Video Card Thread (Mostly Gecube x1950xt)

...in Crysis, which doesn't have proper AA anyway.
unfortunately nobody has used a game with proper AA like HL2:E2 for a comparison with the new cards.
Buy me an 8800GT and I'll test it for you...

Lack of evidence does not mean the trend does not exist. Bear in mind the biggest image quality concerns in games like oblivion were using the 8800GTX, and I've no reason to believe the 8800GT provides a better image quality than its bigger brother.

 

apart form it being newer tech?

i understand about IQ bing better with ATI, i even saw some screenies my self about it, but not about AA

 

Is it just me or does this thread seem to load slower?

 

Wouldn't know, I'm torrenting, but it seems fine to me. It'll probably be the picture I posted earlier.

 

Don't think the picture would be a problem, its on another page.

 

so it is...
dunno, as I say, is as quick as any for me, and not even that bad, c. 1s to load the page.

 

lol. Could be my Dlink router acting up. Its been dropped off the tabletop (6 ft) onto a wood floor a couple times xD. Ill get a new one when I don't get any signal or when wireless N is cheap.

 

Lol rough treatment eh? Most routers don't even need that to start going bad, you should think yourself lucky!

 

Yea, I guess I am lucky. My old DI-524 lasted me about 2 years with me finally retiring it when it would give me a low to very low signal on my computer and when the antenna was paper clipped together. Currently I get an excellent connection anywhere in my house except by my HDTV, which ruined my media center PC streaming video/audio idea.

 

If in doubt, CAT-5E!

 

I wish but impossible at my placements of the computers.

 

Unsatisfied by the absurd number of high end cards they already produced, nvidia has now released their 9800GTX, now available at UK retailer Specialtech and US retailer Newegg, presumably among others.
The price point of the card is £220 or $330, similar to the 8800GTX's recent price tag.
Is it worth buying? not really. The 9800GTX is the same card as the 8800GTS G92, with a marginally higher initial clock speed, and slightly better overclocking potential. As such it sits between the 8800GTX and 8800 Ultra in terms of performance, IMO not sufficient to justify the name 9800GTX, more a 9800GTS. (Presumably in a few weeks a 9900GTX will come along and beat it by a few more percent...)

From real world benchmarks, the card pulls typical better-8800 figures, but pulls greater figures with AA. Given its not a new architecture, I'm thinking nvidia have presumably lowered the AA quality some more. Interestingly enough, the Crysis benchmark board is now topped by the HD3870X2, which presumably after some driver tweaking now runs well with the game, 33fps at 1280x1024 Very High, 26fps with AA, but despite ATI's greater AA quality, I still wouldn't recommend using it in Crysis since the effect is so bland and half-hearted, and 33fps is playable - 26 I'm not so sure.

The 9800GTX scores far lower with AA in Crysis (32 to 18) presumably due to a lack of memory, since amazingly it ships with only 512MB - presumably nvidia thought 768MB was a waste of time - I thought it was one of the 8800GTX's best selling points.

Overall the 8800GTX, 8800GTS G92, 9800GTX, 8800 Ultra and HD3870X2 all pull around 25% more than the 8800GT in Crysis.

In all other games, the trend is unremarkable, except for Supreme Commander, where again the HD3870X2 is well out in the lead, and Flight simulator X, where the ATI cards take significant performance hits.

The 9800GX2 unfortunately wasn't included in the benchmark I'm looking at, but realistically, who's going to buy one?

Card: Total frame rate across four tests (highest playable resolution, assuming 30fps, 20fps for Flight Sim X, Crysis in second bracket

Flight Sim X:

9800GX2: Same as 8800 Ultra
9800GTX: 124 (1920x1200 w/AA) CPU limited to 32fps 2/4 tests
8800Ultra: 116 (1920x1200 w/AA) CPU limited to 29fps 4/4 tests
8800GTX: 116 (1920x1200 w/AA) CPU limited to 29fps 4/4 tests
8800GTS92: 109 (1920x1200 w/AA) CPU limited to 28fps 3/4 tests
8800GT: 107 (1920x1200 w/AA) CPU limited to 27fps 3/4 tests
HD3870X2: 82 (1920x1200) CPU limited to 22fps 3/4 tests
HD3870: 78 (1920x1200) CPU limited to 22fps 3/4 tests

Call of Duty 4:
9800GX2: 70% faster than 8800 Ultra
9800GTX: 202 (1920x1200 w/AA)
8800Ultra: 200 (1920x1200 w/AA)
8800GTX: 186 (1920x1200 w/AA)
8800GTS92: 178 (1920x1200 w/AA)
8800GT: 165 (1920x1200 / 1680x1050 w/AA)
HD3870X2: 188 (1920x1200 w/AA)
HD3870: 157 (1920x1200 / 1680x1050 w/AA
9600GT: 7% slower than 8800GT (as in 8800GT is 7% faster)
HD3850: 10% slower than HD3870 (as in HD3870 is 10% faster)


Crysis:
9800GX2: 33% faster than 8800 Ultra
9800GTX: 87 (1280x1024) (1680x1050 / 1280x1024 w/AA)
8800Ultra: 96 (1280x1024) (1680x1050 / 1280x1024 w/AA)
8800GTX: 87 (1280x800) (1680x1050 / 1280x1024 w/AA)
8800GTS92: 75 (1280x800) (1680x1050 / 1024x768 w/AA)
8800GT: 70 (1280x800) (1280x1024 / 1024x768 w/AA)
HD3870X2: 93 (1280x1024) (1680x1050 / 1280x1024 w/AA)
HD3870: 68 (1280x800) (1280x1024 / 1280x800 w/AA)
9600GT: 23% slower than 8800GT
HD3850: 15% slower than HD3870

World in Conflict:
9800GX2: 31% faster than 8800 Ultra (significantly greater at 1680x1050 or lower)
9800GTX: 117 (1920x1200 / 1280x800 w/AA)
8800Ultra: 132 (1920x1200 / 1280x1024 w/AA)
8800GTX: 120 (1920x1200 / 1280x1024 w/AA)
8800GTS92: 103 (1920x1200 / 1024x768 w/AA)
8800GT: 99 (1920x1200 / 1024x768 w/AA)
HD3870X2: 135 (2560x1600 / 1280x1024 w/AA)
HD3870: 97 (1920x1200 / 1024x768 w/AA)
9600GT: 3% slower than 8800GT
HD3850: 25% slower than HD3870

Supreme Commander:
9800GX2: 52% faster than 8800 Ultra
9800GTX: 215 (2560x1600 / 1920x1200 w/AA)
8800Ultra: 203 (2560x1600 / 1920x1200 w/AA)
8800GTX: 189 (2560x1600 / 1920x1200 w/AA)
8800GTS92: 193 (2560x1600 / 1920x1200 w/AA)
8800GT: 177 (1920x1200 / 1920x1200 w/AA)
HD3870X2: 255 (2560x1600 / 2560x1600 w/AA) CPU limited to 65fps 2/4 tests
HD3870: 157 (1920x1200 / 1920x1200 w/AA)
9600GT: 5% slower than 8800GT
HD3850: 14% slower than HD3870

Power(whole system) and noise

9800GTX: 146W 46dB idle, 265W 55dB load
8800Ultra: 177W 46dB idle, 312W 46dB load
8800GTX: 164W 46dB idle, 290W 46dB load
8800GTS92: 146W 42dB idle, 257W 42dB load
8800GT: 125W 43dB idle, 236W 43dB load
HD3870X2: 148W 42dB idle, 361W 57dB load
HD3870: 117W 42dB idle, 255W 47dB load

9800GTX overclock: Stream processors 1688->1998 Core 675->810 Memory 1100->1252. Realworld gain (Quake Wars AA) 16%.

This should hopefully prove semi-useful for those wishing to buy a decent graphics card in the near future.

note: Post updated with approximate scores of HD3850 (512MB), 9600GT and 9800GX2. I have compared the 9800GX2 to the 8800 Ultra and not the HD3870X2 since when the 9800GX2 was tested the HD3870X2 drivers were nowhere near as good as they are now. Flight Sim X scores for the 9600GT and HD3850 weren't available.

 

Over on extreme systems a few people were complaining about how the 9800GTX is crap - and how it gets simular scores to their 8800GTS 512mb's.

I am curious sam, what were the settings set to in Crysis? Because use 1 3870 does not average 68fps!

EDIT: Sam, I just looked at the main page, and every post but 3 end in your name... thats freaking amazing! POSTING SPREE!!!

 

Lol yep.
Look closely again at the post. 68 is the cumulative score across four tests - 1280x1024, 1280x1024 with 4xAA, 1680x1050 and 1680x1050 with 4xAA. This is the case for all the 'scores' of the cards. The resolutions in brackets are not the resolutions tested, but the highest resolution settings you can use and achieve 30fps or more, or in the case of Flight sim X, and the second set of brackets for Crysis, 20fps, since many people seem happy to play Crysis at 20.

I'm going to add additional information to that post to show how the 9600GT and 9800GX2 compare.

 

TOTAL SCORES

9800GX2: 124+340+128+173+309 = 1074
HD3870X2: 753
8800Ultra: 747
9800GTX: 745
8800GTX: 695
8800GTS92: 658
8800GT: 618
9600GT: 576 (approximated)
HD3870: 557
HD3850: 478 (approximated)

Remember these tests include Anti-Aliasing and standard benchmarks, so if you don't use anti-aliasing, the ATI scores will be slightly higher.

 

Man, I can't wait for the 4870X2 to be out - with a skulltrail, and 2 QX9775's! How about 4x 4870x2? Are their even drivers for that yet?

 

Given that the card doesn't exist yet, I doubt it.
Why are you so set on getting a graphics upgrade? You've already got two 3870s... I haven't even got that far yet!

 

i feel sorry for anyone that chooses the 9800GTX over a 8800GTS or a now 8800GTX (which should fall in price (albeit second hand)).

its disgusting that nvidia would milk the 8 series so much as to turn speed binned ones into 9 series.

i hope people have sense and dont fall for the new name.

 

The 9800GTX is also very noisy compared to the usual card, and frankly overpriced for its performance.

 

Maybe sometime this summer....