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Video Cards: MSI GeForce 3 Ti200/Ti500 Review :: Features
The Ti200/Ti 500 are two of the newest members of the GeForce3 family and bring to the table two new features to an already ass kicking chipset. These new features are shadow buffer technology and 3D texture enhancement. When you add these new features to the nfiniteFX Engine and join them with the Light Speed Memory Architecture, this card can deliver the most visually compelling and complete graphics experience available in today's market. These cards are geared toward the high end desktop arena and will work well in both the professional and enthusiasts environment. MSI brings their own flavor into the picture by making the video card even more appealing by adding features and software that can raise the standard on how this card is made. Both cards come with different available feature options to fit your needs and/or application. The cards can come with either a TV-out or DVI out feature being offered as a flexible desktop option to the professional and end user. The TV-out feature works well and doesn't leave a large gap on your TV screen when used in full screen mode which makes a big difference in the quality of your on-screen viewing area. Not quite on par with Matrox yet but nVidia is slowly getting there and will eventually catch up.
One of the better features of the MSI card line is their 3D! Turbo software which allows the user a complete on-screen interface which you can use to monitor how everything is functioning and also custom control the video core and memory speeds for fine tuned overclocking of the card. Be aware overclocking voids your warranty but is almost always safe if taken in small steps and tested correctly. The card will shows signs of being unstable before it would burn itself out so the risk is slight if properly done. MSI has their own driver package which I would usually use but nVidia has just released later drivers than theirs so I used those instead but the performance gains were very minimal and I used them due to their being Microsoft WHQL certified which amounts to them being certified stable by Bill Gates and Co. Ti200 3D! Turbo settings
Ti500 3D! Turbo settings
The Ti200 comes with very little in the way of additional goodies but comes in at under $200.00 U.S which is completely cost competitive with anything on the market today in the same price range. You get the complete driver package including the latest 3.1 DVD software that is Win XP compatible, the cool case badge and is currently shipping with the game Sacrifice that takes advantage of most of the features offered on the new Ti200/500 based cards. The Ti500 on the other hand is a much costlier and has features plus content to make the bid for your dough. Faster core and memory mean quicker frame rates and better performance overall in 3D applications. Included with the Ti500 are the MSI stereo glasses for playing games in VR. This is a rather unique way to play games but actually gave me a headache after about a half hour of use. The 3D stereo glasses are compatible with any nVidia chipset based video solution. All you need to do is hook up the adapter (which is powered by an included floppy power connector), install the software and then you can use the glasses with all your systems using nVidia cards. One of the things you will notice right off the bat visually when looking at either of these cards is the great job they have done with cooling the GPU and memory. They have completely enclosed the area with heat sinks that allow better overclocking by allowing the card to run cooler at higher performance levels. Increasing the speed of the core and memory creates additional heat which is transferred away from the board via the heatsinks. I was very impressed with how the cards are made but I think an even better GPU fan should be used on the cards for maximum efficiency. Well that about sums up what makes these cards stand out. To see how well they performed read on and see the performance results.
GeForce3 Ti500
GeForce3
GeForce3 Ti200
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