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- Date:
- Monday , January 19, 2004
- Author:
- Brent Justice
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Albatron FX5700Ultra VidCard
We take a look at Albatron’s FX5700Ultra and compare it with the ATI 9600XT. We also see how they compare at two CPU clock speeds.
Introduction:
In the mainstream market it is a fierce battle to balance out performance and cost in manufacturing a video card. You want the customer to have an appealing video card that has the performance to accelerate the latest games, yet you also need to worry about cost of producing that card to ensure a profit. Recently NVIDIA has upped those stakes when it comes to their mainstream GPUs. This past October they released their new GeForceFX 5700Ultra GPU. Their previous GeForceFX 5600Ultra just didn’t cut it when compared with the competition. The 5600Ultra found itself being highly overpowered by the competition in games with quality settings enabled like Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic filtering, not to mention slow shader performance. The 5700Ultra is poised to increase performance 1.5x the 5600Ultra according to NVIDIA. We got a chance to review one of the first retail 5700Ultra based video cards, the BFG Asylum GFFX 5700Ultra last October.
The 5700Ultra is the first GPU from NVIDIA to be fabricated at IBM at .13 micron. What makes this GPU a big upgrade from the 5600Ultra is the fact that it is based off of the NV35 technology. This means it supports the same CineFX 2.0 features and has had the vertex shaders upgraded in performance. The default core speed of a 5700Ultra card is 475MHz and the memory is specified at 450MHz (900MHz DDR) on a 128-bit memory bus.
Just like Albatron’s enthusiast line of cards their mainstream line is made up of a series of cards. Starting at the bottom of this line you will find the FX5700P. This card runs at 425MHz core and 128MB of 400MHz (800MHz DDR) memory on a 128bit bus. It does have a VGA and DVI port for dual monitor support as well as TV-Out but does not have VIVO. An interesting note about this card it utilizes TSOP type of memory. Next up the line is the FX5700Q. This one has the exact same features and bundle as the FX5700P except that it has 256MB of memory on board.
At the top of the line you will find the FX5700U which we are reviewing here today. It sports their Wise Fan II triple-fan cooling system technology. The specification page states the core speed is set at 475MHz and the memory at 400MHz (800MHz DDR). Apparently their specification page is wrong on the memory speed. Our card was in fact clocked at 453MHz (906MHz DDR). What makes this card unique is the Wise Fan II cooling system. There are actually three fans built onto the heatsink. In normal operation only two fans will spin, but if one fan malfunctions then the third fan will kick in to keep the card cool. The new feature introduced with Wise Fan II is that the third fan can also kick if the GPU temperature reaches 56 degrees Celsius. This means if the card heats up to that temperature with the two fans going the third fan can kick in to cool it down. Albatron also claims they have reduced the fan noise down to 25 dBA.
The Albatron FX5700U:
The front of the box grabs your attention quickly with a shiny reflective surface depicting Dusk all dressed up in leather. The sticker on the front lets you know that inside you will find an FX5700Ultra with 128MB of memory on a 128bit bus using DDRII with TV-Out, DVI and VGA. The back of the box lists some of the features this card exhibits. There is also a chart showing supported resolutions/color depths and refresh rates.
Above you can see the Albatron FX5700Ultra. The PCB size and component layout matches up exactly to the BFG Asylum FX5700Ultra, indicating that it is a reference design.
You can see the unique HSF with the Wise Fan II technology above. In normal operation the two lower fans spin, if one fails, or if the GPU temperature reaches 56 degrees Celsius the top third fan will kick in. The HSF is held down with spring loaded pushpins. This card supports VGA, DVI and Composite or S-Video TV-Out.
There are four CD’s included, a Game Pack, Duke Nukem, WinDVD and WinDVD Creator and a driver CD. There is a manual included with an S-Video and Composite cable and an S-Video to Composite adapter. When the card is installed and powered in your system you will also find it has a blue LED.