Conclusions
GeForceFX 5700 Ultra
It looks like NVIDIA are on to a winner with their new mid-range entrant. Price is what's most exciting, with it being set at $199 (yes, for the 900MHz mem equipped Ultra version) it's a firm competitor to 9600XT. With it beating 9600XT in the majority of our tests, I can clearly see why NVIDIA are more excited about 5700 Ultra than any other FX product so far. This is their money maker, and with IBM on board, a great price that's sure to surprise a few, the NV35 base for performance, they deserve to sell more than just a few.If you are in the market for a mid-range performance card, maybe as a stop gap between what you have now and what's going to come out next year, 9600XT and 5700 Ultra give this sector of the market more muscle than it's ever seen. Both are recommended buys, pick either up with confidence. 9600XT's Low-K process enhancements and IBM's 130nm trickery imbue both GPU's with the overclocking gift of life, and the Samsung memory on the 5700 Ultra also keeps on giving. Free performance for all, don't be afraid to overclock whichever you buy.
GeForceFX 5950 Ultra
NV38 is more evolution than revolution, being no more than a speed bumped NV35. However it seems to overclock a lot better than the outgoing version, pointing to core enhancements and elimination of hot spots, to give it some headroom. It was interesting to see the overclocked FX 5900 Ultra beat the new board when running at the same clocks, most likely due to memory latency differences between the two.With a price that's going to be little different to outgoing 5900 Ultra's, it looks like 9800XT is its main competitor. I'm hesistant to recommend 5950's over a 9800 Pro, with ATI's Pro boards comfortably beating 5950 Ultra on any price comparison. But if you must spend a stupid amount of money on a graphics accelerator, 5950 Ultra is as worthy a recipient of your hard earned as any I guess.
I can't help but feel though, since up here in the performance stratosphere it's just speed bump city, that ATI's offerings still have the edge when you are spending over £250. Had NV38 done a little more, I'd have recommended it, but as it stands, it's a cash guzzler that doesn't quite do enough. Overclocking way post 575MHz core conspires to change my mind, but depending on how you play your games, stock clocks are usually more than enough. 5700 Ultra is definitely more impressive.
It's as quick as 9800XT for the most part, something we'll confirm properly with a new suite of tests in reviews featuring boards from retail partners. It's just a little too pricey.
Thanks
Komplett for the digital camera used to take the shots.Adam and Clive @ NVIDIA
