INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA

"Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra Review testing the Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra against the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200, XFX GeForce 5200 and the Sapphire Radeon 9200. Software used during testing was:- 3dmark 2001 SE, 3dmark 2003, GLexcess, Quake 3 Arena, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Serious Sam SE and Unreal Tournament 2003."

Today we are testing the latest budget video card from Innovision the Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra. This video card uses the NV34 gpu from Nvidia and is clocked much higher than a regular GeForce 5200. The GeForce 5200 Ultra was released to replace the GeForce4 Ti4200 and to compete against the Radeon 9200 video cards from ATI. The Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra is a full DX9 video card unlike the GeForce4 Ti4200 which only supports DX8.

In this test we have decided to compare the Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra against the GeForce4 Ti4200 which is also from Nvidia. To show the performance increase when compared to budget video cards we have also included the Sapphire Radeon 9200 and the XFX GeForce 5200.

CineFX Engine

Powers cinematic effects beyond imagination. With advanced vertex and pixel shader capabilities, stunning and complex special effects are possible. In addition, increased horsepower delivers faster and smoother gameplay.

High-Precision Graphics

By combining the incredible dynamic range of today's state-of-the-art 3D motion pictures with 128-bit studio-precision colour, the GeForce GPUs bring you the industry’s best image quality for the most demanding applications.

AGP 8x

Provides double the bandwidth of AGP 4X—2.1GB/sec. vs. 1.1BG/sec. AGP 8x enables more complex models and detailed textures, creating richer and more lifelike environments. Uninterrupted data flow allows for smoother video streaming and faster, more seamless gameplay.

nView Multi-display Technology

The nView hardware and software technology combination delivers maximum flexibility for multi-display options, and provides unprecedented end-user control of the desktop experience.

Digital Vibrance Control (DVC)

Allows the user to adjust colour controls digitally to compensate for the lighting conditions of their workspace, in order to achieve accurate, bright colours in all conditions.

Architected for Cg

Ensures that the newest, cutting-edge special effects in applications will run flawlessly. Speeds up content creation so game developers can get their new games out to PC users faster than ever before.

NAME	CHIPSET	GPU SPEED	MEMORY	AGP SPEED
INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA	NV34	325mhz	128Mb 650mhz DDR	8x
MSI GEFORCE4 TI4200	NV28	250mhz	128Mb 512mhz DDR	8x
XFX GEFORCE 5200	NV34	250mhz	128Mb 400mhz DDR	8x
SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200	RV280	250mhz	128Mb 400mhz DDR	8x
NAME	CHIPSET	GPU SPEED	MEMORY	AGP SPEED

GENERAL SYSTEM INFORMATION

PROCESSOR	AMD ATHLON XP 2500
VIDEO CARD	INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA
	MSI GEFORCE4 TI4200
	XFX GEFORCE 5200
	SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200
ATI DRIVER	CATALYST v3.5
NVIDIA DRIVER	DETONATOR v44.90
MOTHERBOARD	ASROCK K7S8X
MEMORY	512MB CRUCIAL PC2700 DDR
OPERATING SYSTEM	WINDOWS XP SERVICE PACK 1
DIRECTX VERSION	v9.0b

	GEFORCE 5200U	GEFORCE4 Ti4200	GEFORCE 5200	RADEON 9200
3DMARK 2001 SE	9119	10795	7656	6904
GAME 1 - CAR CHASE (LQ)	125	162	103	91
GAME 1 - CAR CHASE (HQ)	53	57	48	49
GAME 2 - DRAGOTHIC (LQ)	158	191	124	103
GAME 2 - DRAGOTHIC (HQ)	80	105	66	58
GAME 3 - LOBBY (LQ)	136	143	121	110
GAME 3 - LOBBY (HQ)	64	66	59	53
GAME 4 - NATURE	50	63	35	32

COMMENT - "The Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra puts in a good performance compared to the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 even though it can't beat the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200. Both the Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra and the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 are both clearly faster than the two budget video cards the XFX GeForce 5200 and Sapphire Radeon 9200."

	GEFORCE 5200U	GEFORCE4 Ti4200	GEFORCE 5200	RADEON 9200
3DMARK 2003	1819	1446	1431	1098
WINGS OF FURY	99	95	79	64
BATTLE OF PROXYCON	10	9	7	7
TROLL'S LAIR	8	9	6	8
MOTHER NATURE	10	N/A	8	N/A

COMMENT - "The Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra wins this test easily and is 373points ahead of the other video cards. Even though the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 can't run the mother nature dx9 test it can still beat the XFX GeForce 5200. This will be the last time 3dmark 2003 will be used for testing purposes because it's resulted are very inaccurate."

GL EXCESS

XSMARK

	7311
	6926
	5844
	N/A

FILLRATE

	7845
	5908
	4783
	N/A

POLYGON COUNT

	8916
	9588
	6296
	N/A

INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA MSI GEFORCE4 TI4200
XFX GEFORCE 5200 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200

BENCHMARK SETTINGS
1024x768 Resolution
Scene 1 Intro
Scene 2 Waver
Scene 3 Facescape
Scene 4 Exploding Logo

COMMENT - "The Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra puts in a great performance with this benchmark, it delivered the highest xsmark and did especially well in the fillrate test. However the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 was able to win the polygon count test. The reason the Sapphire Radeon 9200 has no results is because it was unavailable when we decided to expand the range of benchmarking programs we use for testing."

QUAKE III ARENA

800x600

	223
	232
	212
	194

1024x768

	198
	215
	259
	135

1280x1024

	174
	198
	132
	111

INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA MSI GEFORCE4 TI4200
XFX GEFORCE 5200 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200

BENCHMARK SETTINGS
Four.dm68 Benchmark
32Bit Colour Depth
Texture Compress Disabled
Lightmap Lighting
High Geometric Detail
Full Texture Detail
Trilinear Texture Filtering

COMMENT - "Now we start the important benchmarks which are the games benchmarks. As always we have started with Quake III Arena, although the Quake engine is now getting old it is still used in a wide range of different games. The Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra starts off strongly but as we increase resolution it drifts away from the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200. Let's turn on 4x FSAA and see what happens."

QUAKE III ARENA
4x FSAA

640x480

	180
	200
	135
	85

800x600

	128
	153
	90
	57

1024x768

	84
	98
	55
	28

INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA MSI GEFORCE4 TI4200
XFX GEFORCE 5200 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200

ENCHMARK SETTINGS
Four.dm68 Benchmark
32Bit Colour Depth
Texture Compress Disabled
Lightmap Lighting
High Geometric Detail
Full Texture Detail
Trilinear Texture Filtering

COMMENT - "With 4x FSAA now enabled it's clear to see the performance impact it's had on all of the video cards but especially the two budget video cards. The MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 puts in a very good performance and leaves the Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra behind. Notice how the two budget video cards are now even further behind."

QUAKE III ARENA
4x FSAA & 8x ANISOTROPIC

640x480

	152
	174
	112
	79

800x600

	107
	124
	77
	53

1024x768

	73
	81
	49
	27

INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA MSI GEFORCE4 TI4200
XFX GEFORCE 5200 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200

BENCHMARK SETTINGS
Four.dm68 Benchmark
32Bit Colour Depth
Texture Compress Disabled
Lightmap Lighting
High Geometric Detail
Full Texture Detail
Trilinear Texture Filtering

COMMENT - "With 8x Anisotropic filtering as well as 4x FSAA enabled the two budget video cards are really starting to struggle now. The Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra and the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 both manage to deliver respectable frame rates however the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 is the faster of the two."

QUAKE III ARENA
ANISOTROPIC FILTERING

2x ANISOTROPIC

	177
	193
	138
	132

4x ANISOTROPIC

	163
	170
	126
	128

8x ANISOTROPIC

	152
	153
	117
	126

INNO3D GEFORCE 5200 ULTRA MSI GEFORCE4 TI4200
XFX GEFORCE 5200 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200

BENCHMARK SETTINGS
Four.dm68 Benchmark
32Bit Colour Depth
Texture Compress Disabled
Lightmap Lighting
High Geometric Detail
Full Texture Detail
Trilinear Texture Filtering

COMMENT - "Anisotropic filtering improves image quality and with most modern video cards there is no reason to have it disabled. This test is designed to show the performance hit you will get with the different levels of anisotropic filtering. As you can see at the lower levels of anisotropic filtering the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 is faster however at the highest level the Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra and the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 are about equal. Incase your wondering the MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 takes a 62fps hit compared to the Inno3D GeForce 5200 Ultra's 46fps when 8x anisotropic filtering is enabled."