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Overclocking

From the stock speeds of 500 and 900, we managed to get the clockrates up to 525 and 992 mhz. We did manage to get a glitch-free pass with 3DMark 2001 at 530 for the core and 1 ghz for the memory, but once we loaded up the Halo timedemo, there were multiple background glitches. Only when we dropped it to 525 and 992 was everything stable. This is approximately a 10% increase for both, which is fair, but not absolutely stunning.

Conclusion

The GeForce FX5700 is a very impressive card, and is what the FX 5600 Ultra should have originally been. It holds its own very well against the Radeon 9600XT (with the exception with Max Payne 2), and also beats the older Radeon 9500 Pro in many of the benchmarks too.

As a consumer choosing between these two mid-end cards, (for the first time in a long time) I might choose the GeForce FX card over the Radeon. Although the Radeon usually provides better bang for the buck, the GeForce seems to have more promise in this case. Also, the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra has a better implementation of dual monitor through a combination of nView's Duo-view and nVrotate. You could rotate a 15 inch LCD by 90 degrees and then pair it next to a larger CRT or LCD screen. This is not possible with ATi's Hydravision (since they do not have rotation built into its drivers).

As of writing, the FX5700 Ultra is not yet available on Pricegrabber, but with a suggested retail price of $200, this is a very attractive price point. If you need a card now, you can purchase a Radeon 9600 Pro for about $150, or GeForce FX 5600 Ultra for $170. We suggest you wait for the FX 5700, as the card is very impressive for its price point.

Summary: