System setup, notes, overclocking
Basic setup
- AMD XP2700+ CPU (2.16GHz / 166FSB)
- MSI K7N2 nForce2 motherboard (8x AGP) run synchronously at DDR333
- 512MB (2 x 256MB) PC3200 memory in dual-channel mode 2-5-2-2 timings (166FSB)
- Taisol 760 cooler
- IBM 61.4GB Hard Drive
- Pioneer 105 DVD/RW
Video Cards used
- MSI GeForce4 Ti 4800-SE 128MB 8x AGP (275/553)
- ATi Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB (324/620)
- ATi Radeon 9700 (simulated using Pro - 275/540)
- MSI GeForce4 Ti 4200 128MB 8x AGP (250/513)
Software
- Windows XP Professional Build 2600.xpclient.010817-1148
- nForce 1.13 drivers
- Detonator 41.09 drivers
- ATi CATALYST 3 drivers (6255)
- Rivatuner RC12
- 3DMark 2001SE
- UT2003 Demo
- Comanche 4 benchmark
- Serious Sam 2 Demo
- Codecreatures Pro
Notes
Making a slight departure from the usual testing setup, I've chosen to go with the potent AMD XP2700 / nForce2 combination here. Run at its optimal settings of 166FSB in dual-channel, low latency mode, it should give us all the basic horsepower to make the cards perform at their best. I've chosen to compare the MSI Ti 4800-SE to its sibling in the form of the Ti 4200 (8x AGP). To see how it stacks up against the very best, I've re-benchmarked a Radeon 9700 Pro with the very latest Catalyst 3 drivers.
ATi have also recently launched the Radeon 9700 (a lower cost, lower clocked version of the 9700 Pro). With the major difference being clock-speed; 270/540 vs. 324/620 of the Pro, I've downclocked our Pro to the non-Pro's levels. Whilst this provides us with a pseudo Radeon 9700, it should be indicative of the performance you would expect with a real card. The reasoning for including a pseudo 9700 is simple: it's roughly the same price as the Ti 4800-SE @ ~ £195.
Benchmarks will be conducted at 1024x768x32, 1280x1024x32 (UT2003 at 1280x960x32), and 1600x1200x32. This should give us an idea of how the resolutions affect performance. I'll further investigate performance via the use of image enhancement features (antialiasing and anisotropic filtering).
Overclocking
Using an impressive-looking heatsink and sporting 275/553 native clocks, I was hoping for some decent overclocking potential. Using the usual nature benchmark from 3DMark 2001SE, and with a lot of trial and error, the maximum stable clocks that the card would run three complete passes of the test without a sparkle or locking-up was a rather disappointing 284MHz core and 613MHz memory. If you remember that a number of our test Ti 4200s (250MHz native core) managed 300MHz+ with relative ease, it puts the MSI in a poor position. The usual caveats apply here. This is a sample of one and isn't indicative of the potential of all MSI cards.
