Seven variants of the GeForce FX 5200 (test) compete in the benchmark with other graphics cards of their era, including Nvidia GeForce 4 MX 440 and GeForce 6200 as well as ATi Radeon 9250 and Radeon 9200 SE. In his reader test, the author explains why it is primarily about overcoming childhood trauma.
GeForce FX 5200 triggers childhood trauma
After community member _chiller_, who was 13 years old at the time, received his first “new gaming PC” for Christmas in 2003 and no longer had to use his parents' used family PCs, he could fall back on the following hardware.
- AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (test)
- 512 megabytes of DDR RAM with 333 MHz
- Hard drive with 80 gigabytes of storage space
- Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 with 64-bit memory interface
The Nvidia GeForce FX 5200, which is connected particularly narrowly via a 64-bit memory interface, quickly turned out to be a bottleneck, and that in a year that was to produce such classics as Far Cry, Half Life 2 and Doom 3.< /p>
I had to get through the entire gaming year 2004 with this pickle graphics card – the year in which Far Cry, Half Life 2 and Doom 3, among others, were launched.
_chiller_, community member
In retrospect, the author considers the fact that “despite this graphics card” he has been working “professionally in the hardware industry for 8 years” and “has not looked for any other hobby” to be a miracle.
So with this article I'm reappraising my childhood hardware trauma, so buckle up and join me on the wild journey through the deep FX5200 swamp!
_chiller_ , Community Member
For the comparison test, all graphics cards had the following “slightly” more modern basic configuration available:
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @2.6 GHz *
- * OC by increasing the clock rate of the interface between the processor and the Northbridge to 290 MHz, the so-called Front Side Bus (FSB)
- ASRock 775Dual-VSTA with Socket 775< /li>
- 2× 1,024 megabyte DDR-434 CL2-3-3-5 from G.Skill
- 128 gigabyte SD memory card from Samsung
- connected via IDE adapter
- Corsair TX750M
- 24" Full HD monitor
From today's perspective, the built-in socket 775 mainboard ASRock 775Dual-VSTA, which supported two generations of RAM, is particularly interesting: DDR memory with up to 400 MHz and DDR2 with up to 667 MHz.
Seven GeForce FX 5200 in direct comparison
The inglorious stars of this reader test are the seven variants of the Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 from the Nvidia GeForce FX series introduced in 2003, which have to compete with an ATi Radeon 9250 and 9200 SE as well as a GeForce 4 MX 440.
The graphics cards based on the NV34 graphics processor from Nvidia, which was first manufactured in 150 nm and later in 140 nm, can be recognized as models from the entry-level series by their looks alone, even if the cardboard packaging of the MSI GeForce FX 5200 is clearly addressed to gamers.
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Collection of graphics cards from the Nvidia GeForce FX series (Image: _chiller_)
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Collection of graphics cards from the Nvidia GeForce FX series 
Collection of graphics cards from Nvidia GeForce FX series Synthetic benchmarks
The reader test posted as a reader article in the ComputerBase forum can be compared with several benchmarks such as 3DMark 2000, 3DMark 2001 SE and 3DMark 2003 as well as the Aquamark 3 and has the nice name:
- [Reader Article] The GeForce FX 5200 Freakshow by ComputerBase reader _chiller_
6× classic games against 7× GeForce FX 5200
In addition to the synthetic benchmarks, the eleven Graphics cards are also used for classic games such as Gothic and Gothic 2 as well as Unreal 2 and Jedi Knight 3.
Benchmarks – Gothic 2 (image: chiller_)Wide game benchmarks can be found directly in the reader's article, and the author has also written down his observations on each game.
Feedback expressly desired
As always, questions and suggestions as well as praise and criticism of the reader's article in the comments to this message and in the forum are expressly welcome.
Give me the instructions !
In the “From the community” category, the editors repeatedly focus on interesting reader articles from the ComputerBase forum.
Recently, the following reader articles from the ComputerBase forum have secured a place on the start page:
- AMD Ryzen 7 1700X and two Intel Xeon X5460 in the CPU Duell
- Steam Deck first-hand reports directly from players
- Mini-ITX power dwarf: Radeon RX 6900 XT and Ryzen 9 5950X under water
- K7 and Voodoo²: A journey back in time to the old days of hardware
- AMD, Intel and Nvidia: The ideal gaming PC has been modernized
In order to be able to report more frequently and more up-to-date on new developments and projects from the community in the future, the editors always ask for information in the thread “From the community: your information on interesting reader articles”.
The editors would like to thank the community member “konkretor” for reporting this message.
Update 04/05/2022 9:27 p.m.
Graphics cards of the GeForce FX series from the community
You can rely on the community from the ComputerBase forum and so the readers answered the call again this time and contributed photos from their private pool showing graphics cards from the GeForce FX series and can be seen in the gallery below.
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MSI GeForce FX 5600 by andi_sco
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MSI GeForce FX 5600 by andi_sco 
MSI GeForce FX 5200 by Grübelfisch 
MSI GeForce FX 5200 by Grübelfisch 
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 by Staubor 
Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 EP by Me_phisto The editors would like to thank the community members “andi_sco”, ” Staubor”, “Brooding Fish” and “Me_phisto” for their support.
Update 04/14/2022 11:53 p.m.
Even more graphics cards from the GeForce FX series from the community
In the meantime, the community from the ComputerBase forum has dug up more great photos from their private pool and these confirm that today the GeForce FX series is definitely a popular retro collector's item.
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Also called wickedgonewild own a hair dryer
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Wickedgonewild also owns a hair dryer 
Wickedgonewild also has a hairdryer 
The Gainward GeForce FX 5950 Ultra by wickedgonewild 
The Gainward GeForce FX 5950 Ultra by wickedgonewild 
A Quadrong FX? Wickedgonewild also has these in stock! 
A Quadro FX? Wickedgonewild also has these in stock! 
Asus GeForce FX 5950 Ultra by wickedgonewild 
Asus GeForce FX 5950 Ultra by wickedgonewild 
Asus GeForce FX 5950 Ultra by wickedgonewild 
Asus GeForce FX 5950 Ultra by wickedgonewild 
A GeForce FX 5200 128MB by kryzs 
A GeForce FX 5200 128MB by kryzs 
An AOpen GeForce FX 5600 by Hexxxer76 
An AOpen GeForce FX 5600 by Hexxxer76 
A passively cooled GeForce FX 5200 from Zotac by BlastFromPast 
A GeForce FX 5200 Ultra by BlastFromPast 
The Föhn 2.0 by BlastFromPast 
Queediab's passive FX 5200 Community member wickedgonewild in particular has an impressive collection beautiful retro graphics cards from the GeForce FX series.
The editors would like to thank the community for participating in this action.