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
Our introduction to NV36 in the form of the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra has really been a different experience than we expected. We thought we would see similar gains on the 5600 that we saw the 5950 make over the 5900. We also didn't expect NVIDIA to drop the veil they've had on the technical aspects of their products.
From the first benchmark we ran, we knew this would turn out to be a very interesting turn of events. In going down to San Francisco for NVIDIA's Editor's Day event, we had planned on inquiring about just how they were able to extract the performance gains we will reveal in our benchmarks. We got more than we had bargained for when we arrived.
For the past few years, graphics companies haven't been very open about how they build their chips. The fast paced six month product cycle and highly competitive atmosphere (while good for consumers) hasn't been very conducive to in depth discussions of highly protected trade secrets. That's why we were very pleasantly surprised when we learned that NVIDIA would be dropping their guard and letting us in on the way NV35 (including NV36 and NV38) actually works. This also gives us insight into the entire NV3x line of GPUs, and, hopefully, gives us a glimpse into the near future of NVIDIA hardware as well.
Aside from divulging a good amount of technical information, NVIDIA had plenty of developers present (a response to ATI’s Shader Day, no doubt). For the purposes of this article, I would like to stick to the architectural aspects of the day rather than analyzing NVIDIA developer relations. It isn't a secret that NVIDIA spends a great deal of time, energy, and money on assisting game developers in achieving their graphical goals. But we believe that "the proof is in the pudding" so to speak. The important thing to us (and we hope to the general public) isn't which developers like and dislike working with an IHV, but the quality of the end product both parties produce. Truth be told, it is the developer's job to create software that works well on all popular platforms, and its the IHV's job to make sure there is sufficient technical support available for developers to get their job done.
We should note that NVIDIA is launching both the NV36 (GeForce FX 5700 Ultra) and the NV38 (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) today, but since we have already covered the 5950 in our previous roundups we will focus on the 5700 Ultra exclusively today.
First let us look at the card itself.
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Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
#7, way to go! that's some hard numbers you got there. now that's what I call objective analysis! i agree with #12 and #14 as well.this review IMHO has been very subjective. even if they mentioned they would follow up with image quality reviews, it may be too late because "simple minded" individuals looking only for frame rate numbers may have already been influenced in their graphics card future buying decisions.
..and people, listen up! if you disagree with the site reviews then don't visit them and don't recommend them to friends. that way they get less hits and vendors leave them, and they die sooner or later. if we keep on visiting their sites even with good or bad intentions, they get hit counts and people see their rotating ads. that's how web site businesses operates now and a way for them to generate income. money talks in the hardware and technology business.
let's not keep debating or bashing each other for this. haven't you noticed they are playing us all like fools. I pity the people who will believe these reviews without really evaluating them.
so again, vote with your wallet! i'm no fanboy and i will always evaluate and buy the best product i see out there.
tech reviewers please be responsible! you got big in the first place because the community supports you. you owe it to them. you start without ads at first, people come and now you see "hits" coming you see an oppurtunity to generate income then you confuse us with your AD BLOATED web sites and BIASED reviews.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
I agree with everyone about the conclusion not making much sense. And what is the price before rebate? Ya know...the money I ACTUALLY HAVE TO HAND OVER? Rebates are sometimes(not all the time) a risky business. Who is honoring these rebates? Why wasnt this mentioed? Thats rather odd.If there is a rebate involved im assuming that the card must be $250. If this is the case then the 9700pro is the same price. So actually....If your going to shell out $250, just get a 9700pro and forget about the stupid rebate =)
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
This is a FACT. Its not an excuse...its just a fact that im putting out.To be 100% unbiased is NOT human.
So the boys at anandtech tend to lean towards Nvidia alittle more then ATI...maybe 55-45, dont get made about it though...just take what they say with a grain of salt =)
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
i tought that tom pointed ati as the cheaterAnonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
#24 You should try taking English 101...it might help you a bit :)Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
This IQ comparison better not be like the last one. If every other site gives me full uncompressed screenshots and shows me Nvidia filtering issues, anandtech better show me too if they dont want to lose respectAnonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
I like AnandTech, and respect their reviews. I agree the conclusion doesn't match the test results, but the conclusion is also subjective to actually using the device reviewed.Besides, HardOCP is way more biased than Anand or Tom's, it's just that their bias changes based on Kyle's latest whim.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
If the IQ testing for this card is the same as the last IQ article, no thanks. Let's hope they put more effort into actually showing the obvious differences that were passed up last time.Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
ej guys 9or better ati fans) if derek made this review besides posting the numbers he probably saw the image quality. all you knows perfectly whose the best driver writer. and it's been so seen i got my first tnt. but anyways it is obvious that some games work better on ati's card somework better on nvidia. in xbitlabs forum yesterday one guy had posted after he upgrated his GF3 to radeon 9800 pro he started experiencing quality promblems. so don't bitch about the quality it all dipends on the test suit.it was the same situation with the reviews of fx-51 and pentium EE. every single review gontradict to another.
btw those of you trade better start buying nvidia'a stocks.
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
#10, The ads rotate. I just saw two different ATI ads on the same page. Keep trying!