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• AMD Athlon XP3200+ 'Barton' Processor, 2200MHz, 512KB L2 cache, 11 x 200MHz, Socket A
• Asus A7N8X Deluxe 2.0 motherboard, nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset, Socket A, 1003 BIOS
• 2 x 256MB Corsair XMS3200 memory, CL2, 6-2-2, DDR400
• Gainward FX5200 Ultra Pro/760 XP
• MSI GeForce FX 5900-TD128 (MS-8929)
• Hercules ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
• GeForce FX 5600 Ultra rev2
• ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
• Windows XP Professional Build 2600.xpclient.010817-1148 w SP1
• ATI CATALYST 3.4
• NVIDIA Detonator FX 44.03 reference drivers
• NVIDIA nForce 2.41 platform drivers
• DirectX 9.0 Runtime
• 3DMark 2001SE v330
• UT2003 Retail (Build 2225)
• Comanche 4 Demo
• Serious Sam 2 Demo
• Quake3 v1.30
• Codecreatures Benchmark Pro
Just the usual benchmarking setup as far as graphics card reviews go. FX5900 and 9800 Pro provide the high end, FX5600 Ultra r2 and Radeon 9600 Pro the midrange and the Gainward for the low end. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to get another low end board to compare with, although I'll comment on the performance as we go, so you wont really miss much.
One page per benchmark, four graphs per page.
As usual, all tests at each resolution were run three times, with highest and lowest discarded to give a median result. If the three result spread covered more than a couple of percent from top to bottom, all three were discarded and three fresh results obtained.
You know the drill by now, discuss our testing methods in the forums if there's anything you want to ask.
EXPERTool
Gainward make a lot of noise about EXPERTool, their performance enhancing tool for their graphics cards. It's a simple card overclocker with a choice of safe mode (stock) or enhanced mode (overclocked) settings. In enhanced mode, the FX5200 Ultra gets a clock boost from 325MHz core to 350MHz, with the memory clock getting similar treatment with a jump from 650MHz to 700MHz.
While it appears like a healthy boost, it's only ~7.5% on each clock, and with NV34 lacking the silicon smarts to get the most out of the boost, the performance increase you get isn't too hot. I'll covert EXPERTool enhanced performance in the commentary as and when it's needed. Here's a shot of the tool in action for the inquisitive among you.
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