom 3 comes out make a choice then, you might save a few hundred that way since you wont be stiffed when Doom 3 comes out.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Sun Dec 15, 2002 7:51 pm

Get the Ti 4400. Its almost identical to the 4600 and cheaper. Definetely the best value.

As for Doom 3, I believe in the E3 they ran it with some ATI (9700 I believe) and it ran well. Geforce 4 ti series will run it fine, Geforce 3 should be able too have it at a pretty good frame rate. ATI 8000 + should be fine for decent to good frame rate. You'll probably need 64 vmb and more, 32 vmb probably won't cut it. A Geforce 4MX will barely run it, same with a Geforce 3 - 64 vbram.

What type of graphics card do you have right now? If its a Geforce 4MX or Geforce 2 and lower, and you don't plan on getting some high powered game till Doom 3, (such as Unreal 2), then keep your current card and buy ATI 9700 Pro when it goes down.

The best card for Doom 3 would be an ATI 9700 pro or a Geforce FX. Lowest probably with low frames per sec and all, will be a Geforce 4 MX, and maybe a Geforce 2 Ti 64 vbram (Both are about the same).

This site says a Geforce 1 and Radeon 7500 are the absolute mininum, in other words you won't get anything. Going further, Geforce 2/Geforce 4 MX will do it ok, and it should be on full impact with a Geforce 3 and above.

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Sun Dec 15, 2002 10:27 pm

@Thorin:

Uhh, I am so embarrased to say this, but my video card is onboard, it's PCI 4 MB, so you can imagine the horror. So anything, and it is probably anything, will be better than my current card.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Mon Dec 16, 2002 6:23 pm

Can you do anything with??? Internet explorer is probably the most it can take.

Definetely get the ti 4400. I thought your machine may have 32 vbram atleast, guess not.

If that were true I would have said to keep it for a while and then get a Geforce FX if it is cheap, probably not, but then get the ATI 9700 pro b/c it would have gone down when the Geforce FX comes out (sicen the FX is supposedly a million times better).

Get the Ti 4400 or ATI 8500. I like Geforces, they work better with machines for some reason. You may be tempted by the ATI because on paper it looks better, but it isn't supposed to be any better in real life.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Mon Dec 16, 2002 9:09 pm

Originally posted by ThorinOakensfield
You may be tempted by the ATI because on paper it looks better, but it isn't supposed to be any better in real life.

Another thing to consider is ATI's historically bad driver support. They make a good card, but the words "good", "driver" and "updates" are never used in the same sentence as "ATI".

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Mon Dec 16, 2002 9:15 pm

@Thorin:

I can't keep it any longer, because if I do, I swear I'll go mad. Anyways, I probably won't get the next GeForce when it comes out, because I am not the type to buy the supposedly best technology right when it comes out. I'll be happy with a Ti 4200, for now.