Just ordered my Gainward Fx5900 256MB card =)

[Xenon14]

Originally posted by: Nebor
All reviews show that in high end detail tests, the 5900 pulls ahead by a good bit.

There's power users, and budget power users. If you want the best, you have to pay, that's all there is to it.

Umm, No.

This is taken from a ocaddiction.com recent review of Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb vs 5900FX Ultra 256mb

Conclusion

Let's break down performance of both cards and see which one comes out on top.



UT2k3 - FX 5900 Ultra - While both cards perform well, the FX 5900 comes out on top

AquaMark - R9800 Pro - The R9800 takes home the gold in this real-world benchmark

Comanche 4 - R9800 Pro - The R9800 also wins out by an edge for this nearly obsolete benchmark

Specviewperf 7.0 - R9800 Pro - This one is really close but the #'s lean to the R9800

Code Creatures - FX 5900 Ultra - The 5900 beats up the R9800 pretty good in this intensive benchmark

Splinter Cell - R9800 Pro - Hands down, the R9800 takes it in this awesome game from UBISoft

ShaderMark - R9800 Pro - While the FX 5900 Ultra makes a good showing, the R9800 wins this one

3DMark 01 SE Build 330 - R9800 Pro - The R9800 takes top honors with this tried and true synthetic benchmark

3DMark 03 Build 320 - FX 5900 Ultra - Should we include this? Possibly not, however the FX 5900 wins with WHQL Det Drivers

3D Visual Quality - R9800 Pro hands down



And the winner is.........The FIC ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB. We compared these cards in every category we could think of and in the end, we saw better performance overall from the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. Did the FX 5900 fail to impress us? No, not at all. We believe both cards are worthy of any good system but we do have to tip our hats to the excellent performance that the Radeon 9800 Pro has showed us here today.

Here is the direct link.

LOL, you paid more for less. A$$.

 

[Nebor]

He didn't get less, he got about the same, plus he got the name NVIDIA. And remember, NVIDIA is the way it's meant to be played.

Also keep in mind that Electronic Arts is developing games specifically for NVIDIA cards now... expect more companies to jump on the exclusivity bandwagon.

 

[WhyteRyce]

I especially like how even though the author said to not to flame him over the price or tell him he should have gone ATI, people still felt compelled to do so.

For Christ sakes, its not like he believes that "LOL ATI SUX0RS, NVIDIA FOR L1F3, 24/7 DAWG!" He had money to burn and was curious about the 5900. There were a lot worse things he could have purchased with his money.

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

For Christ sakes, its not like he believes that "LOL ATI SUX0RS, NVIDIA FOR L1F3, 24/7 DAWG!" He had money to burn and was curious about the 5900. There were a lot worse things he could have purchased with his money.

Yeah, He could have spent it on 5 hookers and had nothing to show for it except an uncurable rash...😉 😛

 

[Leon]

Umm, no

How about this review with custom demos.

 

[Xenon14]

The point is, getting a 5900 FX Ultra is like getting a really good and expensive blow job. A blow job is a blow job; 9/10 times you can't tell the difference between a good one and a bad one. Same thing with 9800 vs. 5900. He won't be able to tell the difference, and by the time he will he'll need an upgrade anyways. Hence the "flaming" it just doens't make any sense... even if the 5900 wins more speed benches, 9800 has quality on its side. There is no REAL difference other than price. HENCE, there's no REAL reason to spend MORE for something that is a COMPARABLE product.

Come back in a week when you've learned how to properly conduct yourself in these forums

AnandTech Moderator

 

[Nebor]

Obviously you lack class and good taste.

 

[WhyteRyce]

Originally posted by: Xenon14
Hence the "flaming" it just doens't make any sense...

Then let him "wallow in his own crapulence"

What part of don't flame over the price or not tell him he should have gotten a Radeon is so hard for people to understand? And he already bought the card. So its not like you were helping to advise him on a purchase. Considering some people go through motherboards and CPUs like toilet paper on this board, I don't understand why people get so pissy about a guy wanting to splurge for once on his video card.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Xenon14
A$$.

That was uncalled for. Now, who's the A$$?

I can't remember who said it or which thread it was in (maybe it was earlier in this one), but AT forums is becoming more and more like Rage3D Forums. Quite distasteful. :|

 

[Xenon14]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: Xenon14
A$$.

That was uncalled for. Now, who's the A$$?

I can't remember who said it or which thread it was in (maybe it was earlier in this one), but AT forums is becoming more and more like Rage3D Forums. Quite distasteful. :|

And buying the same product for more money is in good tastes? ...right.

 

[Xenon14]

Originally posted by: WhyteRyce

Originally posted by: Xenon14
Hence the "flaming" it just doens't make any sense...

Then let him "wallow in his own crapulence"

What part of don't flame over the price or not tell him he should have gotten a Radeon is so hard for people to understand? And he already bought the card. So its not like you were helping to advise him on a purchase. Considering some people go through motherboards and CPUs like toilet paper on this board, I don't understand why people get so pissy about a guy wanting to splurge for once on his video card.

So if someone logged on and posted a message saying I, "I denounce Jews for the sake of denouncing Jews. My dad was a Nazi and that's why I denounce Jews, not because there's any legit reason, I just happen to denounce them. But please don't flame me for my views, especially since they're so clearly wrong and misguided." then everyone should just sit there? Who is he to tell me how to respond to his post? He posted it, be man enough to respond and take criticism.

 

[oupei]

you guys can talk performance/value all you want, but this in itself is worth the extra $200. 😉 myself, i wanted to run this but the stupid thing won't let me: my GF4 Ti4200 as "good" as a FX 5200

.

 

[WhyteRyce]

Originally posted by: Xenon14

Originally posted by: WhyteRyce

Originally posted by: Xenon14
Hence the "flaming" it just doens't make any sense...

Then let him "wallow in his own crapulence"

What part of don't flame over the price or not tell him he should have gotten a Radeon is so hard for people to understand? And he already bought the card. So its not like you were helping to advise him on a purchase. Considering some people go through motherboards and CPUs like toilet paper on this board, I don't understand why people get so pissy about a guy wanting to splurge for once on his video card.

So if someone logged on and posted a message saying I, "I denounce Jews for the sake of denouncing Jews. My dad was a Nazi and that's why I denounce Jews, not because there's any legit reason, I just happen to denounce them. But please don't flame me for my views, especially since they're so clearly wrong and misguided." then everyone should just sit there? Who is he to tell me how to respond to his post? He posted it, be man enough to respond and take criticism.

Congratulations for the most nonsensical comparison I have ever seen

 

[Blastman]

Hey, whatever cooks your bacon if you can afford it, right? 5900U is a fast card. The top end cards never have the best price/performance so that?s not really much of an issue here. This is ? ?I got the money I?m going to spend it?.

All reviews show that in high end detail tests, the 5900 pulls ahead by a good bit.

I wouldn?t put the 5900U over a 9800pro. The only way to fairly compare the 9800pro and 5900U is with equal IQ settings.

Essentially, my take is that NV is hacking IQ and textures to win a few benchmarks. The 5900U can beat the 9800pro a lot of the time if you use the lowest IQ quality settings (high-performance). Unfortunately, looking at some of the reviews, at the high-performance settings the IQ on the Nvidia cards has been hacked so badly the screen shots in games look blurry.

3d (5800U) Page 5 ? ........the problem is that unless you really dial up the image quality options what you get is a final rendered screen that just plain sucks I'm afraid to say.

hardocp (5900U) The second shot above shows this even more clearly. Look closely at the shot from Serious Sam 2 where I have it circled in white. The 4X AA shot looks slightly blurred compared to the 2X AA shot.

This ukgamer test is a good example of how the 5900U beats the 9800pro in the high-performance setting, but once the IQ is turned up to equalize things the 9800pro is faster.

 

[squidman]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Hey, at least you'll be jumping for joy when Doom3 comes out. I bet you'll be getting 300+ frames a second!

im getting 70+ with my non-pro...i doubt that a weak 5900 will reach these heights.

 

[Futher]

Xenon14, you seem to have a huge problem with people spending a lot of money on a card. Everytime I read one of your unecessary posts I start to get mad, then I just take a look at your rig and begin to understand. *cough* ATI 64mb DDR VIVO (retail) (ATI Radeon)* cough*

 

[Blastman]

originally posted by Further:

? and I need this for college?

Heh, ... between social-life/studying you aren?t going to have time for gaming unless one of those suffer. You IMHO would much better off using some cheap 7500/GF4MX in college and avoiding the gaming temptation altogether. Just lend me your card till you graduate and I?ll send it back to you then.
😀

 

[Futher]

heh, there's always some time for gaming.

 

[BFG10K]

Was on Newegg for $565. I know that's tons of money, but I just got a lot of money for graduation, and I need this for college.

I don't understand, how can you "need" a 5900 Ultra for college? Are you taking 3D game programming or something?

I also have to agree with the other sentiments - for $250-$300 you could've gotten a 9700 Pro that will likely demolish that 5900 Ultra in terms of performance and image quality. Nevertheless I hope you enjoy your card and it turns out to be all that you had hoped for.

 

[Shakamaka]

Originally posted by: Futher
Xenon14, you seem to have a huge problem with people spending a lot of money on a card. Everytime I read one of your unecessary posts I start to get mad, then I just take a look at your rig and begin to understand. *cough* ATI 64mb DDR VIVO (retail) (ATI Radeon)* cough*

LOL, his rig does make me laugh. However, I think minus the caustic language Xenon has a legitimate point. It doesn't come down to how expensive a card is, but rather are you getting the "best" card out there. And in more than enough cases, the 9800 Pro does have control over the 5900, which would by NO means justify the 5900 being priced $200 over the 9800.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Futher
Was on Newegg for $565. I know that's tons of money, but I just got a lot of money for graduation, and I need this for college. Please don't flame about price or "you should have gotten the Radeon!". I've had ATI all my life, want to venture on the other side of the fence for once.

Would the Zalman Heatpipe work better than the stock Gainward heatsink and fan?

Card Heatsink pic

what course requires that?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Nebor
He didn't get less, he got about the same, plus he got the name NVIDIA. And remember, NVIDIA is the way it's meant to be played.

Also keep in mind that Electronic Arts is developing games specifically for NVIDIA cards now... expect more companies to jump on the exclusivity bandwagon.

its hardly "exclusive." they're not going to ignore ATi's 25% of the market for nvidia's 40% no matter what little n pays them.

 

[nycdude]

Originally posted by: Nebor
Turn NeverWinter Nights up to 1600x1200, put AA and AF to their highest settings, MipMap to best quality.... Watch your 9700 Pro cry like a little girl.

LOL.

Bump for one serious card. Though you will never use the 256mb ram in todays games and when you do use it, something sweeter will come along with a price what will make you say" what the freak was I thinking?"😀

edit, will you use all that ram in Animations???

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Futher
Maybe I forgot to mention this, but the real reason I need the extra RAM is for high end computer graphics and Animation, NOT for gaming. If I wasn't majoring in CG and animation, I wouldn't give a crap about the ram. Also, a test was run with 3D studio Max and Maya, and the Nvidia clearly rendered everything faster and more effientiently. And yes, at the moment I do have the money as well as a girlfriend. I feel I spend too much money to please other people, and I wanted to treat myself to something. Think of it as a teenage-midlife crisis. And I thank the few people that understand where I'm coming from.

I was preparing to flame your a$$ to hell and back for being stupid and spending an excessive amount on something in a silly way.

Then you posted this and it all because clear.
You made a choice that makes sense for you, and from what I have seen, nVidia seem to do better at rendering tests than ATi, so for rendering, an nVidia card would own an ATi card, and when they;re about even for gaming, choosing the 5900U makes a lot of sense.

Damn, and I wanted to flame.

Here's to the flamers though: you suck 😛 For him the 5900U is probably the better option, and it is his choice. If he wants the best card for his uses, he should buy it, and that's the nVidia card he has 😛

 

[Futher]

I will use a lot of it. If my 128 card isn't sufficient, that means I need a faster card with more ram. Anything between 128 and 256? no..