GeForce FX 5900 vs Radeon 9800 (Non-Pro/Ultra)

X-Bit Labs has a 23-page mini round-up reviewing 3 GeForce FX 5900 (the cheaper one's; not Ultra) against a Sapphire Radeon 9800 (Non-Pro). They also include GeForce FX 5900 256MB Ultra and Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB scores in their benchmark tests. This is the only true Sapphire Radeon 9800 Non-Pro (the other one used an underclocked Pro) review I've found at one of the hardware review sites. It doesn't use any DX9 benchmarks though.

It does have Overclocked results. They were able to get the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Core Clock to 470MHz; the memory was tested at 350MHz (DDR700). It's a good read, with lots of benchmarks.

Here are some of the latest prices for cards featured in the round-up:

Sapphire Radeon 9800 Non-Pro 128MB - $243 (BananaPC.Com)
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB - $306 (NewEgg.Com)

Gainward GeForce FX 5900 128MB PowerPack! Model Ultra/1200 XP “Golden Sample” - $285 (AllStarShop.Com)
Chaintech GeForce FX 5900 128MB A-FX98 - $336 (NewEgg.Com)
ASUS GeForce FX 5900 128MB V9950 - $376 (AccuPC.Com)

The best performing FX 5900 128MB is also the lowest priced. The Gainward is the only possible competetion from the lower-end 5900's against Radeon 9800 (Pro & Non-Pro). The recent infomation about the 5900's lackings in Half-Life2 testing will probably render most debate pointless until further infomation comes up though.

$285 for a Gainward FX 5900 or $243 for a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Non-Pro? Or only +$20 and get a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro OEM for $306?

I think thier conclution is dead on the money

Conclusion
Well, the performance difference between NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900, ATI RADEON 9800 and their faster analogues appeared not very high: 10-15% in the heaviest work modes. The pricing on NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra and ATI RADEON 9800 Pro exceeds that on the non-Ultra and non-Pro versions much more than by these 10-15%.

Therefore, if you are looking not for the “world’s very best” graphics card, but just for a good High-End product with a nice potential to last it for a while, then why don’t you take a closer look at NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 and ATI RADEON 9800?


http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/fx5900-r9800_23.html