Gainward GF3 Ti200 impulse buy

[Workin']

I just ordered one of these from newegg as a crazy impulse purchase - it seems decent enough, and it is red (and it was the cheapest GF3 they had)

It will be replacing a 32MB Leadtek GF2 Pro. I play mostly UT, some Q3. I'd like to be able to use 1600x1200, the GF2 doesn't quite cut it at that. Hopefully the GF3 will.

Anyone have one of these, and how do you like it?

 

[Jethro666]

I have a regular GF3, forget about D3d. Open GL runs UT much better on your new card.

 

[jcmkk]

Gainward is my brand of choice for graphics cards. Good decision. I would have got the Gainward instead of the ASUS G3 Ti 200 myself, but the Gainward cards weren't out yet when I bought my new graphics card.

 

[Smbu]

Well, I don't have a Gainward GF3 Ti200, but it should be a good card.
Before I switched over to my Visiontek GF3 Ti500, I was using a Gainward GF 2 Pro/450 golden sample card and it was a very good card. I probably would have gotten one of the Gainward GF3 Ti500 cards if they had been out when I bought VT card.

 

[RDP]

I had a problem with my Gainward Golden Sample ti200. Check the refresh rate if your monitor has an on screen display. The rate might be clocked higher than it is set in windows. If so, be careful not to over-refresh your monitor. Also, I think this problem resulted in the card itself being overclocked, as well. Don't know if Gainward ever fixed the problem, but I returned mine for a Leadtek.

The card worked fine, otherwise, was fast and stable.

 

[JohnDeWeese]

I've had my Gainward ti450 (GeForce 3 Ti200) for a month now. Great performance and all, but I've had the same problem with vertical sync rates. It always hovers about 4Hz above the expected sync rate, which really annoys my NEC MultiSync LCD 1700M+ display. I have a feeling this sync inaccuracy also caused my other monitor to blink about on occasion. How annoying! Any ideas?

- John

 

[MrGrim]

Should have got the Leadtek TDH.

 

[vyrt1go]

i have the PNY verto gf3ti200, and i have had no such problems. have any of you (speaking to the ones with the refresh problems) downloaded nvreffix.exe its a tool that allows you to set all of the refresh rates for every resolution that your monitor supports up in a little applet. i also recommend checking out to see that your monitor is not set to "plug and play monitor" in device manager. if so, update driver and specify the type. go to "show all hardware" and select your monitor from the list, if it isnt in there, just use the "standard" monitor type and select (SVGA 1024*768 @ 85Hz for example if it is a 17" crt monitor)....use your discretion here, if you have a 19" monitor you may want to select a different one. but if your manufacturer is listed in there and your specific monitor is not, you can select the closest one (spec wise) from the list. go to the manufacturers web site and get the specs (maximum resolution and refresh rates) and shoose the one that most closely matches your own. My monitor is an AOC Spectrum 7Glr (17" monitor with max res of 1600*1200 @ 65Hz) but it isnt in the list, so i just use the AOC Spectrum 7Nlr from the list. both monitors have the same (very similar) specs and it works just fine. hope that helps, but by all means GET RID OF "PLUG and PLAY" monitor if that is what it is listed at.

v

 

[RDP]

Vyrt1go,

Thanks for the info, but from my experience that's not what the problem was. Whatever you set refresh to in windows, whether through display properties or using a refresh fixer, the actual refresh will be about 6% higher. It is my suspicion that these cards are also overclocked by 6%, based on my own benchmarking. It must be a bios timing issue.

Of course, you could use Powerstrip to set the refresh to a number exactly 6% lower, thereby forcing the proper refresh, but I never went to that trouble.

 

[TBC]

I could be wrong, but I remember someone saying they fixed the refresh rate problem with their Gainward by removing the Gainward tools program that was running in the system tray.

 

[Workin']

Thanks for the replies. I'll be using the Nvidia reference drivers along with NVmax and the nv refresh rate fix if necessary - not Gainward's driver set. Running Windows 2000 Professional, and maybe XP Pro sooner or later.

 

[TBC]

I will have to ask the one guy in the thread who said he fixed his problem, whether it was specifically related to the refresh rate or not. ctk1981 is the one who said he fixed his problem by removing xpertools... although after reading it again, I'm not certain if he meant specifically for the refresh rate or not.

The thread I read it in is here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=609187&highlight_key=y&keyword1=gainward

 

[Patryn]

 

[Patryn]

Damn. Don't know what just happened there. Let's try that again.

I just ordered the same card on Saturday. I'm hoping it will show up this week. I'm taking a much larger jump than most of you it seems. I'm going from a Voodoo 3 3000 to the GeForce 3 ti200/450 golden sample. I'm hoping it will make a very large improvement. I'm sure it will.

 

[OCDuron]

Gainward makes really good stuff. They overclock very well and look cool too

 

[putzman]

I own this card. I love it... Clocked at 240/500 stock hs+f lotsa casefans... I was running 240/515 but I had two bright green pixel-sized anomalies in 2d... As far as refresh goes, My vertical sync at 1280X960 is 100.0 hz as reported by my monitor... This is also what the setting is in windows... I have this hunch that gainward made some manufacturing mistakes with the first release, and have fixed these errors... AFAIK the first set of gainward ti200's had 4.5ns ram and no ramsinks... They also had a hsf on the gpu that looked more like an orb cooler than the current one... It would make sense with the experiences I have heard of...

 

[Workin']

Well, just got it installed. It came a day early (thanks Newegg and FedEx!). Working well under WinXP Pro so far. Clocked at 200/450 at the moment. 2D looks great at 1600x1200, 32bpp, 85Hz on my 21" Trinitron. Haven't installed any games yet.

The CD that came with it had the 22.40 drivers on it, that's what I installed, along with Gainward's utility. My horiz refresh is correct, so they must have fixed the problem if there was one.

 

[Xtasy]

Cool, i am also interested in this bad mofo! Yep i believe there are two versions sooo watch out, the first had 4.5 ns, weird ass lookin cooler, n no ram sinks. The 2nd had 4 ns, cooler looking coolers, sooo it totally blows leadtek cards out of the water being cheaper n everything than the leadtek gfti200t (not tdh, I wouldn't gamble on the tdh for 3.8ns EliteMt mem just yet). I just want to know how well your cards overclocked, if u have a 4 ns or a 4.5 ns one.

 

[Workin']

The card has ram sinks and 4ns ram. I don't have any 3D games installed yet, so I can't comment on that at this time. I'll post my impressions in this thread when I get somethiong going.

I'll say it's a cool looking card, too bad no one can see it. Wild looking fan, and the whole thing is bright red.

 

[RDP]

They obviously fixed the problem after releasing some bum cards originally. If I had kept mine, I'd be pissed .

As it is, I'm happy to have the apparently rare Leadtek TDH. But the Gainward you have should be a great card.

 

[Workin']

OK, first problem - I'm running WinXP Pro at the moment, and I installed Unreal Tournament. However, I can't get it to run. Right when it starts, and trys to detect the 3D device to use, the display goes all squiggly and the machine locks, then reboots itself after about 30 seconds.

I have a VIA KT266A mobo, 1.4 tbird, 1 GB RAM, and a Vortex2 sound card. I installed the latest 4-in-1's, and tried the 22.40 version drivers that came with the card, and also the 21.83's from nvidia. Same problem.

Am I missing something along the way?

 

[JohnDeWeese]

Workin': had same problems, uninstalled Xpertools and reinstalled latest NVidia drivers and everything was fixed.

 

[RobsTV]

Workin', while I can't address your problem, I can say it is a great card.
While waiting for my $99 Visiontek GF3 Ti200 to arrive, a friend gave me his
new Gainward GF3 Ti200 to test. He didn't mention it was golden sample.

Had no problems running it at 262 core and 561 memory with stock cooling,
on an Epox KT133A with FSB of 148. With 1GHz T-Bird at 1.4GHz, and Win ME,
scores 7349 default 3DMarks 2001. Kinda sorry I didn't get this card for $170
instead of the VT for $99 after rebate. This must also be newer version, as
no refresh rate issues at all.

Ti 500+ performance out of a sub $200 card!

 

[Trashman]

Workin'...hope you get problem solved and enjoy your new card...I ordered the Gainward Ti200 on Sat., impulse buy as well, I am finally saying goodbye to my G400Max, good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Workin']

Thanks for the replies, I'm reinstalling XP right now and we'll see how it goes...

However, the Gainward SMOKES under Windows 2000 - I have it clocked at 240/500 (same as Ti500) and it works flawlessly. Seems like there's still room for more speed, I'll save that for another day .

JohnDeWeese - which 4-in-1's did you use?