Product Specifications

Economical videocards of today allow users to experience all the same DirectX 9 eye candy that higher end models offer. This is quite a change from the past when both ATi and nVIDIA removed important features out of their low-end graphics processors in an attempt to cut costs. Times have changed for the better, and hopefully this will bring the world of full-fledged PC gaming to more consumers.

The class of entry-level nVidia GeForce 6200 TC (Turbo Cache) graphics processors work in a similar fashion to an integrated videocard. For the first time in history, the stand-alone videocard uses system memory as its own. This might sound like a bad thing.... since of course desktop computer memory is much slower than videocard memory, but it allows nVIDIA to keep the price of the videocard down. Most games do not need a dedicated 512MB of system memory to run!

In this review, PCSTATS will be testing MSI's NX6200TC-TD32E PCI Express videocard. MSI is one of nVidia's largest manufacturing partners these days, so it makes sense that the company release a 6200 TC-based card for the value markets.

The MSI NX6200TC-TD32E is based on the GeForce 6200 Turbo Cache core and actually includes 32MB of onboard memory in addition to borrowing system memory when necessary. The card supports dual analog monitors and includes the necessary DVI-to-analog converter. The videocard also supports S-Video and Component output which should make it useful for HTPC use.

Package includes Quick Installation Guide, Driver CD, S-Video to S-Video cable, Component out cable and DVI to analog converter.

The MSI NX6200TC-TD32E videocard is based on the reference nVIDIA design and is entirely passively cooled. I hope you have good airflow in your case though, because the heatsink does get quite toasty during operation. There are a total of two Samsung BGA DRAM modules on the videocard for 32MB of video memory. While that might not sound like a lot compared to other modern videocards, it's perfectly adequate for 2D desktop use and is a large enough frame buffer for low resolution 3D apps.

With a retail price of under $100 CDN, I was surprised to see the MSI NX6200TC-TD32E comes with anything at all!

No additional software is included with the videocard, but we're definitely happy to see MSI include the extra hardware. Those of you who want to hook up your computer to a TV can do so without problems and this makes the NX6200TC-TD32E a good HTPC videocard. The main component-output TV out cable is colour coordinated and MSI takes things one step further by actually labelling each individual strand. Very nice!

There's little doubt that the NX6200TC-TD32E is aimed directly at the entry level market, so it was nice to see that 2D image quality was good. The card is also capable of running dual analog monitors, or an LCD and a CRT.

Economical for Casual Gamers
To be frank, PC gaming is expensive and anyone who says you can build a fast gaming rig for "cheap" is not telling you the whole truth. Those of you who are thinking about getting into gaming can take your first baby steps with something like the MSI NX6200TC-TD32E though. It can't play at high resolutions or utilize AA/AF, but it does allow users to experience all the DirectX 9 and SM 3.0 eye-candy, something that would have been unthinkable only a generation ago.

With a retail price of just $92 CDN ($73 US), the MSI NX6200TC-TD32E is the perfect videocard for beginners and does not require a large monetary investment. Despite the low price, MSI does a good job at including pretty much all the necessary hardware, allowing users to take advantage of the TV/Component output and dual-monitor capabilities of the card.

The GeForce 6200 with TurboCache is the first video core on the market that can store data on system memory and use it as a frame buffer for graphics. While it's not as fast as onboard local memory, it does help save costs and we haven't seen competent entry level cards this cheap in a long time.

Keeping in mind the MSI's NX6200TC-TD32E's intended audience, I'd say the card performed pretty well. In most of the benchmarks we threw at it, the card provided acceptable framerates at 1024x768, meaning that lower resolutions will perform better still. Overclocking gave the NX6200TC-TD32E a decent boost in performance, most noticeably in Doom 3 and UT2003 at low resolutions. Because of its design, AA and AF is simply too much for a GeForce 6200TC card to handle.

It's nice to see nVIDIA being innovative instead of simply following the status quo. The MSI NX6200TC-TD32E is a great first card for those looking for a way to get into PC gaming without a major investment.

Source from the PCStats.com
(http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1805)