Well, the results are in: http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030311/geforcefx-5600-5200-03.html#unreal_tournament_2003 I'm not what you would call a "Nvidia naysayer", but this is just sad. The 5600 Ultra being beaten consistently by the ti4600 and matched or cloesly beated by the ti4200 in all tests except the AA ones, and I would imagine any AA freaks would not be looking at a mid-level card to begin with. There does not seem to be any compelling reason to buy a 5600 ultra over a ti4200 other then dx9, and by the time such games come out in any quantity it will likely be time to upgrade again. If I were them, I would have launched the 5600 ultra as the "high-end" MX, the 5200 as the low-end MX, and left the 5800 and 5800 ultra as the mid and high end. The mid-level card should not be of equal performance of the mid-level card of the last generation, unless they happen to be dropping the price point of their mid-range cards.
yeah you're right. They should change naming and pricing strategies. btw: do you think the Geforce FX 5600ultra will still be beaten by the Geforce4ti 4600 if the Geforce FX 5600 ultra's capabilities are fully used? I don't really think so...
I must admit I'm not really certain what the 5600 ultra's capabilities even are, but I think as a general rule one should buy technology for what it can do RIGHT NOW, because software optimization generally does not seem to occur until it already has a large market share, at which time the next upgrade is on the verge of coming out, and the early adopters really don't get anything out of it. It all depends on how much this sort of optimization really helps, and how difficult it will be to implement. I really have no idea on either, so I can't really say anything with any certainty. As an example, though, look at SSE2. SSE2 helps performance *immensely*, and now the P4s have been out for what, 2+ years? So where are the SSE2 games? Where are the SSE games, for that matter, except Q3?
yeah you're right... just wanted to say that people don't say the GeforceFX is a bad card. OK it's not that fast with current games // application but it's still not bad imho.
so the FX 5600 will be 150 retail? or will it be higher then that? because right now good gef4 4200 128mb 8x is around 130-150 Also i nkow the 5600 has dx9 but will it really be able to play games that have true dx9 well? or we will have to wait for next gen cards? its like with gef3 when dx8 was out... really the gef4 took it to the level for dx8 games. But im assuming that dx9 is quite a leap from dx8 as what we have seen on some tests and stuff. What im saying probably is that most dx9 games will still work with dx8.1 so will there be any reason to buy a dx9 card that works like a dx8.1? and will probably run better in dx8.1 then dx9??? I really cant wait no more my gef2 is really killing fps I play AAO a lot and i need better fps... also going to get new cpu my plan right now 900mhz get 1700 and get it to go to 1.6+ so it would be around 2x the 900mhz really if the 5600 will cost same as gef4 4200 128mb then why not wait for it? and get it I mean there is quite a bit of improvement in there besides dx9 and its .13u right? so o/c might be good as well... I might as well as get the CPU first that will make me happy i think then wait for card? my bday is in april hehe nvidia better put up the 5600 up
Problem is that it actually does a hair worse than the $130 ti4200, which is kinda getting on in age itself. By the time dx9 starts to catch on, odds are people will be thinking of a new upgrade anyway. Meanwhile, ATI will be coming out with a sucessor chip soon, which could quite possibily push the 9500 pro to the $150 mark, which would make it a superior buy. The 4400-8x is also slowly slipping (down to $165 now), and could also make it down to $150 with the release of the FX, and it is significantly better than the 5600.
man. That last benchmark posted: (http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030311/geforcefx-5600-5200-03.html) really threw a wrench in things. Got the 9700 beating the 9800 sometimes, the 4800 beating the 9500 sometimes, etc. etc. I guess it just goes to show how negligable the differences really are between rival cards... Of course that changes drastically with the GeForce4 and lower cards vs ati with AA and AF on...
