XFX 5900 nu, and the band played on......

[SniperMerc]

A few days ago I finally decided on getting the XFX Geforce FX 5900 Non Ultra from Newegg.

Now as some of you may have noticed in other threads, there are reports of two different cards being shipped. The origional card came with a passive heatsink on the back and 2.2 ns ram with default core/mem of 400/800, which is inline with other 5900 non ultra cards, I noticed that originally on Newegg that that was indeed the spec several weeks ago.

However when I looked at it a few days ago when I finally decided to get one, looking at the spec's it denoted core/mem of 400/700. Wondering what was going on I looked at the reviews and Indeed some people were getting the card clocked at 400/700, also it appeard to be missing the passive heatsink on the back of the card, and the ram had been changed from 2.2 ns to 2.8 ns. (oy vey)

Now, today, Saturday, 12/6/2003, they appear to be out of stock untill the 8th. Though something else is amiss...... The website has been changed from just late last night to this morning to show the specs back at 400/800 core/mem.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=N82E16814150037&searchdepa=1

This is just getting downright confusing, and I'm glad I didn't order it untill I find out for sure what is going on. That 2.8 NS ram will limit the overclockability as one guy noted in his review on the 400/700 version that he was only able to get the ram to 840 Mhz but core overclockability doesn't seem to have suffered at all as he got it to 460 Mhz, just above FX 5900 Ultra core spec.

At any rate, time to take the wait and see attitude. If they actually are switching back to the 2.2 ns ram and default clocks of 400/800 I'll be ordering next friday. If not. I think i'll have to spend another 12 hours or so finding out which cards do indeed stick to spec.

Edit: Just got the PDF file from XFX and it currently states memory speed of 700 Mhz, just to add a little more confustion to the process. http://www.xfxforce.com/pdf/PVT35KNA.pdf

http://snipershide.free-universe.com shamless self promotion

 

[jsp0000]

I just returned mine and NewEgg wavied the restocking fee and paid the return shipping since the posted specs were wrong. Great customer service. I tried to add a user comment about the issues on the product page there, but it hasn't been posted yet. Could be they have some 1.0 revions cards coming in, but I doubt it. I was not offered the option of trading my 2.2. version in for a 1.0 version. They just offered the full refund.

The 1.0 cards are really 850Mhz DDR, not 800, so the specs are wrong either way.

I picked up an Albatron 5900PV instead.

 

[pillowboy]

i bought xfx5900nu on tuesday and it arrived on friday from xtremegear. I received the v1.0 which default speed at 400/850 for $188 shipped. great deal i thought

 

[SniperMerc]

Damn, maybe its worth getting after all. I'll wait and see what happens with the new rev cards hitting on monday, if there good then I'll be ordering.

 

[stickybytes]

ive should have jumped 2 weeks earlier. nearly nobody knew about this card until buy.com had a awesome deal going for like 177 dollars w mir. i shouldve have bought it then but i didnt and now there's this mess i have to deal with. oh great.

 

[sparkz]

I think this is really poor marketing of XFX. The 2.8ns 5900 non ultra from XFX should be branded as the SE non ultra version instead of "non ultra" just to the avoid confusion. eVGA has the 5900 Ultra, Non ultra and then the SE which are clearly labeled.

 

[SniperMerc]

I have a feeling they thought they could slip that little nugget in there, and get away with it. Just change out some parts and don't tell anybody.

It would be one thing had they come out and called it an SE which apparently is exactly what it is. It's quite a nother to try and pull a fast one on the customers and say nothing about it.

At any rate, i'm going to review the bulk of the 5900's out there again and see which is the best bang for the buck. Having that 2.2 ns ram and default clocks of 400/850 is the minimum im going to be looking for.

 

[RussianSensation]

Just get this card instead its clocked at 400/850

PNY Verto nVidia GeForce FX5900 (400MHz / 850MHz) DDR 128MB AGP8X TV / DVI (Retail Box)

or from another store same card again here:
PNY GeForce FX5900

 

[SniperMerc]

I'm looking around right now, so far the Albatron 5900PV is also clocked 400/850 and confirmed 2.2 ns ram. Hard OCP has a writeup on it. Currently $199 at the egg.

Edit, oh and I have noticed the PNY was well but it is basicly just a referance design card. If I can I'll go with something that dont look quite so cheesy . If I can't find what im lookin for tho, I'll just go with the PNY.

 

[BlazeTek]

Check BestBuy. They have a BFG 5900 going for $250 with a Mail in Rebate if you purchase before 12/31/2003

 

[Zap]

I ordered the XFX card back when Newegg had the original product specs. I received a 400/700 card. I called Newegg and they're giving me the full refund (minus my shipping cost back to them) without any restocking fee. I wonder if we'll end up seeing these on refurb.

As a replacement I'm getting the Albatron card for $199. Hopefully it's a good one (and matches the specs).

I got another 5900 card, a Prolink Pixelview. It just died today. Bleh! Tried it in three motherboards, no picture, no POST.

Hopefully the Albatron card is a good one, otherwise I'll give up on better cards and stick with my trusty Geforce4 Ti 4200.

 

[Blackroot]

Originally posted by: stickybytes
ive should have jumped 2 weeks earlier. nearly nobody knew about this card until buy.com had a awesome deal going for like 177 dollars w mir. i shouldve have bought it then but i didnt and now there's this mess i have to deal with. oh great.

i got mine there, after comfirming it was good with a post i saw on fat wallet, i jumped on it, and only got it 2 hours before they ended up raising price to 210 or so afr

 

[SniperMerc]

Just as a quick update.

Newegg has once again changed the spec on the card posted on there website, back to the 400/700 version. Still out of stock and now till the 10th.

YEEEEEESHHHHHH

Makes you wonder whos holdin the damn reigns don't it?

At any rate, for those that got lucky and wound up getting the first version of these cards with the 2.2 NS ram and 400/850 spec, consider yerself lucky.

Looks like the Albatron card is going to be what im ordering come friday.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'm glad I ordered my Aopen FX5900 on eBay before all this sh!tty 2.8ns RAM started showing up.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: BlazeTek
Check BestBuy. They have a BFG 5900 going for $250 with a Mail in Rebate if you purchase before 12/31/2003

BFG's customer support is great too. I called at 1:45AM Monday morning about a bad DVI-VGA adapter and I got the new one today without even having to send them a proof-of-purchase (I did win the card from them). Toll free 24\7 tech support and a lifetime warranty, no way to complain about a couple of extra bucks towards that.

 

[titanmiller]

My eVGA 5900nu (2.2ns) defaults to 400/950 but will run 3dMark way up at 515/1010+, got it from new egg when it was $219.
How far will an ultra or 5950 go?

 

[stickybytes]

update------
todays 12/10/03 and at newegg theyre still out of stock
newegg has just changed the memory clock again....now its back at 800 once again.

 

[SniperMerc]

That about figures........

At any rate im no longer looking at the XFX, too many peeps have gotten screwed ordering it.

Top of the list now are the eVGA, Gainward, and BFG tech. All 3 of which can be had in the 2.2 ns ram with the proper stock clock of 400/850.

Looks like the eVGA and the BFG tech ones o/c a bit better than the gainward so final decision is going to be if I want to wait for it to be shipped or just hit frys and bite the bullet on the extra 50 bucks and pray the MIB comes through (i havent had much luck with mib's).

 

[SniperMerc]

Crimany, was all set to order the Albatron last night at $203 from the egg, out of stock, went around just before that and read the reviews again, it does have the 2.2 ns ram and has VIVO as well, (sigh).
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-170-029&catalog=48&depa=1

Only thing that comes close to that card that I've been able to find is the Gainward @ $229, GFU is balking at the price but looks like that may be the only way to go.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-128-168&catalog=48&depa=1

 

[Ineptitude]

I got the GAINWARD FX5900 128MB 8X AGP DDR GOLDEN SAMPLE from MWAVE.COM for $239.

It was worth it. This card rocks - and unlike ATI cards this one dosn't crash my system.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: BlazeTek
Check BestBuy. They have a BFG 5900 going for $250 with a Mail in Rebate if you purchase before 12/31/2003

does it have the 2.2ns?

 

[Ineptitude]

Truthfully I have no idea what the memory speed is supposed to be. Gainward says that the card is good for 440MHz core and 900MHz memory (which would indicate 2.2ns, but the default is 2.35ns (850Mhz)). So far I have inched my way up to 450MHz core and 900 MHz memory with things running rock solid.

 

[SniperMerc]

Well I broke down and ordered the PNY referance design variant on friday from here, http://www.futurepowerpc.com/scripts/details.asp?PRDCODE=VB_PNY_FX5900_128TD

It doesn't have the VIVO but at this point, I dun't care, it at least has the 2.2 ns ram with proper default clockspeeds and should make it to at least 5900u levels in overclocking

 

[stickybytes]

yet another update---------------------------------
newegg now sells two versions of the xfx card. one is the xfx 5900 with 128bit 700mhz memory. that sells for 196. the other one is the xfx 5900 with 256bit 850mhz memory. this sells for 289.

im not happy about the price but at the very least its all clear now.

 

[SniperMerc]

Figures, and that one has the VIVO capability, dont know if the origional 400/850 had it but that one sure does, and it still isn't worth it considering the Gainward has it at $229.