Big Little Sister - The GeForce4 Ti4200

Test Setup

NVIDIA sent us a pre-production sample board of the GeForce4 Ti4200 with 128 MB of RAM. Originally, this board was clocked at 250/230 (460) MHz. After flashing to the newer BIOS we received from NVIDIA, the memory clock speed was reduced to 222 (444) MHz.

Currently, the 64 MB versions with their faster memory speeds of 250 (500) MHz are still unavailable. While a simulation of such a board is theoretically possible, it is hard to tell how big an impact memory size actually has on testing results. Our results from the GeForce3 Ti200 comparison (64 MB vs. 128 MB cards ) do not necessarily hold true for the GeForce4 series.

Nonetheless, we simulated a "smaller" GeForce4 Ti4200 by overclocking the memory of our 128 MB board to 250 (500) MHz. The results attained in such a configuration are not necessarily representative of the performance of a "real" 64 MB Ti4200, and should therefore be seen only as a preliminary indication. We will only be able to post any final results once we have actually had some 64 MB cards to test.

All tests were run on an ASUS A7V266-E motherboard (VIA KT 266A) with an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor.

Benchmarks

Max Payne

* 64 MB version simulated with a 128 MB card. Results published with reservations.

NVIDIA's drivers do an outstanding job in Max Payne. ATi's boards tag along at a fair distance behind the NVIDIA group. The gap between the Radeon 8500 and the GeForce3 Ti series only begins to close staring at 1600x1200. The GeForce4 MX cards are close on the heels of the Radeon 8500. The GeForce4 TI boards, meanwhile, are in a class of their own. Even the Ti4200 is positioned quite comfortably ahead of the GeForce3 Ti500.