i just bought a CHAINTECH Geforce FX5200 128mb with DVI..
my question is how can i know if my card has 64 or 128 bit?
i saw benchmarks between 64bit and 128bit fx5200's have a huge difference in performance.
can someone help me how to determine my card if it is 64 or 128bit..
thanks
God bless

any stickers on the card? any screen when you first turn the pc on? when i used to have a geforce there was a screen when i first powered on that said the card model and memory size.

well... it boots up with the 128mb memory info only and the bios version and the FX5200 ....
but not the 64 bit or 128 bit
hmmmmmmmmmm

Ummm... It would more than likely be 32-bit, as AGP is 32 bit, isn't it?

no not the AGP slot... the VGA card itself....

are you asking how much Memory it has?

Like 64MB or 128MB?

I don't think you mean 128 bit.

Where did you see these benchmarks?

All video cards made today are 128bit.

not true
http://www.kronandata.se/upl/%7B9C5C...B8C8A53%7D.pdf

and check out the general specs. "64 bit memory interface"
other FX5200 have 128 bit memory interface. I do not know how to check, but I am sure if you went to the manufacturers site, it would tell you there.

i already checked chaintech's website..
it has no information on how to know a 64 or 128bit fx5200..
besides.. chaintech only has one FX5200 product..
the other one is a FX5200 ultra...

From what I've read, the 128-bit has 8 memory chips on the card: 4 on the side, 4 on the top. The 64bit has 4 chips on the side and 4 blank spaces along the top of the card.

Also, see if the box says if the memory bandwidth is 6.4gig or 3.2gig. (128bit has a 6.4gig bw)

Lastly, if you can run 3dmark on the card, a 64bit will be in the 4000-5000 range, a 128bit from 6000-8000( I think).

I found a good review with photos highlighting the difs between 64-bit & 128-bit.
http://www.ivmm.com/review/inno3d/8x...fx_5200_3.html

Can someone who is all knowing enlighten everyone on the 'bit' deal? What do these numbers mean, what's the difference, how important is the difference and so on

Cool

Well, I'm not all-knowing but I am a smarty-pants so here goes.

Memory bandwidth(in GB/sec)= speed(mhz)*bitrate/8. So even though the engine is the same, the lower memory bandwidth means a data bottleneck between the video ram and the video processor.

The review I linked to above shows the difference in games: frame rates are 40% lower despite having the same amount of memory and same core chip & speed.

I must say, I think it was pretty irresponsible of nvidia not to make sure companies are making the difference more clear.