Date:
Monday , September 29, 2003
Author:
Brent Justice
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
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ABIT Siluro FX5900 OTES Review

A look at the new card from ABIT is based on the GeForceFX 5900 core and comes with a completely new OTES cooling solution. Let's see how it compares to the competition using current games.

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Test Setup:

ABIT IC7-G (i875P), Intel Pentium 4 3GHz “C” operating at 800MHz FSB, 2 X 512MB Corsair XMS PC3200LL TwinX Dual Channel DDR400, Maxtor 40GB ATA/133, Windows XP Professional SP1 with DirectX 9.0b.

ABIT OTES FX5900 - Operating at default clock speeds 400/850 using NVIDIA Detonator 45.23 WHQL Driver.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro - Operating at default clock speeds using Catalyst Driver 3.7.

Drivers:

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Driver version 45.23 was used with an Image Setting set to Quality. The default 2D clock speeds are set to 300 MHz core and 850 MHz memory. The default 3D speeds are set to 400 MHz core and 850 MHz memory.

Unreal Tournament 2003

(Direct3D)

A full installation of Unreal Tournament 2003 with patch 2225 was used. Resolutions of 1024x768, 1280x1024, and 1600x1200 were tested in Direct3D with High Quality settings. Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic levels are noted where necessary.

For this game we have created a custom timedemo. We recorded an intense multiplayer deathmatch session in DM-Oceanic map. Due to concerns of video card companies altering their drivers to perform better in specific demos, we will not be making this demo public. Our custom timedemo, better reflects actual gameplay and the level of performance you can expect to get with this card in-game.

Also keep in mind NVIDIA is still applying very aggressive filtering that is not so Trilinear in their current drivers, which we found out here.

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Looking at these results we can clearly see that the 9800 Pro comes out on top across all quality settings and resolutions. The ABIT OTES FX5900 does provide playable framerates up to 4XAA/8XAF however in 1024x768. Once the resolution increases the highest playable framerates is only at 2XAA/8XAF. At 1600x1200 the best gameplay comes in with NoAA and NoAF. Looking at 4xSAA which provides much better AA quality the only close to playable resolution is 1024x768.

Now comes the part where we actually play the game and report to you our subjective findings at various levels of quality while playing the game.

4xSAA/8XAF – If you are going to play at 4xSAA/8XAF on this card in this game the highest resolution you will be able to use smoothly is 1024x768. There were some instances in Anubis during a Bombing Run that at 1280x1024 the framerate did get into the 40’s, but it was rare. Overall 1024x768 in Anubis was smooth for intense gameplay. The framerate was hovering in the 40’s at this resolution while I was gaming. In Oceanic, our test map, 1024x768 was really too choppy at these settings during a death match.

4XAA/8XAF – Things are better at 4XAA where 1280x1024 is playable in a few maps. However I really felt most comfortable at 1024x768 at 4XAA/8XAF for the smoothest gameplay.

2XAA/8XAF – First I tried playing at 1600x1200 to see if it would be fast enough. It was not. The framerates were just to low, dipping into the 20’s for smooth gameplay. I then knocked the resolution down to 1280x1024 and found this very playable. There were some instances in Antalus where the framerate dipped down into the 30’s which was noticeable.

For me personally I would play at 2XAA/8XAF and 1280x1024 in UT2K3 on this card. If the framerates weren’t smooth enough on any maps I would drop the resolution down to 1024x768 and it would be smooth.