Zotac Geforce 8200

Zotac Geforce 8200


Review:
Motherboards with good onboard video have always been priced considerably higher than entry level models, but the simply named ZOTAC GeForce 8200 is set to change this perception. Costing only Rs.3,500, this motherboard uses one of the best current day onboard graphics chipsets, the Geforce 8200.

The Zotac secured a World- Bench score of 94, slightly faster than the Biostar TF 8200 A2+ motherboard based on the same chipset. The best part of this motherboard is of course its gaming performance. 3D Mark 2006 gave a score of 1173. Company of Heroes was easily playable at 1024 x 768 resolution and medium quality settings with 53 fps in the in-game benchmark ; DOOM 3 ran at 39 fps at similar settings.

This performance was not unexpected, as the Biostar motherboard tested earlier had set a precedent with good gaming performance. On the features and connectivity side, the Zotac does not disappoint even though it is a budget motherboard. Firewire and S/PDIF are included along with four USB ports, two standard PCI slots, one PCI-Express x16 (for a video card) and one PCI-Express x1 slot. The S/PDIF and 8-channel audio could have been better complimented with an HDMI or an analogue component / composite video output. Nevertheless, the full HD decoding that the video chipset is capable of makes it suitable for a HTPC if your TV has a VGA input.