Albatron GeForceFX 5200 Ultra Review

[Pete]

Well, get on it! I don't pay you to not compare everything in sight!

 

[Budmantom]

Evan can you benchmark it with Nascar Racing 2003?

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: Budmantom
Evan can you benchmark it with Nascar Racing 2003?

Yes, please! This is the main game I will be playing when I upgrade.

 

[First]

These are the games we want to run:

Q3A
JK2
UT2K3
SC
SS2

I guess we could add NR2K3, we'll see.

Can't wait to add HL2 and DIII to that suite.

 

[Pete]

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory benches would be nice, too.

Warcraft III would be nice, too, just to shake up that whole FPS-dominated test suite.

 

[Budmantom]

I would like to second my NR2003 recommendation.

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: Evan Lieb
These are the games we want to run:

Q3A
JK2
UT2K3
SC
SS2

I guess we could add NR2K3, we'll see.

Can't wait to add HL2 and DIII to that suite.

I'd vote for adding anything besides a FPS game.
The entire suite of games is all from one genre, as such it would tend to present a very narrow view of gaming performance across the broad spectrum of games.
The scenes typical of FPS's don't tend to be very similar to that scene in almosta ny other genre.

 

[Pete]

You can't argue that FPSes are the most graphics-intensive games, either. Tiger Woods Golf 2003 (GOLF!) has my XP1700+ & 9100 averaging 30fps at 10x7 w/16xAF, whereas I hit 100+fps in flyby and 45+fps in botmatch with the UT2K3 demo, and around 60fps with both Wolf:ET and the BF1942 demo at the same settings.

I think Anandtech should give serious consideration to benchmarking more than just the most convenient games, which all happen to be FPSes--your audience deserves more. Throw in a 3D RTS and a flight/racing sim already!

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: Pete
You can't argue that FPSes are the most graphics-intensive games, either. Tiger Woods Golf 2003 (GOLF!) has my XP1700+ & 9100 averaging 30fps at 10x7 w/16xAF, whereas I hit 100+fps in flyby and 45+fps in botmatch with the UT2K3 demo, and around 60fps with both Wolf:ET and the BF1942 demo at the same settings.

I think Anandtech should give serious consideration to benchmarking more than just the most convenient games, which all happen to be FPSes--your audience deserves more. Throw in a 3D RTS and a flight/racing sim already!

Is Tiger Woods 2003 graphics card limited?
And more specifically, what element of their graphics card is generally the bottleneck?

I can't speak for Tiger Woods, but most other grenres of sports games tend not to be at all graphics card limited.

Would it be difficult to consistently and accurately repeat an identical scene/shot in TW2003?

 

[Pete]

I just used FRAPS for the whole demo, and I saw I was usually hitting 30fps, except for the tee shots, when I dipped into the teens. This seems like a video-card limitation, as I can't imagine the CPU doing much of anything at the start of the hole. My P3-866 + Xpert 128 actually felt roughly as smooth, though the demo defaulted to much lower graphics settings (smaller textures, more fixed camera angles).

In terms of consistently repeating a shot, the demo basiaclly boils down to timing your mouse strokes right for the most distance on the drives, as the ball will only fly straight. Putting isn't much harder. In fact, the demo didn't strike me as a big improvement (in terms of both graphics and gameplay) from the only golf game I ever bought, Sierra's FPS Golf. I haven't fired it up in a while, but I'm pretty sure I'll hit over 30fps consistently.

 

[spam]

Originally posted by: Evan Lieb
These are the games we want to run:

Q3A
JK2
UT2K3
SC
SS2


What are you doing to detect "optimizations" that disable graphic engine features to boost frame rates? You really need to include a section on anomolous performance characteristics. Otherwise cheaters will always prosper, and dishonesty is the BEST policy.

Please hold the driver developers feet to the fire on these issues! Are you sure that the games you have sellected and benchmark demo's you are using are secured against such cheating? At the very least drop the UTK3 with Detonator v44.03. As AMDMB so cautiously puts it the driver must be broken.

 

[Pete]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, EVAN, GIVE US A VIDEO CARD REVIEW!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Pete
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, EVAN, GIVE US A VIDEO CARD REVIEW!

 

[First]

LOL, I'm trying, but what can you do when NVIDIA releases a new set of drivers on you in the middle of testing. Argh.