Reply 22600 of 28625, by TrashPanda
fosterwj03 wrote on 2022-09-06, 02:25:I bought this PCI GeForce FX 5200 (256MB, 128-bit bus) for my overkill Windows 95 build last week. While it isn't a great card […]
I bought this PCI GeForce FX 5200 (256MB, 128-bit bus) for my overkill Windows 95 build last week. While it isn't a great card for DX9, I found it the best (i.e. fastest) PCI video card that I've tried so far still fully compatible with Windows 95 and DirectX 8 (and below). I used the GeForce 45.23 drivers for Windows 9x because they were the last drivers that provided the Nvidia control panel within Windows 95.
I needed a PCI or PCI-E video card because I'm shooting for a fast single-core CPU as the primary driver for this build. Here are the specs:
- Gigabyte GA-P75-D3 (Intel B75)
- Intel Core i7-2600K (3.8GHz Boost Clock on a Single Core)
- 8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600MHz
- PNY GeForce FX 5200 PCI (256MB, 128-bit Bus)
- Sound Blaster Live! Value
- D-Link DFE 500-TX 10/100 Network Adapter
- Startech PCI-E 7-Port USB 1.1/2.0 Adapter
- Rosewill RC-212 SATA Adapter
- Generic 64GB SATA2 SSD
- 2x Generic DVD-RW Drives
- Windows 95 OSR 2.5Windows 95 OSR 2.5 runs really well on this platform, and I haven't encountered any major compatibility issues with the FX 5200 so far. I can run MDK 2 at 1080p (16-bit color mode) with over 60 FPS, and Unreal Tournament runs well at 1080p in both DirectX and OpenGL modes. Jedi Knight 2 oddly won't run in 16-bit color mode (it crashes if I don't select 32-bit color), but it runs buttery smooth at 1280x1024 (32-bit color). It's also nice to see the fog effects in Thief 2. I got a score of 6422 in 3DMark 2000 with the FX 5200 which is nearly double the score I got with an overclocked Radeon 9000 PCI (64-bit bus).
The passive heatsink on the FX 5200 gets pretty hot, though. I think I need to invest in an active cooling kit for the card.
This has turned into a pretty sweet build, and it brings back a lot of memories from installing and using Windows 95 back in the day. This is the kind of hardware I wish I had back then.
The FX5200 in PCI is likely the better use case for it as that bus wont be able to push it to the point that its flaws come into play, I think we all know just how painful this card can be on an AGP bus. Its also more compatible than the 6200 PCI !