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- Date:
- Wednesday, July 10, 2002
- Author:
- Steve Lynch
- Editor:
- Sean Quinn
- Google +1
MSI GeForce4 Ti4200
In a sea of budget video cards, the Ti4200 is the big fish we are all looking to land. But with so many fish in the ocean, what makes one Ti4200 different from another?? Which is worthy of your hard earned cash?? MSI thinks they know...
The Card (cont.):
Now that you have had an overall look at the Ti4200, let's discuss some of the physical features of the card itself.
Since we have already touched on the memory a little, let's talk about the 64MB of Hynix 3.6ns DDR memory. While 128MB of BGA seems to be the standard memory config on video cards today, don’t be fooled, the 64MB 3.6ns TSOPs are ready to rumble. Most of the Ti4200s today utilize the 4ns memory, so it was an added bonus to see that MSI settled on the higher performance 3.6ns memory.
Looking at the age old formula for determining memory speed:
(4ns) 1000 / 4 x 2 = 500 MHz
(3.6ns) 1000 / 3.6 x 2 = 556 MHz.
This means that while MSI has rated the MS-8870 at 500MHz, it easily has headroom of 55 extra MHz according to the speed rating of the memory. And as all good overclockers know, even though a memory is rated at a certain speed, there is usually a lot more speed to be had above the “official” rating. This should make for some very interesting overclocking.
With the Ti4200 offered in both 64MB and 128MB versions, which card are you going to need? Well, it is the age old "six of one, half a dozen of the other" analogy. With the 128MB versions, you are looking at a card with 4ns memory vs. the 64MB card having faster 3.6ns memory. The need for a full 128MB of memory doesn't even show itself until the very high resolutions such as 1280 x 1024 and above.
So you are faced with the decision of getting 128MB of slower (222MHz) memory with a theoretical bandwidth limit of 7.1GB or go with the faster 64MB of memory (250MHz) capable of 8GB of memory bandwidth. At higher resolution gaming, there is a noticeable difference. In the end, I think a 64MB card with the much faster memory is easily the way to go, especially considering the market this card is intended for...the budget gamer.
Cooling the MSI Ti4200 is handled by the same custom oversized cooler used on the Ti4400 and the Ti4600 cards. The unit itself is unique with a plated aluminum cooler with a clear plastic cover on it.
Comparing the stock NVIDIA cooler to the MSI unit you can see the size difference immediately. The MSI cooler also comes with a much larger fan than the original OEM unit on the right. The larger fan does make a considerably higher amount of noise than a stock unit, but does a fantastic job of keeping the GPU cool. You will also note the ample use of thermal compound between the two mating surfaces for better thermal transfer. A nice touch instead of the standard TIM (Thermal Interface Material) often used on budget cards.
A little side by side comparison to give you an idea of the difference between the stock cooler and the MSI unit. Let’s have a little look at what is under the cooler.
The Ti4200 GPU for the most part is the same GPU you will find on the Ti4400 and Ti4600 (clock withstanding), meaning this is not some neutered version of the GeForce Ti GPU like the MX series of cards is. You will also notice that even though the card utilizes a “GeForce2-like” layout, the card has the heatsink layout of its big brothers, the Ti4400 & Ti4600.
Next up, we have the Ti4200’s dual display and video out capabilities. The backplane of the card houses 3 video outputs: a DVI-I connector, a 15-pin analog VGA output, and a 9-pin S-video connector. Multi Monitor support is possible through the use of NVIDIA's nView logic since MSI was nice enough to include a DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Without spending an abnormal amount of time on the benefits of a dual monitor set up, I would like to point out the benefits of NVIDIA’s nView system.
Windows® Integration: Seamless integration within the familiar Windows environment
Setup Wizard: Enables quick and easy installation of nView multi-display
Transparency Effects: Quickly view hidden applications on cluttered desktops
Microsoft Internet Explorer® Extension: Enables more efficient web searches
Hot keys: Bind every nView action to a keyboard hot key
Advanced zoom features: Quickly enlarge portions of the screen to view information easier and to do precision editing
Desktop management: Create up to 32 different Windows desktop workspaces to control information flow
Window and application management: Gives users full control over repositioning dialog boxes and application windows
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NVIDIA’s nView™ multi-display technology provides a revolutionary way to multi-task and process information easier. Instead of stacking window upon window within the confines of a single display, imagine spreading your work across multiple displays. Financial analysts can have a monitor for tracking each data stream. Graphic artists can use an entire display for palettes, and another for editing. nView provides a quick and easy way for you to multiply your Windows desktop, thereby increasing your efficiency and enabling you to see what you’ve been missing. | |
Here's a look at just a few of the many possible combinations available to you courtesy of nView. Dual monitor DVD playback is a nice feature especially while watching your favorite DVD in widescreen mode. You can also surf the web with your favorite site spanning both monitors.
Or you can choose to have multiple instances of Internet Explorer open on separate monitors, watch a DVD on one monitor while you browse the web or work, or simple get a few rounds of Quake3 in on your dual monitor setup. No matter how you look at it, the corny little “Free Dual VGA Support” printed on the front of the box actually turned out to be an added bonus.
The Bundle:
  
7 in 1 Games Collection
* Ballistics Demo * Tom Clancy's Rogue Spear-Black Thorn Demo * Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Demo * Comanche 4 Demo * Fallout Tactics Demo * Swat 3: Close Quarters Battle Demo * Serious Sam: The First Encounter
InterVideo WinProducer/WinCoder Ver2.0 - Full version, professional Intervideo Video Editing Utility - Multi-track Video modes and Titling - Single-track backgrounding Audio mode - Transition & Filter on Overlay Video - Overlay and Titling on the same time - Variant video transition effects (Also support Microsoft® DirectX plug-in effects) - Picture in Picture effects
• WinCoder Ver2.0 introduction - Full version, powerful Intervideo Video Format Transferring Utility - Real-time (1:1) transfer your DV/D8/V8 signal to standard MPEG1/MPEG2(VCD/DVD) - Variant input video format (DV/AVI/MPEG1/MPEG2) - Variant output video format (AVI/MPEG1/MPEG2) - Directly output standard VCD title files for home VCD player Bundle InterVideo WinProducer/WinCoder Professional Users' Pack Bundle MSI DVD Bundle MSI developed software
• MSI Live Update Series (MSI Live VGA BIOS & MSI Live VGA Driver) - Automatically online download & update VGA BIOS & Drivers, reduce the risk of getting the wrong files, and never have the trouble on web site searching.
• 3D! Turbo Experience - Fancy, Game-looking HTML/Flash Based Tool - New revolution! MSI is the worldwide first company to propose the advantage of HTML/Flash based utilities. By leading the new software trend, MSI devotes to serve the users a fancy, game-looking utility. Are you ready for the new experience now?
• GoodMen - Automatically release the system memory space, reduce the risk of system hang-up.
• LockBox - Instantly enter the data lock mode when you must leave your system for a while.
• WMIinfor - Automatically list the detail system configuration, it helpful for engineering service people.
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Other bundled software • E-Color • Adobe Acrobat Reader • Trend Micro PC-Cillin 2000 • Microsoft® DirectX 8.1
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