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As stated before, I decided to run the MSI K7D Master for the tests, as the graphics card seemed to run fine when installed in the board. The K7D Master is certainly not going to allow for the highest 3D Mark2001 scores, as it is a server board, but it will serve the purpose quite well here. I am comparing the GeForce 4MX 420 to an MSI Starforce GeForce 3 ti200, which both use the same drivers, and therefore make testing completely fair. An interesting note is that the GeForce 4MX line is actually taking the place of the GeForce 3 ti200, as it is being phased out of the market, along with the original GeForce 3 and the ti500, which are being replaced by the GeForce 4 ti4200 and 4400, respectively.
Test System
MSI K7D Master
1 Athlon XP 1700+
512 MB Kingmax PC2100 DDR
Windows XP Professional
10 gig Maxtor 7,200 RPM hard drive.
nVidia Detonator version 27.20 (version bundled with board, runs both cards.)
3DMark 2001se
3D Mark 2001se is the king of graphic card benchmarks. It tests DirectX 7 functionality, fill rate, and Direct X 8 functionality. Since the GeForce 4MX doesn't run any of the DirectX 8 tests, I don't expect too much from it. I am running each test using the 3D Mark 2001se defaults.
Default settings, not overclocked
Here we see the card get 4074 3D marks, which isn't too shabby, but still nowhere close to what the GeForce 3 ti200 is getting. Obviously, the lack of DirectX 8 features doesn't help the GeForce 4MX 420 when it comes to 3D Mark's. This score puts the board on par with Radeon 7500 cards, which isn't bad, as this card is about $20.00 less than the 7500.
Overclocked Memory 200MHZ, core 300MHZ. GeForce 3 ti200 at stock speed.
For all of the people who tell you overclocking doesn't help, show them this. I got nearly 700 extra 3D marks just by pushing the core and memory by 34 and 50 MHZ, respectively. The GeForce 3 ti200 is still beating it by nearly 1,000 3D Mark's, yet it only costs $40.00 more.
This card seemed to overclock very well, and I didn't notice any artifacts or color errors on screen during the whole benchmark. The overclocking tool is actually included within the MSI drivers, so you don't have to download Coolbits, or screw around with your registry. I didn't use any cooling other than what came stock, so with a Crystal Orb, we may have a heck of an overclocker. MSI doesn't warrant overclocking, yet they include it in the driver. Kind of ironic, isn't it? I suppose that if you installed RAMsinks and a Crystal orb, you could get 50 MHZ+ from the core and 60 MHZ+ from the memory.
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