Conclusions
When NVIDIA launched the GeForce 6800, they talked up the new architecture as a scalable design that would power a top-to-bottom line of graphics cards. With the GeForce 6200, that top-to-bottom line is complete, at least as far as add-in desktop graphics cards are concerned. The GeForce 6200 brings the impressive rendering capabilities of the GeForce 6 series to the budget space with fewer compromises than one might expect. The GeForce 6200's strong performance in DOOM 3 shows that this budget card isn't too short on pixel processing power.

Priced between $129 and $149, the GeForce 6200 will do battle with ATI's Radeon X300 and Radeon X600 Pro. Against the X300, the GeForce 6200 is clearly superior. However, with the exception of DOOM 3, the X600 Pro's performance is tough to match. The GeForce 6200 performs exceptionally well given its relatively low clock speeds, but against a card with a 100MHz core and memory clock advantage, there's only so much it can do.

In some circles, the GeForce 6200 will also compete with Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator 900. Those who purchase PCs from the big PC makers will likely have the option of going with integrated graphics or trading up to something like the GeForce 6200. Based the performance of the GMA 900, trading up looks like the only viable option for gaming, at least with newer titles. The GMA 900's lack of shader power has a devastating impact on performance, and it's rare that pixel shader effects are even displayed correctly. To make matters worse, the GMA isn't detected as a DirectX 9 graphics option by some games.

As I wrap things up, I can't help but be struck by the GeForce 6200 graphic chip's relatively large die size. It appears to be an NV43 with some of its pixel shaders disabled, and it's a big chip for what should be a very high volume part. I wouldn't be surprised to see a GeForce 6100 or 6300 emerge at some point down the road with a smaller die size and perhaps four pixel pipes bound to two ROPs using that fancy fragment crossbar.

Whatever happens in the future, right now the GeForce 6200 is a pretty compelling graphics card for budget-minded gamers. It's clearly a better option than the Radeon X300, but add-in board manufacturers are going to have to have to break out some Turbo Golden Sample Special Editions with higher clock speeds to catch the Radeon X600 Pro.