*kinda dead, price raised* FIC A92 RADEON 9200 64MB 8x AGP Video Card for $20

[Cheetah8799]

*** Sorry people. Looks like MicroCenter caught on to this awesome deal and raised the price to $59.99. Hopefully a bunch of you got in on it though. They had it at $39.99 for quite a while, so it wasn't a price mistake, just loss of profits for the company I guess...***



<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0171411">A92 RADEON 9200 64MB 8x AGP Video
Card</a>

Rebate link is located on the bottom of the MicroCenter web page.

$39.99 - $20 MIR + tax and/or shipping = ~$20 - $25.

I bought mine in-store, so only paid tax. Final price for me was $22.59. Still a good deal though. Newegg has all their 9200se cards at $41 or more.


The card is fanless, and does get pretty darn hot. If you intend to do some gaming with it, you may want to add a fan to it. I tested mine with Aquamark and it ran fine. While running 3DMark 2001se though it crashed my test system. I didn't try it again though. I just assumed it was due to the chipset overheating.

Retail package includes the card, manual, driver disc, DVI to VGA converter, S-video to RCA converter, RCA extension, and s-video extension.

 

[Amputater]

How good is this card compared to a Radeon VE (7000)? I might want to upgrade if there is a noticable difference. I mainly browse the internet, excel, word, fireworks, and divx.

 

[Cheetah8799]

Originally posted by: Amputater
How good is this card compared to a Radeon VE (7000)? I might want to upgrade if there is a noticable difference. I mainly browse the internet, excel, word, fireworks, and divx.

If you're not doing any 3D intensive stuff, then there's no reason to upgrade. If you were doing a lot of 3D stuff you'd probably want something better anyways. Or maybe if you need the s-video or DVI output.

For normal 2D workstation type stuff, no reason to upgrade.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Amputater
How good is this card compared to a Radeon VE (7000)? I might want to upgrade if there is a noticable difference. I mainly browse the internet, excel, word, fireworks, and divx.

For gaming, or 2D work? 2D would probably be nearly identical. Does your card have Tv-out? That might be worth it to upgrade, if you want to watch occasional DVDs and other things.

For gamng, the 9200 should be a lot better, as the Radeon 7000 completely lacks a hardware T&amp;L unit, which most games require. I'm vaguely curious on how the 9200 performs in games, related to say, a GF4 MX440 card, which are generally around the same price.

It looks like the 9200 will support dual-monitors too, with an additional DVI-I to VGA converter. Hmm.

I was looking at upgrading my video card some time back, but then I spent the money on a new HD and some RAM. I've gone from a GF2 Ti (borrowed) to a GF2 MX (died during a flash update gone bad - chip was bad) to a PCI TNT1 (loaned to a friend) to a PCI 2MB S3 ViRGE/DX (my "backup spare") card in this machine. I think I'm going backwards. I was going to buy a GF2 Pro off of a friend after he upgraded for around $20-30, but he hasn't done so yet. This R9200 intrigues me.

Thanks, OP!

 

[Cheetah8799]

The 9200 is better than the MX440. I used to own a 9100 64mb card, and it was much better than the MX440 I tested. The 9200se isn't a LOT better than the 9100, but should be a little bit.

If choosing between a MX440 and a 9200, I'd go for the 9200 any day.

 

[pxc]

Thanks! Ordered one.

Here's how it compares to the GF4 MX440-8x for the same price a couple of days ago (9200/440, all at 1024x768x32 from THG's VGA charts):
UT2003: 30.7fps/30.3fps
BF1942: 61fps/55.9fps
CoD: 59.2fps/44.4fps
Q3:TA: 92.7fps/140.9fps
Warcraft 3: 43.4fps/37.89fps
C&amp;C Generals: 35.1fps/23.4fps
Halo DX8: yes/no (both are too slow anyways, but the 440 doesn't even support pixel shaders)
Nascar Thunder 2004: 36.7fps/37.6fps

 

[pxc]

Originally posted by: Cheetah8799
The 9200 is better than the MX440. I used to own a 9100 64mb card, and it was much better than the MX440 I tested. The 9200se isn't a LOT better than the 9100, but should be a little bit.

If choosing between a MX440 and a 9200, I'd go for the 9200 any day.

Whoa there. You're right about the 9200 vs MX440, but dangerously wrong about the other stuff. The Radeon 9100 is just a renamed 8500LE (250MHz 8 pipe R200 core, 500MHz memory) and it is probably one of the best bargain cards that was available several months ago.

The 9200se is a LOT weaker than the 9100: it uses the RV280 (value) core with only 4 pipes, 64-bit memory interface, slower clock speed and slower memory speed. The 9200se is less than 1/2 the speed of the 9200 in several cases (1024x768x32). This deal is pretty good because it's NOT the 9200se.

The MX440 and full 9200 (in this deal) aren't too far apart in performance. The 9200 is overall faster, but the differences in many games is not that much. At $20 + shipping, this is a very good bargain though.

 

[KenSr]

Thanks,
I just ordered mine.

Ken

 

[jessieqwert]

Also ordered one.
I really need the cables it comes with to use the tv out on my 9800. Apparently ATI uses a different S-Video then standard video equipment.
Thanks Cheetah!

 

[RMSistight]

This is a pretty good deal for a backup video card. I think I should get like 2.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hey, thanks for the good information, pxc.

One thing that I should probably also mention is, if you have a more expensive card, and have broken the DVI-I-to-VGA converter (they are apparently pretty fragile), then for $20 AR, these cards are hardly more than the price you would have to pay for a new adaptor at retail, that is, IF you can even find one.
That fact alone almost makes this a DoublePlusGood deal.

Edit: Actually, does this come with the DVI-I to VGA dongle? The microcenter web page's product specs don't seem to mention that explicitly. Perhaps I'm wrong. Still a pretty good deal regardless.

 

[becat]

Yes it does come with a "dongle." I got this card sometime earily this month when the ad (paper ad) said 39.99 after 20 rebate and there were no rebate but price were priced at 39.99. Now that the rebate actually exist, this would be a good deal to me, thanks op.

Does any one know, How does this card compare to 8500 32mb from earilier deal post?

Edit: I was able to do 3DMark 2001se( on defult setting) and it ran fine. I got 48xx mark score with my system,

Cel 2ghz
ECS P4VXASD2+ (anyone know how I could OC with this mobo?)
512mb pc2100
300w pu
TV tunner
sound blaster live 5.1
2 WD HD no raid
2 optical drives
bounces of usb devices pluged in

Edit 2: forgot to mention motherboard ^^;;

 

[Cheetah8799]

Actually, does this come with the DVI-I to VGA dongle?

Mine isn't a dongle. It's the actual solid adapter. Similar to the one shown here

 

[WhiteKnight]

I have an aging GF3 from summer '01. Is it worth upgrading to this? I play games occasionally, but it's obviously not a priority or I would have upgraded a long time ago. Will I notice a substantial improvement with this card? Thanks.

 

[PCPETE]

Offhand, it seems that the GF3 is just as good as this thing. The 9200 is just an enhanced 8500, with 8X agp right? I know it must have a little bit more clock the 9100?

9100=8500 Le
9200= 8500

I'm not sure thought a little bit rusty, school just ended for me! And I just found my password for here!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Cheetah8799

Actually, does this come with the DVI-I to VGA dongle?

Mine isn't a dongle. It's the actual solid adapter. Similar to the one shown here

Last time I checked, that was called a "dongle". But not a big deal.

I was going to ask the OP if this was available in-store too, but it seems that he mentioned he bought it in-store. Guess I need to read more carefully myself sometimes. I hope my local store isn't sold-out, I'm going down there now.

Edit because I'm pedantic and bored:

Powercolor calls it a dongle too, in their Radeon 9200 product description details.

Hmm. More intrigue - A92L photo gallery. Look familiar? I'm starting to think that FIC doesn't actually make this card, or maybe FIC makes the white-box versions that Powercolor resells? Do all ATI AIB cards come in the same physical style of cardboard box? The fact that both Powercolor's and FIC's cards are called A92L and A92LS are interesting too.

 

[LanEvoVI]

Nice! I've been looking for a cheap upgrade for my GF2 Pro...

 

[Ymmy]

where's the rebate at?

 

[becat]

I ordered online and pick up in store.
rebate is at their site follow the op 's link.

 

[multifacitedonyx]

Originally posted by: LanEvoVI
Nice! I've been looking for a cheap upgrade for my GF2 Pro...

I did the same. What kind of performance boost do you expect? I currently have the geforce 2 GTS pro. The big reason I got this new card was because of the DVI connection.

Thanks

 

[Naruto]

Expect a performance boost to geforce 3 level graphics. The card is pretty good at that my laptop radeon 9000 at the same speeds can play warcraft 3 @ 1280x1024(max detail) smoothly and call of duty @ 1024x768(hi detail) pretty well too. I never tried playing warcraft 3 or call of duty on my gf2 gts, but i'm sure it would be a pain.

 

[episodic]

How are rebates from this company? How are they overall for ordering online from (never heard of them). Thanks!

 

[gshock888]

i would assume my 9100 is a slower and older model of 9200 but my 9100 has 128MB!?

whats the point of upgrading to this then? maybe i can throw it to replace my MX400

 

[pxc]

Originally posted by: gshock888
i would assume my 9100 is a slower and older model of 9200

I went over this above. The 9100 is better than the 9200.

Radeon 9100: R200 core (8 texture units), 250MHz core, 500MHz 128-bit memory
Radeon 9200: RV280 core (4 texture units), 250MHz core, 400MHz 128-bit memory

Radeon 9200se: RV280 core (4 texture units), 200MHz core, 166MHz 64-bit memory (slow)

and if you want to keep score, the Radeon 9100 is exactly the same as the 8500LE and the Radeon 9200 is an update of the Radeon 9000 Pro with AGP8x support (9000Pro = RV250, 9200 = RV280).

If you already have a 9100 128MB, the 9200 isn't an upgrade. The 9100 is up to twice as fast as the 9200 with FSAA/AF enabled and about 20-50% faster with no FSAA/AF.

 

[byum]

Good price but FIC rebates are HORRIBLE!! Out of the 2 I sent it, I got 1 after 14 months, the other, got lost.