REVIEWS

GeForce4 Video Card Shoot-out

By Mad Max Merlin, Combat Flight Simulation Editor (12 February 2003)

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3 pushed the envelope of graphic performance demands for flight simulators. The upcoming release of Flight Simulator, A Century of Flight (FS-ACOF) is going to push the envelope even more. The good news is that you don't have to upgrade your entire system to fly either CFS3 or FS-ACOF or get better performance from FS2002 and CFS2. If you already have a Pentium 3 or Pentium 4, at least 700 MHz or faster and a minimum of 512MB of RAM, you can simply upgrade your graphics card and take off to go save Europe.

This article reviews two of the top contenders for video cards that proved to be excellent at handling the intense graphics demands of CFS3. And, for you Flight Simulator 2002 fliers, these cards will give you amazing performance, too.

Massive Graphics Processing Power In A Cool Looking And Silent Running Card

Both of these cards look very cool right out of the box. The first thing I noticed about the GeForce4 is the massive graphics CPU that's topped with a huge cooling fan and heat sink. This thing is no wimp. Even with this formidable cooling system, the card ran completely silently without even a whisper of additional system noise.

The Test Set-up

I tested the eVGA, GeForce4 Ti4600 128MB AGP 8X video card and compared it to the eVGA GeForce4 Ti4200 8X 128MB AGP 8X. I tested both cards on the same, relatively low-powered PC system as well as a fast-moving Pentium 4. I wanted to see if adding a high-end video card alone would significantly improve CFS3 and FS2002 performance on a low-end, Pentium 3 PC. The low-power test rig was:

Compared to today's Pentium 4 systems, this trusty old reliable Dell is a virtual dinosaur.

The high-power test rig as a Dell with 512MB RAM and a 1.5 GHz Pentium 4. Also, not a warp speed machine and this was done on purpose. This article is for all of you PC owners who are not ready to pop for a $2000-3000 brand new PC system, but want to extend the life of your existing investment and still have fun flying CFS3 or FS2002.

By the way, I will be doing an upcoming series of reviews on best-of-breed, warp-capable, high end Pentium 4 systems. The machines we all pant over. I'm going to track down some outstanding bargains there, too.

But I digress. Back to the video cards.

I benchmark tested the cards with CFS3, CFS2, FS2002 plus other graphics intensive games that included Ghost Recon and Delta Force Task Force Dagger.

Each card was tested at 1024x768 and 1280x1024 resolutions. They are capable of resolutions ranging from 640x480 all the way up to 2048x1536.

My first step was to test CFS3 using the GeForce 256 32MB card that came with the Dell system. No joy! With that video card, CFS3 crept along at glacier speed with fits and stutters and jaggies that made it un-flyable. So, if you have a 32MB or even a GeForce2 or 3 64MB card, fugeddaboudit! You must upgrade for the best CFS3 experience.

Once I installed the GeForce4 cards, things took off like a bat out of hell!

Installation & Set-up

Only eVGA makes upgrading a breeze with its unique Automated Driver Management (ADM) installation system. While I tested cards from other manufacturers, I could not in good conscience put the Mad Max seal of approval on them because they were such a royal pain in the tuchus to configure properly. With eVGA's ADM, no more upgrade headaches. I was so amazed, that I actually did it twice because I thought I had done something wrong. Nothing could be that easy, right?

Wrong. ADM IS that easy. It automatically detects your system, the processor on the video card, and makes all the necessary changes for you. It even uninstalls the old drivers and registry settings before installing the new ones. Without a doubt, I have never had a video card installation go as smoothly as this one did. Installing high performance graphics has never been simpler or more foolproof.

Installation involved the usual chores. I started by turning off Norton Antivirus. Next, I shut down and removed the old card. I inserted the new card into the same slot and powered up. The system recognized the new card. I launched the ADM from the eVGA Driver CD to automatically install the new drivers. Finally, before launching any of my test applications, I downloaded and installed the latest nVIDIA GeForce4 driver from the nVIDIA website. CFS3 recognized the eVGA card without any hiccups.

An Important Note About Frame Rates

While I compared frame rates for the purposes of visualizing actual performance statistics between the two cards, I'm not going to publish them here. Frame rates can be very misleading and are not a good way to evaluate simulation performance when considering video cards alone. Here's why. Frame rates are highly dependent on the entire PC's ecosystem that includes:

So, on my test rigs, with my test set-up (I got frame rates that would have absolutely no relevance to you with your specific set-up. The true test of video card performance for me is how the sim flies and what everything actually looks like. I go by how high I can push the graphics settings in CFS3, CFS2 and FS2002 and still get a smooth flight simulation experience without stutters, lag or jaggies. I don't give a gnat's butt for what the actual frame rate is as long as the simulation performance is smoking. And, I'll just bet that's the way most of you think about graphics performance, too. If you don't, please email and let me know what you would prefer.

An Important Warning About Overclocking

All the tests were conducted at normal default graphics and system CPU clocking speeds. I know a lot of people like to squeeze more performance out of their systems by overclocking either the CPU, graphics card, or both. I don't recommend it. nVIDIA doesn't recommend it, the engineers at eVGA don't recommend it and neither does any PC manufacturer that I know of. Now, I know some people swear they overclock like crazy and don't have any problems. To those deal souls, all I have to say is, you're living in a fool's paradise. Here's why. When you accelerate the CPU (PC or graphics) beyond its specs, you generate massive amounts of heat. Pentium processor and graphics CPUs run very hot to start with. See that HUGE fan on the GeForce4 heat sink. That's just to handle the heat generated at normal clock speeds. Overclock, and you generate even more heat. Much more than what the system was designed for. This heat causes damage to the processor and surrounding components over time. It is as inexorable as the force of gravity. Overclock, you will damage your system and it will eventually cause it to fail. Now, if money is no object, and you don't have a problem with frying your gear in your quest for speed and don't object to replacing it in half its normal life span, or less go ahead. Overclock your brains out. But, if you're like me and want to squeeze every bit of value out of your PC investment, DO NOT OVERCLOCK!

eVGA, GeForce4 Ti4600 128MB AGP: Unmatched Realism And Powerful Performance

The specs and features for this card are impressive.

Specs And Features

Real World Ti4600 Experience

I am never impressed by words on paper. What I'm looking for is blazing frame rates while flying the sim.

8X, 4X What's the Difference?

I'm not going to bore you with a technical paper on AGP technology. Suffice to say that one of the first things I noticed in this shoot-out is that there is a significant difference between these 8x AGP video cards and the GeForce4 4x cards like those you see from PNY and other manufacturers. That's why I eliminated any 4x cards from the review. The 4x cards cost less and they also perform less. Overall, whether Ti4600 or Ti4200, I found the 8x AGP cards to be the top performers. In my humble opinion as an avid flightsimmer, 4x just doesn't cut it. For the few bucks difference, I think 8x is worth it.

Flightsimming On Video Steroids

The Ti4600 performed flawlessly in CFS3, CFS2 and FS2002. This time, the CFS3 experience was nothing short of amazing! All the stuttering was gone. The jaggies were nowhere to be found. The 3D rendering was smooth as a baby's bum and so was the flight action. Scenery, effects, aircraft details all looked simply marvelous. In every sim I tested, I was able to crank up the graphics to much higher settings. I was limited only by the horsepower of the systems I tested it on.

When using the woefully under-powered Pentium 3 PC with CFS3, I had to move the graphics sliders down to setting 2 for all terrain settings and 3 for the aircraft and turn off some of the lighting and scenery effects and use all manner of CFS3 video tweaks. CFS3 flew very well and I encountered no problems in multiplayer action. This was excellent CFS3 performance on a slug PC that I could actually live with.

With CFS2, on the Pentium 3 test rig, I just moved the sliders from setting 2 up to setting 3 and saw great graphics and no performance lag in multiplayer or offline missions.

When I tested this card in a Pentium 4 system, I could easily crank all the CFS3 settings up to 4 and the CFS2 settings all the way to maximum without any sim flight problems.

Why Upgrade?

CFS3's amazing graphics and lighting are the reason to upgrade to more powerful video cards. They are simply breathtaking when you use this Ti4600 8x AGP card. On a Pentium 4 system running 1.5 GHz or faster with at least 512 MB RAM and the Ti4600 card, you can turn on all the CFS3 eye candy.

It truly is worth the investment. When you roll an aircraft while watching from the outside view, you see the effects of lighting, reflections and shadows playing across the aircraft surfaces. Close air support missions are like being inside a John Woo movie! The explosions are magnificent with flames and flying debris everywhere.

Flying low and fast through the trees you can practically count the pine needles. The improved graphics also help with ground attacks because you can see shadows and other lighting cues that give you much better situational awareness of distance to target, aiming and release points for ordinance.

In the air, the extra graphics horsepower on a Pentium 4 makes the clouds come alive. CFS3's volumetric cloud effects are much more than just eye-candy. You can actually hide in them and ambush the unsuspecting bogeys or escape from a bandit on your six by hiding in the clouds. There is even a multiplayer benefit since the better graphics and smoother action helps prevent midair collisions. You can better gauge closing rates and distance to target.

What I personally find thrilling is to bring the fight down on the deck. Here's where the higher graphics settings and serious video processing power really pay off. When dogfighting or chasing bombers at low altitudes, you need to see the ground details or you're going to take a dirt nap. Attacking a bandit by rolling on his six and chasing him through the trees, between buildings and over terrain obstacles is both a true challenge of piloting skills and a hell of a lot of fun! When the tables turn, and I've got a bandit on my six poking holes in my nice shiny new Spitfire (escaping through the trees and hugging the ground is truly a heart-pounding white-knuckle ride. Better than I have never experienced in any other flightsim - ever! Let me put it to you this way, the cost of a video card upgrade is much less than the cost of a trip to Disneyland or Six Flags and the thrill ride you get is much more exciting. The only thing missing are the G-forces.

Even with a top performing video card, I don't recommend Setting 5 for CFS3. In my opinion, and the Microsoft developers agree, setting 5 in CFS3 is pure fantasy for the moment. Microsoft added those capabilities to accommodate the more advanced video cards coming next year.

Benchmarking The Ti4600 Against The Ti4200

In benchmark tests using 3D Mark, the GeForce4 Ti4600 blew away every other card in its class.

What was surprising is how much faster the Ti4600 from eVGA benchmark tested with 3D Mark against its sister card the GeForce4 Ti4200. Yet, in actual sim flight, the difference was only barely perceptible. I would peg the Ti4200 at around 90% of the actual flight and graphics performance of the more powerful Ti4600.

The 3D marks testing showed quite a bit more difference. In general order of performance ranking the top 4 cards are:

1. ATI RADEON 9700 Series
2. nVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600
3. nVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400
4. nVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200

 The only card faster than the Ti4600 was the much more expensive ATI Radeon 9700 Pro and the just-released cards with the new nVIDIA GeForce FX engine. I will write about those video cards in a separate review. They are much more expensive than the GeForce4 Ti series and in a completely separate price-value category.

Ti4600 Price & Value

When the GeForce4 Ti4600 cards first hit the market, they were very expensive and priced at around $400. Frankly, at that price point, the Ti4200 looked like a much better buy. But, things have recently changed. While the eVGA card is priced around $350 at most resellers, Tiger Direct just announced a $25 instant rebate for the eVGA Ti4600 card. That brings the price point down to just $274.99. Plus, eVGA is including a free, fully functional (NOT A DEMO) copy of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon plus a free copy of nvDVD software (for importing video and burning your own DVDs). That's a software bundle worth $89, free. Now that is an incredible value!

The basic price difference between the Ti4600 and Ti4200 is just $78.

Mad Max Rates The Ti4600

In light of the recent price cut and 8x AGP technology support, I consider the eVGA card to be the best price performer in the entire GeForce4 class. If you demand the best graphics frame rates for CFS3, 2 and FS2002 - nothing else comes close. It's a low-cost way to put rockets on your older Pentium 3 and 4 PCs and still fly flawlessly. Put this card in a Pentium 4 running at 2 GHz or better and you'll be blown away by the results.

The video in, video out (VIVO) capability is a nice added feature for those who like to capture video and create your own movies. The free nvDVD software gives you all the tools you need to burn your own DVDs.

eVGA GeForce4 Ti4200 8X 128MB AGP: Excellent Value With Only Nominal Performance Reduction

Like the Ti4600, the eVGA Ti4200 card also has a massive heat sink sitting atop the graphics CPU. This card looked like it was going at warp speed before I even installed it. The specs and features are well-suited to enhance any flight sim experience.

Specs and Features

Real World Ti4200 Experience

As with the eVGA Ti4600 card reviewed above, I'm more impressed with performance in the real world than a list of technical specs. And, just like with its sister card, the Ti4200 performed flawlessly in CFS3, CFS2 and FS2002. I still had to push the CFS3 sliders down to the #2 settings on the low-powered test rig, but the jaggies were gone. There was only a very slight case of image stutter and only in certain extreme circumstances where I have lots of planes in the air, huge explosions going off and plenty of movement on the ground by armor and troop units. With FS2002, I was able to crank the graphics up a notch or two without degrading flight performance at all.

If you put this card into a PC with more power, such as the Pentium 4 test rig running at 1.5 GHz or faster, and using Windows XP -- you're going to see a big performance boost.

Overall, I would rate the Ti4200 as only moderately, perhaps as much as 10%, slower than the Ti4600 in terms of real world performance. But, and this is a BIG BUT - this slight performance drop is only at the same graphics settings. The huge difference between the two cards is the fact that you can boost the graphics settings much higher with the Ti4600. At the higher settings, the difference becomes much more noticeable. The Ti4600 allows you to got at least one full notch higher graphics settings than the Ti4200 in all sims. That's what the additional money buys you.

Price & Value

The eVGA Ti4200 hits a definite sweet spot in the price/value category. Recent price cuts have brought this high-end graphics card down to the bargain value range. Tiger Direct recently lowered its price to just $169.99 and these cards are moving fast. If you want the ultimate in performance, spend the extra $78 and go for the eVGA Ti4600. If you'd rather pocket the cash and take your significant other out to dinner and the movies with what you save, go for the eVGA Ti4200 card. Be sure to order a nice wine with dinner and splurge for the big tub of popcorn at the show. It's a close call.

Mad Max Rates The Ti4200

An exceptional video board -- at a shockingly low price! The eVGA GeForce4 Ti 4200 128MB board with Vivo technology delivers great graphics performance that's good for increasing frame rates with CFS3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, while not depleting your bank account. It's a respectable card, but not the blazing performer like the Ti4600. Overall, a good value for the low price.

Where To Get The Best Deals On These Video Cards

Just click on the banners to get the very best deals available today on both these hot new video cards.

Max Merlin
maxmerlin@flightsim.com


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