AnandTech's turn with the GeForceFX.
- Thread starter lwells
- Start date
Doomtrooper
Veteran
An interesting phenomenon we discovered while attempting to overclock the GeForce FX was that when the card got too hot (courtesy of our overclock), it automatically throttled itself down to its 2D speed (300/600MHz) and reduced the fan speed accordingly in the middle of a game. We're not exactly big fans of this method of protection, since it would make more sense to reduce the clock speed to its 3D default setting and not the significantly slower 2D clocks.
I was afraid of this part.
I was afraid of this part.
gokickrocks
Regular
i like the idea of mouseover images that anandtech uses
Doomtrooper
Veteran
Overclocking the card would not be my worries, its the home builder (no offense) packing P4 or Xp 2800 with 3 hardrives and no cooling fans in the case and the card overheating due to poor air circulation....don't laugh it happens all the time i.e
http://www.shelleyphoto.com/stupid/index.html
http://www.shelleyphoto.com/stupid/index.html
cellarboy said:Well I never thought I'd live to see the day. An actual, bona fide negative Nvida product review from Anand.
I think I need to go and sit down...
That makes two of us
I also thought it was good that Anand went to the trouble of showing all the different AF/AA modes, rather than his strange comparisons in the past Edit: I meant AF/AA modes....
Edit 2: Interesting to compare the AnandTech/[H] reviews. Seems that the Intel based platforms are favouring the 9700Pro, while the AMD based platforms are favouring the GFFX (although the CPU scaling tests by Anand are on Athlon platforms).
LW.
Anand's review is actually a very nice review, and quite telling.
One thing seems clear to me, the FX is outperforming the 9700 in most benchmarks (aniso at highest qual vs 9700 aniso at highest qual).
However its the fact that the 9700 has such a visually impressive performance mode for its AF (comparable to both high quality modes), that is giving it a fairly large lead over the FX. I don't think future driver versions for the FX can remedy this with brute force alone.
Obviously what the driver team needs to focus on, is Nvidia's performance AF IQ, and to try and close the IQ gap with ATI's perf AF solution. Only there can it hope to lobby for the interest for gamers (particularily b/c the card is 100$ more, and apparently quite loud).
One thing seems clear to me, the FX is outperforming the 9700 in most benchmarks (aniso at highest qual vs 9700 aniso at highest qual).
However its the fact that the 9700 has such a visually impressive performance mode for its AF (comparable to both high quality modes), that is giving it a fairly large lead over the FX. I don't think future driver versions for the FX can remedy this with brute force alone.
Obviously what the driver team needs to focus on, is Nvidia's performance AF IQ, and to try and close the IQ gap with ATI's perf AF solution. Only there can it hope to lobby for the interest for gamers (particularily b/c the card is 100$ more, and apparently quite loud).
Cripes, the 9700 basically beats the 5800U across the board here, on pretty much the fastest system around (3GHz P4 + 1066MHz RDRAM).
I'd still like to know if nV's aniso settings are all tri, and if MIP-map boundaries are apparent in ATi's Performance mode. If they are, that pretty much negates the review's assertion that nV's Blalanced mode looks as good as ATi's Perf mode.
BTW, Chalnoth, CPU scaling doesn't seem to be a factor. (Kidding aside, I'm sure driver maturity is, and I'm not judging the FX based on pre-release drivers.)
I'd still like to know if nV's aniso settings are all tri, and if MIP-map boundaries are apparent in ATi's Performance mode. If they are, that pretty much negates the review's assertion that nV's Blalanced mode looks as good as ATi's Perf mode.
BTW, Chalnoth, CPU scaling doesn't seem to be a factor.
(Kidding aside, I'm sure driver maturity is, and I'm not judging the FX based on pre-release drivers.)Me too.
This was IMO the biggest problem with Anand's otherwise pretty impressive review. (At least they included the Quality AF scores.)OTOH, R300's 4xMSAA definitely looks better than NV30's so maybe that IQ improvement should be weighed against the potential visible mip-map boundries? No right answer on this one.
Doomtrooper
Veteran
I've played with the perfomance mode on the 9500 and I looked for it and couldn't see it, then again I never really saw it on the 8500 either..Serious Sam was the worst.
I would like to know if Nvidias peformance solution is also Bilinear....we need a Beyond3D review BAD
I must say I was very suprised by how professional the review was. I must say that the rollover comparisson was very impressive. both in showing the differences in IQ, but that the old addage(sp?) "a picture is worth a thousand words". I think it would be hard for most nv-biased sites to include an IQ review and still spin it for nvidia. I hope we see more reviews have this very valueable tool (ive seen them used before but not with so much disparety.). Anywas here is a quote I did not think I would see in the review:
Kudos to you too, Anand.
still in awe of the review
Anand said:
Kudos to you too, Anand.
still in awe of the review
Nagorak said:I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I heard the higher output of the fan kick in. Maybe they can market it as a feature though...it really pulls you into the game when that engine stars roaring (at least if you happen to play racing games or maybe flight sims
If they put a "filter" on that thing maybe they can market to those allergic/sensitive to dust.
later,
They are there if you look hard (although they are quite far away in the distance). In BF1942 they are quite pronounced when you are walking on the deck of an airplane carrier and on the roofs of buildings as seen when parachuting. This is the only game I've spotted any difference between quality and performance AF on the 9700 Pro.
Does NV30 support gamma corrected AA? The reason I ask is because the ATI images at Anand's look brighter.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1779&p=12
Edit: It would also be nice to see what the FX does with alpha texures in the 6s and 8s modes. Has anyone seen screenies of this yet?
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1779&p=12
Edit: It would also be nice to see what the FX does with alpha texures in the 6s and 8s modes. Has anyone seen screenies of this yet?
Well it looks like gf fx is only slightly better than the R9700 and looses in AA and AF, just like many had said
Remember people like Username trolling saying how the nv30 would be much better i doubt we will see him around soo
It also seems nvidias 2xAA does nothing maybe thats why the "leaked benchmarks" only showed it at 2xAA
Remember people like Username trolling saying how the nv30 would be much better i doubt we will see him around soo
It also seems nvidias 2xAA does nothing maybe thats why the "leaked benchmarks" only showed it at 2xAA
For a card that's being released 5 or 6 months after the 9700, these scores are extremely disappointing.
Oh well, I'll look at the bright side- when FX hits the street, hopefully it will drop the 9700 Pro prices down a bit. I'll pick one of those up then to replace my aging original GeForce3 8)
Oh well, I'll look at the bright side- when FX hits the street, hopefully it will drop the 9700 Pro prices down a bit. I'll pick one of those up then to replace my aging original GeForce3 8)
Can you imagine what the QA & driver pre-promotion labs at Nvidia must sound like right now? I've worked in such lab rooms before... A lot of their testing and benchmarking is probably automated using entire arrays of PCs equipped with GFFX Ultras; and they probably all spin up at approximately the same time. I bet it sounds like a real jet engine, not to mention it might set off several UPSes in the room
Similar threads
