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Product:
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Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV 128MB Video Card |
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Price:
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$255 (CAN) / $195 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Albatron
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Author:
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Hi-TEK
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Date:
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April 3rd, 2004
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Rating:
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Testing:
The test bed configuration used in this review remained the same for all tests, with the exception of
changing the video card to run a new set of benchmarks. A fresh installation of Windows XP Professional
complete with the Service Pack 1 and all critical updates was installed for each system configured. I
will be using the latest NVIDIA Forceware XP driver version 56.72 along with DirectX version 9.0 for
the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV 128MB Video Card. For comparison, I will be running benchmark tests against
ATI's Radeon 9700 Pro Video Card using Catalyst Windows XP driver version 4.3. Each configuration will
be tested at theoretical stock speeds to gage performance in a real world environment. The test system
consists of the following hardware:
- ABIT NF7-S Rev 2.0 Motherboard
- AMD Athlon XP 2200+ CPU
- 2 x 512MB Corsair XMS3200LL Pro Series Twinx DDR Memory
- 2 x Maxtor D740X-GL 60 GB Hard Drive (RAID 0)
- Promise FastTrack TX2000 ATA-133 w/ RAID
- D-Link DFE-530TX NIC Card
- Pioneer 106S 16X DVD IDE
- Lite-On LTR-40125S 40x12x48x CD-Rewriter
- Modified Scorpio TA-10BD Full-Tower ATX Case
- D-TEK Customs White Water Waterblock AMD (Socket A)
- HWLabs Black Ice 2 Radiator
- Aqua Via 1300 Pump (370GPH)
- CritiCool PowerPlant PCI Relay Card
The premise for these benchmark tests is to gage performance in DirectX and OpenGL gaming environments
using an assortment of gaming benchmarks and applications. The following test suite was used for the
purposes of this review: AquaMark3, 3DMark 2001SE, Halo, PCMark04, Unreal Tournament 2003 ([H]ardOCP
UT2K3 v2.1 Benchmark) and Unreal Tournament 2004 (DM-Rankin Botmatch Benchmark).
3D Mark 2001 SE: 3D Mark 2001 Second Edition is a DirectX 8 and higher based benchmark that runs
through a series of renderings and game sequences to test several aspects of the system including video
card and CPU stability and performance. A final score is then received upon completion in which can be
used to compare to an online database of thousands of results and system configurations. All default
settings were used. More information can be found here.
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Click image for larger view
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After the completing a series of 3DMark 2001 SE benchmarks at different resolutions, there is a clear
indication that the Radeon 9700 Pro is still a top performer. In each test there is a significant 500 to
700 point gap between resolution modes. As previously mentioned, the lowered clock speed on the Gigi
FX5900XTV will be a major factor for all the results presented in this review.
AquaMark3: AquaMark3 is a powerful tool to determine reliable information about the gaming performance
of a computer system. The benchmark extensively utilizes DirectX9, DirectX8 and DirectX7 functionality and
it represents the requirements of typical gaming applications in 2004. More information can be found
here.
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Click image for larger view
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In AquaMark3 the roles for both cards were reversed with the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV scoring higher in
GFX, CPU and overall performance. The frame rates between both cards were very close with the Radeon
9700 Pro running at 31.89 fps and the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV at 33.34 fps.
PCMark04: PCMark04 is an application based benchmark and a premium tool for measuring overall PC
performance. It uses portions of real applications instead of including very large applications or using
specifically created code. This allows PCMark04 to be a smaller installation as well as to report very
accurate results. In this particular test scores were dervived using the Graphics Test Suite at 1024x768.
More information can be found here.
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Click image for larger view
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In the PCMark04 benchmark, overall test scores were very close with the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV scoring
higher than the Radeon 9700 Pro by 752 marks.
Halo: Halo is the award-winning and critically acclaimed science fiction epic adventure
released by Microsoft Game Studios and designed by Bungie and Gearbox Software. Halo allows you to take
the battle online with gamers from all over the world in a variety of customizable individual and team
based games. Halo fully supports Microsoft's DirectX 9 extension and uses a variety of new maps, weapons,
vehicles in a multiplayer environment. The game has been enhanced for play on the PC with precision
offered by the mouse and keyboard and the support of high-end hardware allowing up to 1600x1200
resolution. All tests were run using the official 1.04 patch, more information can be found
here.
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Click image for larger view
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In the Halo for PC DirectX9 Benchmark, the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV provided some impressive frame rates
scores when compared to the Radeon 9700 Pro. What is really surprising with these results is at a
resolution of 1600 x 1200, the Gigi FX5900XTV manages to provide a respectable 28.75 fps which is
higher than the Radeon 9700 Pro at 1024x768.
Unreal Tournament 2003: Developed by Epic Games in conjunction with Digital Extremes, Unreal
Tournament 2003 is a sequel to the popular Unreal Tournament. With complex levels, extreme details,
lighting and realism, Unreal Tournament 2003 is capable to take full advantage of almost any powerful
machine. I will be using the [H]ardOCP UT2K3 V2.1 benchmark utility which is capable of executing
several specifically optimized benchmarks at different resolutions and neatly return the results in
an open browser window. More information on this benchmark tool can be found
here.
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Radeon 9700 Pro Low FPS
| Resolution
| dm-antalus
| dom-suntemple
| dm-phobos2
| dm-inferno
| ctf-face3
| ctf-citadel
| dm-asbestos |
| 1024x768
| 13.751111
| 12.015829
| 4.689874
| 15.024272
| 7.954390
| 16.063087
| 14.298032 |
Gigi FX5900XTV Low FPS
| Resolution
| dm-antalus
| dom-suntemple
| dm-phobos2
| dm-inferno
| ctf-face3
| ctf-citadel
| dm-asbestos |
| 1024x768
| 28.182245
| 31.288012
| 29.873388
| 26.301542
| 23.599764
| 31.883375
| 28.066881 |
Radeon 9700 Pro Average FPS
| Resolution
| dm-antalus
| dom-suntemple
| dm-phobos2
| dm-inferno
| ctf-face3
| ctf-citadel
| dm-asbestos |
| 1024x768
| 53.049473
| 60.838127
| 51.482384
| 55.929871
| 55.220844
| 46.123730
| 69.965721 |
Gigi FX5900XTV Average FPS
| Resolution
| dm-antalus
| dom-suntemple
| dm-phobos2
| dm-inferno
| ctf-face3
| ctf-citadel
| dm-asbestos |
| 1024x768
| 59.880062
| 59.607704
| 59.576729
| 59.894356
| 59.224487
| 58.928852
| 59.556995 |
Radeon 9700 Pro High FPS
| Resolution
| dm-antalus
| dom-suntemple
| dm-phobos2
| dm-inferno
| ctf-face3
| ctf-citadel
| dm-asbestos |
| 1024x768
| 429.148163
| 223.377380
| 264.865723
| 265.781250
| 331.502411
| 204.209381
| 207.377213 |
Gigi FX5900XTV High FPS
| Resolution
| dm-antalus
| dom-suntemple
| dm-phobos2
| dm-inferno
| ctf-face3
| ctf-citadel
| dm-asbestos |
| 1024x768
| 115.472198
| 92.087784
| 94.723694
| 187.170013
| 272.766205
| 127.161118
| 158.810440 |
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In the [H]ardOCP UT2K3 V2.1 benchmark utility, the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV provided higher rated
fps ratings for both low and average settings. There is a performance decrease during high fps testing
in which the Radeon 9700 Pro provided better results. All tests were run using the High Quality Option
and a Custom_MaxDetail.ini provided by [H]ardOCP.
Unreal Tournament 2004: Developed by Epic Games builds on the success of last year’s smash
Unreal Tournament 2003, adding all new maps, characters, play modes, vehicles, weapons and technology.
Featuring more than twice the amount of content as its predecessor (Unreal Tournament 2003), Unreal
Tournament 2004 challenges gamers to develop lightning-fast reflexes and battlefield strategy. For
benchmark testing, I will be using a simple DM-Rankin Botmatch Benchmark script, more information on
Unreal Tournament 2004 can be found here.
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Click image for larger view
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Unreal Tournament 2004 is a relatively new DirectX 9 software title and as of this writing there were
no official benchmarking applications available with the exception of a few beta testing modules. In
this benchmark test texture detail, character detail and physics detail settings were set to high and
run at a resolution modes of 1024x768 and 1280x1024. The final results do indicate several performance
margins noted between the Gigi FX5900XTV and Radeon Pro 9700.
Conclusion:
The Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV 128MB Video Card is fantastic engineered product that will be a great
value add-on for those individuals looking to upgrade their existing video card solution. The card
is packaged with a detailed product manual that covers all the areas of installation, maintenance,
software configuration and troubleshooting. The inclusion of the bundled cable accessories simplifies
the process of configuring this product to an existing setup. Consumers will appreciate the
built-in support for S-Video and DVI as well as the useful packaged Video Break Out Box. The stock
cooling solution is adequate balancing custom copper heatsinks on the ram modules with a 60mm fan
mount to cool the GPU. For those individuals concerned about noise levels will be pleased to know that the Albatron
Gigi FX5900XTV 128MB Video Card is very silent once powered. The overall software bundle was rather
weak with the exception of the DVD Player and authoring applications. Albatron could easily enhance
the existing package by offering better gaming titles to really showcase the features of this card.
Finally, the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV 128MB Video Card is very overclocker friendly using third party
applications such as Power Strip. During my evaluation and testing, I was able to push the engine clock
to 446 MHz and the memory to 770MHz. The biggest benefit is that while the card ran extremely warm
when overclocked, the stock cooling solution bundled with this card was adequate at managing the additional heat generated.
Overall, I was really impressed with the Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV 128MB Video Card and award a final
rating of 9 out of 10. I would only recommend
this card to those individuals currently running older Geforce TI-series or Radeon series cards that are
looking to upgrade in order to support future DirectX 9 titles. If you have any questions regarding
this review be sure to visit the Albatron
website for more information or discuss them in our forums.
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Pros:
- Good stock cooling solution
- Excellent performance
- Quiet operation
- Supports VIVO, S-Video and DVI
- Overclocker friendly
- Price
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Cons:
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