Economical videocards
of today allow users
to experience all the same DirectX 9 eye candy that higher end models offer. This is quite a
change from the past when both ATi and nVIDIA removed important features out of their low-end graphics processors in
an attempt to cut costs. Times have changed for the
better, and
hopefully this will bring the world of full-fledged PC gaming to more consumers.
The class of entry-level nVidia
GeForce 6200 TC (Turbo Cache) graphics processors work in a similar fashion to an integrated videocard. For the
first time in history, the stand-alone videocard uses system memory as its own. This
might sound like a bad thing.... since of course desktop computer memory is much slower than
videocard memory, but it allows nVIDIA to keep the price of the videocard down. Most
games do not need a dedicated 512MB of system memory to run!
In this review, PCSTATS will be testing MSI's NX6200TC-TD32E
PCI Express videocard. MSI is one of nVidia's largest manufacturing partners
these days, so it makes sense that the company release a 6200 TC-based card for the
value markets.
The MSI NX6200TC-TD32E is based on
the GeForce 6200 Turbo Cache core and
actually includes 32MB of onboard memory in addition to borrowing system memory when necessary. The
card supports dual analog monitors and includes the necessary DVI-to-analog converter. The videocard also
supports S-Video and Component output which should make it useful for HTPC use.
The MSI NX6200TC-TD32E videocard is based
on the reference nVIDIA design and is entirely passively cooled. I hope you have good
airflow in your case though, because the heatsink does get quite toasty during
operation. There are a total of two Samsung BGA DRAM modules on the videocard for
32MB of video memory. While that might not sound like a lot compared
to other modern videocards, it's perfectly adequate for 2D desktop use and is a large enough
frame buffer for low resolution 3D apps.
With a retail price of under $100 CDN, I was surprised to
see the MSI NX6200TC-TD32E comes with anything at all!
No additional software
is included with the videocard, but we're definitely happy to see MSI include
the extra hardware. Those of you who want to hook up your computer to a TV can do so
without problems and this makes the NX6200TC-TD32E a good HTPC videocard.
The main component-output TV out cable is colour coordinated and MSI takes things one step
further by actually labelling each individual strand. Very nice!
There's little doubt that the NX6200TC-TD32E is aimed directly at the entry level market,
so it was nice to see that 2D image quality was good. The card is
also capable of running dual analog monitors, or an LCD and a CRT.
We would have liked to see an actual users manual accompany the package.
Having it on CD doesn't help very much when your computer is in pieces... The
quick installation guide is a bit thin on information and does not answer any
questions should you have problems.
72%
RSS Newsletter
