MSI FX5200-TDR128

Company: Micro-Star International (MSI)
Product: FX5200-TDR128
Street Price: ~$115 USD
Date Reviewed: May 10, 2003
Reviewed By: Joey C.
Overall Rating: (9/10)

Overview Of The Card:

The FX5200 is a relatively small video card, it is not long like the TI4600's were, which of course is expected since this is a budget card. The classic red PCB that is used on most of MSI's motherboards and video cards has also been used to make this card. Looking at the front of the video card, we can see the heat sink that cools the GPU, MSI's T.O.P. Tech II (Thermal Obviation Protection Cooling). The cooler is equipped with a smart fan that adjusts the  fan speeds under different operating conditions. The fan is virtually silent in almost all conditions. The use of this unique cooling system is supposed to help in prolonging the life of the card and aid in overclocking.

What is underneath the cooler is obviously the NV34 graphics processor. The chip is based on the 0.15-micron process and runs at a  speed of 250MHz. The thermal compound used between the chip and the heat sink is the classic white thermal grease.

The video card is equipped with 128MB DDR SDRAM. The memory chips are all from Samsung and operate at 400MHz. Also note that these memory chips are not BGA modules but rather 4ns TSOP II chips.

The I/O configuration on the back of the card has a standard D-Sub Port, which allows the monitor to be plugged in to the card. There is also a DVI-I (Digital Visual Interface) connector and a TV-Out connector. The TV-Out allows for the output image to be shown on a TV or other video device. It is a really nice addition to this card, especially  for it just being a "budget" card. As time rolls on more people are using their computers as their home multimedia centers.