VGA Card Buyer's Guide 07/2003

MSI FX5200U-TD128

The MSI FX 5200U-TD128 uses NVIDIA's GeForceFX 5200 Ultra chip, also known as NV34. It features 128 MB of 128 bit DDR memory in the FBGA form factor (Hynix code 28: specified for 350 MHz (= 700 MHz DDR)). The clock speeds are set to 325/ 650 MHz (core/ memory), as specified by NVIDIA's reference design. MSI's rather playfully designed monitoring tool, 3D! Turbo Experience, displays the hardware information to the user. It runs in a browser window as a Shockwave Flash application and also offers overclocking options.

A copper-colored heatsink with a quiet fan sits atop the chip, cooling it.

TV output is handled by the 3D chip's internal encoder functionality. The S-VHS cable connects directly to the card's backplane. The card ships with a 2 m S-VHS cable.