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- Date:
- Tuesday , March 23, 2004
- Author:
- Brent Justice
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
MSI FX5900XT Review
NVIDIA has recently launched the new GeForceFX 5900 "XT" and MSI has taken up this new GPU. Read inside as we evaluate performance in twelve games against a 5700Ultra and a 9600XT with the MSI FX5900XT.
Introduction:
Micro-Star International, or MSI as they have come to be known, has been in the motherboard and video card business for quite a while now. Before they produced video cards MSI produced solid motherboards and came into their own with features aimed at the enthusiast. When MSI expanded to include a new lineup of video cards branded with the StarForce name brand that same zeal was recognized. If there is one thing you can associate MSI and video cards with these days that would be the grand software bundle included.
MSI has been an NVIDIA only add-in-board partner since they introduced their line of video cards. As it happens in this field things do change, and usually it is the demand for a product that makes things change. Demand for a product can go both ways; there can be less of it, or more of it. As many manufacturers have found out in order to appeal with the masses they must be diverse and offer products that will ultimately sell to more people. As has happened and is continuing to happen manufacturers are finding that they need to offer products from not just one Independent Hardware Vender, but from multiple IHVs. This is currently what is happening at MSI, they may in fact be gearing up to launch some ATI based products. If so this can only help business as they would be offering both NVIDIA and ATI products so you the buyer can decide which one you want to go for.
That said today we have an NVIDIA based card to look at, one that many people have been curious about. We are talking about the GeForceFX 5900XT. Yes NVIDIA has indeed put an “XT” at the end of 5900 for this new card. No doubt you are thinking competition with the ATI Radeon 9600XT, that is exactly what struck our minds the second we heard it.
So what is the 5900XT? The 5900XT is what was known as the “Value” 5900 when it was announced with the whole 5900 lineup almost a year ago. The 5900XT is based off of the NV35 core which is exactly the same as the 5900 and 5900Ultra. The NV35 core as you can read about here is made from TSMC’s .13 micron manufacturing process. Its pixel pipeline configuration is 4x2 and that remains the same for the 5900XT. The 5900XT supports every feature the NV35 core has to offer, it is exactly the same as the 5900 and 5900Ultra in terms of 3D features. It also rides on a 256bit memory bus, same as the 5900 and 5900Ultra, NVIDIA did not reduce the memory bus to 128bits wide which is where the GeForceFX 5700Ultra sits at.
So then what makes it different? To reduce costs the PCB has been re-designed to be a single slot solution like the 5700Ultra, but is more compact, and shorter than a 5900 or even a 5700Ultra PCB. Also to reduce costs further they use slower, less expensive RAM since the memory frequency has been decreased. The memory operates at 350MHz for an effective 700MHz DDR frequency. With the 256bit memory bus this gives it 22.4GB/sec memory bandwidth. For comparison a 5900Ultra runs at a total of 850MHz memory frequency. The core speed was originally set at 400MHz which is the same as the 5900 but NVIDIA has recently changed it to 390MHz. Having only a 10MHz core difference between the 5900XT and 5900 seems a bit odd if you ask us. Nevertheless it is what it is.
In a nutshell here are the main differences in the 5900 (NV35) lineup starting with the fastest card at the top.
GeForceFX 5900Ultra – 450MHz/850MHz (core/mem) 256MB RAM (Double Slot)
GeForceFX 5900 – 400MHz/850MHz (core/mem) 128MB RAM (Double or Single)
GeForceFX 5900XT – 390MHz/700MHz (core/mem) 128MB RAM (Single Slot)
Today we have MSI’s latest 5900XT based card the FX5900XT-VTD128 to put it through an intense run of gaming.
MSI FX5900XT-VTD128:
On the front of the box there are two MSI Certified labels, one is called Silence StarForce and ensures the fan on the heatsink is 28db or quieter. The other label is called Cooling StarForce and indicates 8 degrees Celsius which means this cooling solution is suppose to keep this card 8 degrees cooler than the reference cooling solution. Of interest you will also see listed on the front of the box the fact that there are eleven CD’s include in the bundle along with D.O.T which stands for Dynamic Overclocking Technology. On the back of the box all the CD’s included with this card are shown.
Inside the box there are two levels. As soon as you open the box the first level reveals the video card wrapped in an anti-static bag. After you remove the video card you can lift out the inner box and revealed inside are the CD’s, manual and cables.
As you can see MSI is using a red PCB color and their own heatsink fan unit which is very quiet. Also you will notice the arrangement of the RAM chips on the PCB. Because this card is ultimately designed after the 5900 all eight RAM modules are located on the front which equal 128MB. This leaves room to put eight more on the back of the PCB to equal 256MB which is how the 5900Ultra is configured. These DDR RAM modules run cool enough that RAM Sinks are not required. You will also notice the PCB is more compact compared to its big brother.
In the first picture above we have the MSI FX5900XT being compared to a BFG 5900Ultra. As you can see the FX5900XT is shorter in length and the less power components are needed. In the second picture we have the FX5900XT compared to a BFG 5700Ultra so that you can also see that it is shorter than that card as well. But it isn’t as short as an ATI Radeon 9600XT which is shown in the last picture above.
The RAM modules being used are Samsung K4D263238E-GC2A which is rated at 2.8ns at 350MHz. Since the default memory speed is 350MHz we are right at the theoretical limit of the RAM modules; but we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with these modules if you plan to overclock. You will find the standard VGA, TV-Out and DVI ports on board.