The Last Bout of ‘03 – NVIDIA’s GeForce FX 5700 Ultra
by Derek Wilson on October 23, 2003 9:30 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
After testing the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra, we have been very pleasantly surprised by NVIDIA. We mentioned last week that the 5700's new architecture might help to close the gap. In fact, NVIDIA has flipped the tables on ATI in the midrange segment and takes the performance crown with a late round TKO. It was a hard fought battle with many ties, but in the games where the NV36 based card took the performance lead, it lead with the style of a higher end card.
We are still recommending that people stay away from upgrading to a high end card until the game they are upgrading for is available. By that time, either new cards will have trickled out, or the prices will have fallen. We still don't have a way to predict what card will be best for you in the future. If you are dead set on getting a DX9 card, we recommend you look to the midrange cards.
Neither card can touch the 9700 Pro for price/performance right now. If the 9700 Pro is in your price range and you're looking for a better than midrange performer for a near midrange price, go ahead and pick one up.
The GeForce FX 5700 Ultra will be debuting at $199 after a mail in rebate. If $200 is your hard limit, and you need a midrange card right now, the 5700 Ultra is the way to go if you want solid frame rates.
If $200 is still a bit much, the Radeon 9600 Pro is a very healthy option; we have yet to see how the non-Ultra 5700 performs as it may also deserve some attention once it hits the streets.
What will also determine our recommendations in this segment is what clock speeds add-in card vendors actually ship the products at. We’ll be keeping an eye on that and update our recommendations accordingly.
Of course, we still have more to come in the form of image quality analysis. Our findings in that arena will affect what we recommend just as much as pure speed. Stay tuned for more.
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Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
Ever hear of journalistic integrity? He has a responsibility to be objective. He replies "also, there were no glaringly unplayable image quality issues on either side of the line."What a political answer - glaringly unplayable image quality issues? A $499 card shouldn't have any unplayable issues, heck even a $99 card should be playable.
He's dodging the issue about playable image quality issues - missing or lower quality lighting effects for example. The point is that Nvidia has been caught lowering imager quality - removing the eye candy you are paying for in dx9 cards, and they have continued to do so.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
Once again "IQ to come in part 2"... mebbe they will ... mebbe they won't... but they don't have a very good track record so far... and what is up with that choice of games? Go read the [H]OCP review... I may have been vocal against [H] in the past but there review of teh 5700 and 5950 is spot on with worthwhile gaming results.....I really fail to see how you recommend 5700 over 9600pro in this.... and skip all the NV 'driver bugs' too.... ah well nm... another nail in the AT coffin....
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
Hrmm, I see an NVida add on the top right of my screen. Ever see ATI adds ant anandtech? Know what complementary copy is?Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
Here's my conclusion: if you're gonna bitch and moan, read a different tech site. No one's forcing you to accept Derek's conclusions.I think some of you need to be a little more respectful with your comments and suggestions.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
How can any conclusions be made without an image quality comparison. The "final words" section is based purely on the framerate numbers? How can you even draw a conclusion?Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
I'll just copy this from what I wrote at Beyond 3D:I was so confused by this comment from AT:
AnandTech wrote: "In fact, NVIDIA has flipped the tables on ATI in the midrange segment and takes the performance crown with a late round TKO. It was a hard fought battle with many ties, but in the games where the NV36 based card took the performance lead, it lead with the style of a higher end card."
That I tabulated my own results:
NON AA
---------
5700 wins 10 times
9600 XT wins 6
Where the 5700 won, it won on average by 15%
Where the 9600 won, it won on average by 17%
WITH AA / ANISO
---------
5700 wins 6 times
9600 wins 6 times
Where the 5700 won, it won on average by 23%
Where the 9600 won, it won on average by 54%
There certainly is ZERO justification for saying something like: "but in the games where the NV36 based card took the performance lead, it lead with the style of a higher end card."
That characteristic belongs to ATI, not nVidia.
Another way to look at it: What percentage FPS difference is required to declare a "clear winner?"
Let's say that less than 10% difference, the cards are tied. In this case:
NO AA/ANISO
----------------
5700 wins 6 tests
9600 wins 4 tests
When the 5700 wins, it's by an average of 22%
When the 9600 wins, it's by an average of 22%
With AA/Aniso
----------------
5700 wins 4 tests
9600 wins 6 tests
When the 5700 wins, it's by an average of 33%
When the 9600 wins, it's by an average of 54%
I wish Anand's conclusions would actually agree with his data.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
Hello? where are the hardware, software, and driver specs? Editorial review? What's that?Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
Separating Image Quality results from the review is completely misleading.Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
It's not unplayable image quality errors - the pics in the hardocp review show missing graphical features to enhance your gaming - ie walls with computers on them with nvidia with no blinking lights, on the ati it had purple and green blinking lights - yes playable on both - but when you pay $499 you want to see the game the way it was intended by the programmers. Same goes for the flashlight pics on hardocp , nvidia the flashlight beam is a mess, ati the flashlight beam is perfectly round like a real flashlight.Just another case of nvidia removing graphical effects to speed up their cards to compete with ati.
DerekWilson - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
so, the cheapest 9800 Pro I see on new egg is a refurb for 280...also, there were no glaringly unplayable image quality issues on either side of the line.
give us a chance to get everything we want to get done done wrt image quality. We've got a lot planned.