GeForceFX for the Masses: The GeForceFX 5600 and 5200 Series

GeForceFX 5200 (NV34)

With its FX 5200 series, NVIDIA will be the first manufacturer to bring DirectX 9 technology to the lower price segment. The chip has 45 million transistors and is fabricated using the 0.15 micron process. It also has only four pixel pipelines (2x2).

Visually, you can't make out any differences between the FX 5200 Ultra and the FX 5600 Ultra (even with our test cards).

The 3D capabilities are the same as with the NV30/31; however, NVIDIA took the red pen to other aspects, and as a result, the chip has to make do without IntelliSample optimizations. As for the memory interface, it could be said that NVIDIA goes back to the technology of the GeForce4 Ti series, which would lead one to expect that this will mean a big loss in speed when it comes to FSAA and anisotroper filtering.

The layout of the FX 5200 is clearly kept simple. BGA memory modules are not used here.

The 5200 chips have an integrated TV encoder, TMDS transmitters and two integrated 350 MHz RAMDACs. Another interesting feature is HDTV support.

An overview of the models:

• GeForceFX 5200 Ultra - (325/325 MHz); Estimated price: $149.
• GeForceFX 5200 - (?/?); Estimated price: $99.

Here, ATI's direct competitors to the FX 5200 series are the Radeon 9000 and 9000 PRO, which will soon be replaced by the Radeon 9200 and 9200 PRO (see Strike Force: The new ATI Radeon 9800, 9600 and 9200 Series ).