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Drivers and Optimisations

Currently the drivers we're using, v44.03, are only the second generation released to reviewers. While instructed not to perform any real benchmarks with the first set of drivers, we did do some testing, and NVIDIA did substancially make gains in some benchmarks in the newer drivers. Given NVIDIA's reputation for constantly improving performance and image quality through driver updates, we're cautiously expectant of the same possibility with the FX 5900. By the time retail boards are available, there's a strong chance that a few driver revisions would have taken place, possibly optimising the card's performance some more.

Pricing - not as bad as you think

Yes the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra is $100 more expensive than the ATI RADEON 9800, but keep in mind that the Ultra edition has 256MB of RAM. The non-Ultra FX5900 will have a retail price to match the 128MB RADEON 9800, and who knows what some of the budget card vendors will be able to do with the pricing when it hits the street. We don't think NVIDIA will lose out too much to price wars - the Ultra edition represents the most expensive card on the market now, but the non Ultra should be very competitive against the 9800PRO. If prices can come down between the 9700 PRO and 9800PRO range then NVIDIA's card will make large waves again - something the company hasn't been able to do since the ATI R300 based cards were launched.

Conclusion

The FX 5900 is a winner, no doubt about it. It represents a level of performance and technology that puts NVIDIA at the top of the performance heap once again - a position that has eluded NVIDIA ever since the ATI RADEON 9700 PRO took the lead so long ago. NVIDIA's relaunch of the GeForce 4 series with AGP8X support was seen by some as a desparate attempt to introduce products while their top of the line cards were still in development. With the lack of a product capable of meeting the 9700PRO on even terms, NVIDIA supporters were being converted in droves - you've seen it in forums, you've seen it on sites, and you've probably seen it in stores. For a while all hope rode on the tails of the NV30 - when it was finally released as the GeForce FX 5800, that hope was dashed as readers were dismayed to learn that the much anticipated card could barely beat out a 9700PRO, and more often than not it couldn't even hold its own against that year old card. With the launch of the 9800PRO things were looking even more grim... ATI had now successfully launched 3 products on their latest RADEON architecture, while NVIDIA's FX 5800 was discontinued due to its poor reception by enthusiasts.

The FX 5900 vindicates NVIDIA's attempts and we tentatively feel they've earned the crown as King of the 3D Performance Hill. Without hard 9800PRO numbers of our own to compare we cannot state with certainty that the 5900 is absolutely the top of its class. July 31st 2003 UPDATE: We've got our first 9800PRO review up with comparative benchmarks! Other sites have numbers that do show the 5900 and 9800 to be well balanced, with the 5900 coming out ahead in a few more tests that we feel are critical. Technical features like CineFX 2.0 and especially UltraShadows will likely exert their influence later as next generation games like Doom 3 are revealed, so this is more than a speed release.

As you've seen in our benchmarks, and as emphasized by NVIDIA, the FX 5900 is designed for maximum performance at the highest quality settings available in games. NVIDIA - and all of us power users, are VERY excited by the ability to run games at playable framerates at 1600x1200 resolution with all their features turned on, with 4X Full screen Anti-Aliasing, and 8X anisotropic filtering enabled. Some of you probably already do this right now with an overclocked or even stock 9500PRO, or 9700PRO (though the former gives us some nausea since it is averaging less than 26FPS at that level of quality), but the 5900 does it faster. It really pulls ahead at the higher resolutions, and we anticipate it will continue to perform strongly as new games come out.

So at this point, the FX5900 is the fastest card we've ever tested. When we test the 9800PRO this may no longer be true, but we feel the 5900 should hold its own against ATI's top dog. The question now is how long the FX 5900 will remain palatable to high end enthusiasts. The 9800 PRO has a 380/340MHz core/memory clock speed default, but it can overclock up to 10% above that level - and performance for the 9800PRO at basic levels should be very close to that of the FX5900. Our follow up should clear up that question, though by all accounts even should the two cards have very similar performance profiles, give or take, the FX5900 is a victory for NVIDIA because they haven't had a high performance card at the top end of the charts for a while now. ATI's R400 is not slated for release until Q4 2003 or even Q1 2004, but it won't be surprising if ATI either squeezes more juice out of its R3XX series toward the middle/end of summer, while bringing the R400 to bear as soon as possible to re-assert themselves as the performance leaders. Still, none of that is here yet. The FX 5900 will ship in quantity by June, so that should give NVIDIA a comfortable enough time to show off their earned position on the performance totem.

Editor's Note: ATI has launched their 256MB RADEON 9800 PRO today, coinciding with the FX 5900 Ultra launch. The performance of the two cards are being tested by various sites and what we're seeing is that the two cards trade blow for blow, with either card winning in various tests. We're hoping to include our own comparison in the near future.

Eye Candy

We'll leave you with some eye candy from upcoming games, as seen through a GF FX 5900. These pictures are provided by Nvidia and you will likely see them in every other preview of this card being published - but we thought you'd enjoy them anyway. If you pay special attention you might notice the level of quality of bump mapping and ultra high detailed textures, along with some anti-aliasing problem areas ;). The Lineage II quality is just stunning! (And check out the second Rally Sport picture to be totally shocked).

AquaNox 2

City of Heroes

Deus Ex 2

Lineage II

Madden 2004

Ralli Sport

Tron

Unreal

Abducted

Rise of Nations

C&C: Generals