System setup and notes
Hardware
- MSI FX5950 Ultra-VTD256 GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, 256MB, 8x AGP, 475/950
- AOpen Aeolus GeForce FX5900XT 128MB, 8x AGP, 390/700
- ATI Radeon 9800 XT, 256MB, AGP8X, 412/730
- PowerColor Radeon 9600XT Bravo 128MB, AGP8X, 500/675
- 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
- ATI CATALYST 4.2 (4.1s for the Radeon 9600 XT)
- NVIDIA ForceWare 53.03
- VIA Hyperion v4.51 chipset drivers
- DirectX 9.0b Runtime
- FRAPS 2.0.0
- 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
- RTCW: Enemy Territory - HEXUS Custom Benchmark
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (patched to v1.1) - HEXUS Custom Benchmark with FRAPS
Notes
MSI's flagship card up against ATI's. We've also included the GeForce FX 5900 XT and ATI Radeon 9600 XT cards (albeit a non-reference PowerColor) to indicate what kind of performance advantage the more expensive cards currently enjoy. The MSI card installed without any problems. Users with smaller cases may find the card a tight fit.
Noise
Or lack of it. MSI makes reference to the efforts used to produce a 'quiet' FX 5950 Ultra card. On first glance, one would think that two fans would make it an unnecessarily noisy card. The opposite is true. It's hard to hear in a quiet system and the fans' combined sound will undoubtedly be masked by most OEM systems' sound profile. There isn't any fancy fan-controlling software, yet we feel it as unnecessary. Top marks to MSI for releasing an NV35 card that doesn't assault the wallet and ears.
NVIDIA's monitoring software reported an idling temperature of just 35c, so MSI's other claim of excellent cooling can be substantiated. Benchmarks were run three times. The highest and lowest results were discarded. Let's cut to the chase.
