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Introduction:::...
If
there's one great thing about the introduction of
new, high-end graphics cards with price tags that
look like telephone numbers, it's that the products
that came before them must now cower in humiliation
and lower their prices suitably to reflect the new
order and their diminished status.
Sounds
grim, but in truth these "old" style cards
are still plenty fast enough for the vast majority
of the gaming population, and not just for yesterday's
games either. Sure they may struggle with some of
the big-name games that are written to push your hardware
beyond its limits, but games like those aren't released
every week. Most games will run just fine even if
it means easing up on some of the graphical glory
and dying amongst slightly less convincing shadows
or getting blood all over your bump mapped walls rather
than your displacement mapped walls.
Take
a look around 3DVelocity and you'll notice that I
haven't personally reviewed many NV3x based graphics
cards, and this wasn't because we couldn't source
any, it was because I had decided that there were
just too many architectural idiosyncrasies for me
to give any card based on this GPU my wholehearted
recommendation.
Well,
today I'm breaking my silence, but I'm not doing it
because I've suddenly taken a liking to NV3x, but
rather because my eye was taken by what the guys at
Prolink had done with it. Their GeForce FX 5900 XT
Golden Limited looks unique, has a good price and,
because it's part of NVIDIA's plans to dump the last
of its previous generation chip stocks, won't be available
in huge numbers.
Let's
do the specs:
| GeForce FX
5900 Specification |
| 1.256-bit advanced memory interface |
| 2.nVIDIA CineFX 2.0 Engine |
| 3.Intellisample HCT performance technology |
| 4.Ultrashadow Technology |
| 5.Advanced display pipeline with full nVIDIA
nView Capability |
| 6.nVIDIA Digital Vibrance Control (DVC)
3.0 |
| 7.Advanced Technology |
| 8.Broad operating system support |
| 9.API Support |
|
Key
Features & Benefits
|
CineFX
2.0 Engine
The
second-generation CineFX 2.0 engine powers
advanced pixel and vertex shader processing
and true 128-bit color precision. Delivering
double the floating-point pixel shader power
of the previous CIneFX engine, CineFX 2.0
produces a visible performance boost through
its more efficient execution of pixel shader
programs. |
|
Intellisample
HCT
Second-generation Intellisample technology
delivers up to a 50-percent increase in
compression efficiency for compressing
color, texture, and z-data, and powers
unprecedented visual quality for resolutions
up to 1600 x 1280.
|
UltraShadow
Technology
Powers
the next-generation of complex, realistic
shadow effects by accelerating shadow generation.
Accurate shadows that effectively mimic
reality without bogging down frame rates
are one of the keys to more believable game
environments. |
nView
Multi-display Technology
The nView hardware and software technology
combination delivers maximum flexibility
for multi-display options, and provides
unprecedented end-user control of the desktop
experience. |
AGP
8X
Provides double the bandwidth of AGP 4X—2.1GB/sec.
vs. 1.1GB/sec. AGP 8X enables more complex
models and detailed textures, creating richer
and more lifelike environments. Uninterrupted
data flow allows for smoother video streaming
and faster, more seamless gameplay. |
Unified
Driver Architecture (UDA)
Guarantees forward and backward compatibility
with software drivers. Simplifies upgrading
to a new NVIDIA product because all NVIDIA
products work with the same driver software. |
Digital
Vibrance Control (DVC)
Allows the user to adjust color controls
digitally to compensate for the lighting
conditions of their workspace, in order
to achieve accurate, bright colors in all
conditions. |
256-bit
Memory Interface with Advanced Memory Control
Delivers more memory bandwidth and efficiency
to power the latest games and applications
at blazing speeds. |
Microsoft®
DirectX; 9.0 Optimizations and Support
Ensures the best performance and application
compatibility for all DirectX 9 applications. |
OpenGL®
1.4 Optimizations and Support
Ensures the best performance and application
compatibility for all OpenGL applications |
400MHz
RAMDACs
Industry's fastest RAMDACs support QXGA
displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh
rates. |
0.13
Micron Process Technology
Delivers high performance through faster
clock rates. |
|
|
DX8
|
DX9
|
GeForce FX Implementation
of DX9
|
|
Pixel Shader
|
Version 1.4
|
Version 2.0
|
Version 2.0+
|
|
Instructions
|
32
|
64
|
Thousands
|
|
Constants
|
8
|
32
|
Thousands
|
|
Registers
|
6
|
12
|
32
|
|
Vertex Shader
|
Version 1.1
|
Version 2.0
|
Version 2.0+
|
|
Instructions
|
128
|
256
|
256
|
|
Constants
|
96
|
256
|
256
|
|
Registers
|
12
|
12
|
16
|
|
System Reguirements
|
|
Intel Pentium III, AMD Duron or Athlon?class
processor or higher
|
|
128MB system RAM
|
|
AGP compliant motherboard with an AGP 2.0
slot
|
|
10 MB of available hard disk space (50
MB for Full installation)
|
| CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive |
|
Windows 95 OSR2, 98 or higher, ME, 2000,
XP, or Windows?NT4.0
(Service Pack 5 or 6)
|
| VGA or DVI-I compatible monitor |
|
The
5900XT is a slightly strange beast. With its four
pipelines each featuring dual TMUs, and a price that
put it pretty much up against NVIDIA's already reasonably
successful, but undoubtedly slower 5700, it became
the big value for money choice for those prepared
to sacrifice a little pixel pushing power in exchange
for a substantial cash saving.
While
Prolink are a large, well respected multimedia company
they don't seem to have as high a profile as some
of their competitors when it comes to graphics cards.
This must I assume be down to a lower visibility marketing
strategy as their products have always struck me as
being innovative and of good quality.
Anyway,
let's get to the card itself and see what Prolink
have done to try and get their product noticed in
a market every company around seems to have a slice
in.
This
way please:
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