Hi All,Can anyone who has the GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card, AGP, 128MB DDR, please let me know how it performs with either FS2004 or FS2002. I currently have a GeForce4 MX440 64MB. I just cannot take it anymore! :-erks No water reflections in FS2004 :-(The specs on the FX5200 looks good for the price (which is right in my price range :7 ).Thanks in advance.CheersHenning"You know that you are low and slow when you get a bird strike from behind..."

The FX5200 is basically the MX of the FX cards, not terribly good at all. There are some issues with shadows in windowed mode and other sloppy performances.Splurge a little more and buy a 128MB Ti4200, you won't regret it :)

Hi John,Thanks for the tip. I am on a tight budget right now, but I have to get rid of the MX440 :-madI had a look at this: Asylum GeForce FX 5600 Video Card, 8x AGP, 256MB DDRThe price is just about what I am able to spend right now. Will I see some sort of improvement compared to my old GF4 MX440 64MB card?By the way, how much more or less does the Ti4200 go for?ThanksHenning"You know that you are low and slow when you get a bird strike from behind..."

Hi Henning,I'm not too familiar with the FX5600 card. Ti4200s should be around $100 - $150 US (Just a guess)Edit:I was looking at Newegg.com, seems FX5600s around around $130+ and a good Ti4800SE (8x AGP Ti4200) around around $150+http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?...value=4571,3668

Hi John,Thank you very much for the info. One last thing before I buy the Asus GeForce4 Ti4800 SE, I see there is support for DirectX 8.1:API Support: - DirectX 8.1 - Direct3D, DirectDraw , DirectVideo - OpenGL 1.3 for Windows98/98E/XP/2000/NT What about DirectX 9 support? Must I ignore this, or will it make any difference performance wise?Thanks once again for the help.RegardsHenning"You know that you are low and slow when you get a bird strike from behind..."

Henning,I have a Ti4800SE running DX9 with no problems. I really doubt DX9 compatability means much at all. I did have a DX9 card that didn't show any considerable difference at the end of the day. :)

>Henning,>>I have a Ti4800SE running DX9 with no problems. I really doubt>DX9 compatability means much at all. I did have a DX9 card>that didn't show any considerable difference at the end of the>day. :)John,Although your 4800 will run DX9 without any problems the lack of direct hardware support will become an issue. COF uses some DX9 support for instructions. You may not notice a difference visually but you may not be getting all you could from the game.If you don't think DX9 comp. means much at all wait till later this year. Try running DoomIII or Half Life2 w that card and see what the FR's are. From what I have been reading and conversations w people in the feild it will be a big issue by 1st quarter of next year possibly.Right now you won't see any performance difference w DX9. Nothing out currently utilizes all the instructions and commands.IMHO, Anything less than a 9500Pro WILL show significant performance hits when DX9 games start to arrive later this year.For $40 more than a 4800 you could purchase a 9500Pro that, when AA and AF are enabled will provide almost 75% more performance than the 4800 and also offers native DX9 support.Just some info to helpBobby

Would FX5200 PCI be the best PCI out?

Anyone who is looking at an FX 5200 card needs to start looking elsewhere. The FX 5200 is garbage. The last-generation GF4s are faster than this card and they're over a year old!!! If you are in need of a cheap video card, do yourself a favor and go look at some Radeon 9500 and 9600's. They can be had online starting at around $130. If any of you do decide to get an FX 5200 card, don't come back here complaining about poor performance, if you don't heed my advice you'll get exactly what you deserve.-Max Cowgill

Hi Bobby,I also had a Radeon 9700 which didn't make any considerable difference in the game. Perhaps my suggestion should have also have been the Radeon 9600 Pro, but that would have been stretching Hennings budget a little more than he possibly would have liked. :)

Hi John,Just after I posted my last response, my MX440's fan seized and a short while thereafter, the screen went black.Well, this morning I went out and searched for a video card. I looked all over, but everyone is selling FX5200's.Eventually, I went into CompUSA in Marietta, Georgia. I found a Gainward GeForce4 Ti4200 that was marked down to $109-99. I bought it immediately!Being used to a MX440, all I can say is that this card rocks!!! I'm Flying the Dreamfleet C310 in FS2004 with all sliders maxed. I am getting 22-25 fps (locked at 30). I am running the 44.03 Nvidia drivers. Also very noticeable is the amazing increase in quality, no more blurred textures and anomalies.With lots of cloud fps comes down to 12-16, but no stutters whatsoever, very smooth in turns. (I have done about 4 hours of testing in FS2004). I have AA set to 2 and Anisotropic Filtering to 2.I was going to buy a FX5200, now I am really glad that I asked here first. Thank you very much John and all who replied. I really appreciate the help.Kind regardsHenning| P4 2.0 GIG | Epox 4G4A Motherboard | 1 GIG RAM | Gainward GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB | 80 GIG IBM Deskstar 7200 | Sound Blaster Live! |"You know that you are low and slow when you get a bird strike from behind..."

Hi Henning,Talk about timing! :-hahGood pickup, Gainwards are pretty good cards! Its great to hear you're enjoying your new card :)