I'm in the market for a GeForce4 4200 videocard, but I have no idea which make to buy. I want the 128 MB version, which seems to retail for about $150 regardless of manufacturer. But all the manufacturers I used to be familiar with are pretty much gone. Like Diamond (hey, I'm old), and even VisionTek seems to have gone under. The best-known to me now are Gainward, Chaintech, and Leadtek. I lean toward the Gainward, but I found a customer review that says it "doesn't work with a VIA KT133 mobo". Now, my mobo is a VIA KT266A version (a Soyo Dragon Plus), but it was still enough to lodge worry in me. And I have read some negative things about Chaintech and Leadtek.Any advice, folks? :-zhelp[table][tr][td valign=top]http://www.avsim.com/other/usaribbon.gif[/td][td valign=center]Bob "FlyBert" StilesAVSIM Moderator[/b][/td][/tr][/table]

I recently purchased the Gainward PowerPack Ultra/650XP "Golden Sample". It is the non-VIVO version, 128 Meg GeForce 4200. I absolutely love this card! I've been able to acheive stable core and memory settings that almost reach 4600 levels. My 3DMark and FS2002 over-all performance has been better than expected. Using the Detonator 40.72 drivers, I was able to achieve a score only 3 or 4th place from the best competitor with my system-stats. You can find this card for around 150$ at many on-line stores. I'm not sure about retail. I don't have a link to any reviews off the top of my head, but look around... I'm sure you'll find some good praises for this card...Sincerely,Phil Geddes

Phil,Much thanks for your response. My research on the net has me pointed to that very card, the Gainward GeForce4 4200 128 MB "Golden Sample".But I still haven't decided between the one you have and the VIVO card. Near as I can tell, the only difference is that it has a DVI jack, VIVO, and "nView". They both have TV-out, but if I wanted to run two monitors, either a CRT and a digital flat-panel, or two CRTs, I'd need that DVI out. Now, I don't own two monitors nor do I expect to anytime soon, so maybe that jack is a moot point. I don't know much about VIVO, but not much interest in that. I seem to have heard of nView, but don't recall what it is. Now... there's a $25 difference between the cards... is it worth it? Just thinking "out loud" here, I guess. :-)The non-VIVO card has the advantage of being in stock at my chosen merchant, while the VIVO version is not.[table][tr][td valign=top]http://www.avsim.com/other/usaribbon.gif[/td][td valign=center]Bob "FlyBert" StilesAVSIM Moderator[/b][/td][/tr][/table]

The VIVO version is now IN stock, minus one as I just bought it! :-)Thanks for your help, Phil. http://www.plauder-smilies.de/happy/xyxthumbs.gif[table][tr][td valign=top]http://www.avsim.com/other/usaribbon.gif[/td][td valign=center]Bob "FlyBert" StilesAVSIM Moderator[/b][/td][/tr][/table]