System setup and notes
Hardware
- XGI Volari Duo V8 Ultra, 256MB, 8x AGP, 350/900
- ATI Radeon 9800 XT, 256MB, 8x AGP, 412/730
- AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 2200MHz
- EPoX 8HDA3+ S754 VIA K8T800 Motherboard (12/12 BIOS)
- Corsair XMS3500C2, 2 x 256MB, 2-2-2-6 @ DDR400
- Samcheer 420w PSU
- AMD reference cooler
- IBM 120GXP 40GB Hard Drive
- Dell P991 19" flat-faced CRT monitor
Software
- Windows XP Professional w/SP1
- XGI Reactor 1.02.52
- ATI CATALYST 4.4
- VIA Hyperion v4.51 chipset drivers
- DirectX 9.0b Runtime
- 3DMark 2001SE v330
- 3DMark03 v340
- AquaMark3
- Splinter Cell (Beyond3D Demo)
- Unreal Tournament 2003 Retail (patched up to 2225 - HEXUS custom benchmark)
- X2: The Threat
- Call Of Duty - HEXUS Custom Benchmark
Notes
Comparison numbers will be run against a Radeon 9800 XT 256MB card. XGI's Volari Duo V8 Ultra is the company's highest-specified card, so it makes implicit sense for a comparison with ATI's current finest. Benchmarks seek to highlight the differences in performance when hardware is subjected to a barrage of tests. What if, as appears to be the case here, both cards' 3D output is significantly different. XGI really does need to work on its Reactor drivers - we're simply not comparing like-for-like in the majority of tests.
Initial benchmarks were run at 1024x768, 1280x1024, and 1600x1200, respectively. We've then looked at limited anisotropic filtering performance. FSAA examination was excluded on the grounds of extremely blurred image quality. Just point your browser back to see why.
Noise
Two small fans running in tandem produced a high-pitched sound that was difficult to live with for any prolonged length of time. Our sample produced, quite probably, the worst sound profile of any card that's been tested at HEXUS. XGI seriously needs to re-think its cooling strategy.
Overclocking
There's not too much headroom in the core. Our overclocking tests met with failure at anything over 370MHz; 20MHz above stock. Perhaps that explains the need for such loud cooling. Memory overclocking faltered at 980MHz. That's almost 32GB/s of juicy bandwidth. The trouble is, just how well does the Volari Duo V8 Ultra conserve its prodigious bandwidth.
