ANova said:
And yet you praised the NV30 and hailed it as the winner shortly after its launch.
Hmmm, seems that what we wrote and what you remember are entirely two different things.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDIx
GeForce FX 5800 Ultra Preview : They're back...finally. NVIDIA gave us the new GFFX and we run it through some benchmarks and IQ comparisons while going head to head with the ATi 9700 Pro.
"The idea that it sucks in air and is loud like a dustbuster holds a very vivid image in people's heads. I don't have a dustbuster to compare noise level and air speed with for you, so I will just use standard methods to see how hot and loud this device gets."
"So you CPU OCers out there might keep in mind that you are going to be mounting a card that generates as much heat as a new CPU, right under your already hot CPU."
"Sound is also another issue, if you are looking for a quiet case, this is not the card to for you."
"As we’ve seen, the GeForce FX is no slouch in the 3D accelerator world, however it is not the "9700-killer" many have expected."
And finally that glowing praise you mention, "The Bottom Line: The GeForceFX 5800 Ultra is a very hot and noisy beast that may give you a bit of an edge over the current king of the hill, the ATI 9700 Pro in some applications. If you are an NVIDIA ******, this of course has your name all over it. At the current US$400.00 price point, the GFFX simply does not seem worth it to us. If NVIDIA can work some driver magic and pull an extra 20% increase in frame rate out of the bag like we have seen in the past, they had best start pulling. Either that or pull out the NV35 chipset, and quick."
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And just to jump ahead and keep you from having any more egg on your face, I will give you some NV35 material.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDcy
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra / Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB : One article, two new video cards. NVIDIA's GeForceFX 5900 Ultra. ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB. Head to head IQ and Performance!
"Looking at AA Quality, we came to the conclusion that the ATI 9800 Pro 256MB card still has hands down the best AA quality. You cannot beat ATI’s rotated grid with gamma correct AA."
"Looking at Anisotropic Quality, we have to come to the conclusion that NVIDIA’s Anisotropic ultimately is done with a better technique on the 5900 Ultra. When push comes to shove, you cannot deny what the Filter Test is showing us. Still we have yet to see where the ATI AF technique gives us a negative in real gameplay. For most people the 9800 Pro’s Anisotropic is just fine, us included."
"Overall, when judging image quality, we have to give the hat to the 9800 Pro."
"Both cards offer exceptional performance, but if I have to place my finger on which card I would choose for my primary system that I play my games on, I would have to opt for the 256MB 9800 Pro. It has better AA quality, and can play at 6XAA on a 256MB card very easily. It has also proven to be very strong in shader operations. It is not an easy decision for sure now. NVIDIA has done a great job at sizing up the issues with the NV30 and fixing those issues and making the NV35 an incredibly competitive part."