PNY VCGF3TI2PB Nvidia GeForce3 Ti 200 64MB AGP Graphics Card

I'm a casual gamer on a budget, and my TNT2 Ultra card (by Diamond) was getting a bit long in the tooth. I did some research and settled on a GeForce3 TI200 becuase of price/performance issues, and reviews of other PNY cards. I believe this was an excellent purchasing decision, even after several weeks.
1) This is a great looking card, physically, and the ample fan and heatsinks should help with cooling issues.
2) Installation was a snap. I actually installed this card with the latest drivers available from NVidia and was pleased by the simplicity of the installation; no hitches, no freezing, no nothing.
3) Framerates in popular games were excellent; around 85 FPS for 1024X768 mode in Quake3 with the graphics options maxed out and a very involved demo. (I have a Dell 850MHZ PIII with 512 MB RAM)
4) Overclocking is simplicity itself, and let's you squeeze out higher framerates. Look for the "Coolbits" registry hack.
5) DVD playback looks...Read more

Familiar question? NVidia makes great chips but they definitely make it confusing when it comes to deciding which card to buy. First is a Geforce, then a Geforce2, oh wait, here's this MX version, now there's two different MX versions, now a Pro and a GTS version... oh I see an Ultra version. Oh man, now a Geforce3, now a TI200 and TI500. Are they deliberately trying to confuse us?

To sort through the insanity I went to the 3DMark website. As of the time of this writing, the results stand as follows (from fastest to slowest):
1. ATI Radeon 8500
2. NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 500
3. NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200
4. NVIDIA GeForce3
5. ATI Radeon 7500
6. NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra
7. NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/Pro

Any of these cards will run anything currently out without breaking a sweat. In fact, as many reviewers have pointed out, many of the newest features available in the Geforce 3 and Radeon cards haven't even been incorporated into games (yet). Compare prices and...Read more

There are rumors that you have to spend 400 bucks to get a TOP of the line Video Accelerator. Let me put and end to this rumor right now. I'm running a P4 1.6 GHZ, 640MB RAM system, with this Ti-200 card. It produces AMAZINGLY realistic and smooth graphics. It's a SERIOUS graphics card, and can run ANY game you buy at its max.

Compare it to the Ti-500, which runs 150 bucks or more than this one. I've seen BOTH cards in action, and you CANT tell the difference in the two. There is no reason to go out and blow the extra money. This is the best deal going right now. Top of the line performance for a lesser price.

My reasoning for PNY producing this card?
It gives everyone a chance to enjoy the Geforce3 Ti series cards without limiting it to the big spenders. The Ti-500 is "all about bragging rights" as the advertisement states..and thats all it's about. Save your money and add some more RAM instead. If you want serious graphics, this is your card.

Note: Be sure your monitor...Read more