Radeon 8500LE vs Gainward GF4 4200

[trdsw20]

This may be a stupid question to some but which on eis better?
Dont know much about video so that might explain the dumb question!!!
The Radeon is the 128MB DDR version and the Gainward is the um yeah Gainward 64 MB DDR version. Ive heard many great things about the gainward and both sell at about the same price...
I don t plan on overclocking it so as it comes is as it goes!!
any input thanks

[Illah]

Ti4200. Get the Gainward 3.5 ns version if you can.

--Illah

[trdsw20]

huh stupid question but whats the difference 3.5ns that is
http://www.centralcomputers.com/PriceList/Specials/Specials.htm
is that it

[DaddyB]

3.5ns RAM is faster, some GF4 Ti4200 cards have 4ns RAM (4ns is 250mhz (500 ddr) and 3.5ns is rated for 285mhz (570 ddr)).

check out this link it has some cards in the same price range and it tells you which are 3.5ns:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=VGA

[trdsw20]

So does that mean if the board is not 3.5ns then its better to get the ATI or is the GF4 still way better.

The ad doesnt give you too much information on the GF4. So I cant make any assumptions. Well is there a difference in the packaging or does it say 3.5ns

[DaddyB]

both versions of the card would be faster/better then the 8500 (the 8500 was designed to compete with the gf3). i dont think it will say on the video card's box, the only way to tell is to read the ram chips on the card in most cases but if you look at the video card section of that site (more specifically the gf4 ti 4200 section), then you will see that most of the cards say either 3.5ns or 4ns.

[arhines]

the 3.5ns is simply the rating for the memory, meaning you can overclock it higher. I believe most if not all 4200 cards are almost the same in stock clock speed so if you don't oc it, you should be allright.
However, some people are having problems with the gainward 'bare bones' 3.5 card...I suggest getting the version one step up, with tv out just to be on the safe side. 4ns would be just fine.
See this thread for info on gainward gone bad:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91033&highlight=gainward+3.5

[advanR]

I too was going to buy a 4200, the gainward, then I read how the 3.5ns wasnt too good. Then I thought about how the 4400 would be a much better deal because they OC much higher. But for approx. $230 I didnt think it'd be worth it.

I had never considered an ATI card cause I always thought they were crap, then I saw this deal at newegg. They have a 64mb 8500 @250/275ddr w/ 3.3ns BGA mem for $99. The voltage on the core/mem arent much lower than retail so without mods ppl have been getting them to around 280-300/300-320. Not to bad for $99 I thought :) Also the fact that ATI has been getting better with their drivers convinced me a little more. Even better ones are going to be out soon.

So I just ordered one of these and figured It should last a while and once I upgrade again the newer cards will give a major improvement over gf4's. Or a gf4 would be dirt cheap.

This should perform a little less than a 4200, and the price difference isnt worth it for me. With newest drivers the 8500 is just only about 400-600 3dmarks behind.

[gtsimmo]

I found this board from a link in another forum. A soyo 8500LE-D that comes at 280/280 clock speed, way faster than standard 250/275 that comes on the other LE cards. It's suppose to cost 130 to 145 but Im sure you can find it for cheaper if you look.

http://www.viahardware.com/soyo8500le_1.shtm

[gtsimmo]

http://www.soyousa.com/products/proddesc.php?id=118

here's the soyo offical web site desciption, but Im having a hard time finding a place where they sell the card. It may be that the card was just announced but if you look hard enough you may be able to locate it

[advanR]

Oh, it's cool that some of the 3rd party card makers are making faster 8500 cards now (most used to be much slower), but I still think the card I mentioned is faster AND a lot cheaper. Its stock at 250/275, but will go higher very easily, past 280/280 for sure. Since the mem is 3.3ns I think it OC's better than the retails do. Also, mem is more important than core.

And again $30-45 more is a waste. If you were going to spend that much more there are better cards.

[gtsimmo]

Originally posted by trdsw20
I don t plan on overclocking it so as it comes is as it goes!!
any input thanks

He said she doesnt plan on overclocking, that's why i thought this card would be good for him. The only thing is this one is a 64 mb model, Im sure soyo will release a 128 mb model too

[lee]

once again, if you're into video, the ATI radeon cards are better, but for gaming, Nvidia is top dog............depends partially on what you wanna do w/your puter...........

[funnyperson1]

why do you want to pay 50% more money for 15% more performance....i would get a 64mb radeon 8500 myself...100$...its a steal...

[CyprusRaven]

lee is right.
I use my computer for 50% games and 50% movie watching (hooked up to a projector). ATI has much better video than GF4 series. The ATI did have a bug in the gamma ramp in it's driver, but the recently leaked driver solves that problem, making the 8500 the top card for video quality. So I guess it all depends on your needs. If you don't care about video, go for the GeForce. If you watch movies on your computer, go for the ATI.

P.S. But frankly, there are no games right now that would make the ATI 8500 break a sweat on a P4 machine.

[gtsimmo]

Yeah I got me a 7500 and GF4 both with VO and the radeon has much better tv output

[advanR]

Well, if you arent going to overclock then you dont need to be concerned about memory ratings. And the gainward wont give you any advantage over another 4200. Just decide if you want the 8500 or the gf4, then find the cheapest one with the same specs (for the gf4 only of course). Any 64mb 4200 will perform pretty much exactly the same, but it may turn out that you find the gainward the cheapest also.