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
Final Words
After testing the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra, we have been very pleasantly surprised by NVIDIA. We mentioned last week that the 5700's new architecture might help to close the gap. In fact, NVIDIA has flipped the tables on ATI in the midrange segment and takes the performance crown with a late round TKO. It was a hard fought battle with many ties, but in the games where the NV36 based card took the performance lead, it lead with the style of a higher end card.
We are still recommending that people stay away from upgrading to a high end card until the game they are upgrading for is available. By that time, either new cards will have trickled out, or the prices will have fallen. We still don't have a way to predict what card will be best for you in the future. If you are dead set on getting a DX9 card, we recommend you look to the midrange cards.
Neither card can touch the 9700 Pro for price/performance right now. If the 9700 Pro is in your price range and you're looking for a better than midrange performer for a near midrange price, go ahead and pick one up.
The GeForce FX 5700 Ultra will be debuting at $199 after a mail in rebate. If $200 is your hard limit, and you need a midrange card right now, the 5700 Ultra is the way to go if you want solid frame rates.
If $200 is still a bit much, the Radeon 9600 Pro is a very healthy option; we have yet to see how the non-Ultra 5700 performs as it may also deserve some attention once it hits the streets.
What will also determine our recommendations in this segment is what clock speeds add-in card vendors actually ship the products at. We’ll be keeping an eye on that and update our recommendations accordingly.
Of course, we still have more to come in the form of image quality analysis. Our findings in that arena will affect what we recommend just as much as pure speed. Stay tuned for more.
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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!