FX vs. 9700

[negomike]

[Mr.Tweak]

All these reviews are based on a reference samples and early drivers, I am going to reserve my opinion until I get a hold of a retail sample.

[ElvesBrew]

I have always prefered ATI signal quality over NVidia but was impressed with the frame rates of the GeForce GPU's. Now that ATI have beaten the GeForce in frame rate and even with the NX they are still on even ground I will have no reason to not stay with ATI and the Radeon GPU.

I have been a very satisfied All In Wonder Radeon owner (original 32MB DDR model) and now plan to place a 9700Pro in the gaming system I am building now. The only question is whether I will go with the plain Radeon 9700 Pro or with the All In Wonder version. I think I will go for broke, pun intended, and get the All In Wonder again. I have nothing but good things to say about my first All In Wonder and I would imagine the 9700 will make it another winner.

EB

[Maxpowers]

well i have seen some reviews as Nvidia has sent out their testing sample cards. One thing about them is that they are extremly loud, also as many of the test show the FX is better then the 9700 but its not that much better, especially when u consider the price/noise/power, on another note the new FX can consume up to 75W of power so there is a connector in it like the 9700 which only consumes about 54W. Seems that preatty soon you will need 2 PSUs, one for your computer and the other for the videocard. I do think that the newer generation DX9 games with new drivers will beat the 9700 even more but how much its any ones guess :cheers:

[Mr.Tweak]

Hehe, a lighter side to the whole story...

[Mr.Tweak]

And another...

[PersianImmortal]

Heheheh :)

I want to buy an FX for sure, if mainly for the fact that game developers make sure their software runs well on nvidia cards first and foremost (or release a patch ASAP if it doesn't).

However the vacuum-cleaner level of noise the FX samples are putting out - I listened to the audio sample which the Tom's Hardware review has - makes me wonder what to do. I just hope they reduce the noise to a reasonable level for the retail cards.

I run a closed-case system with no additional fans over stock and have a rock solid mild overclock, so there's no way I'm opening up my case and putting up with loud fan noise just for the FX.

I need to update my GF3 in the next month or so, so surprise us nvidia...please!

[Mr.Tweak]

I downloaded the noise samples from AnandTech - when the GeForce FX kicked into full RPMs it sounded like an actual jet engine before take off.

I imagine 3rd party companies are already aware of this and busy perfecting their own, quieter, cooling systems - at least I hope.

I'll try and contact some of these companies and see what they have to say.

[E^vol]

Hey Tweak...Can we get a "Waiting until there both out" option ? As in GFFX & R350.

[Mr.Tweak]

Hey Tweak...Can we get a "Waiting until there both out" option ? As in GFFX & R350.

Done!

[E^vol]

Thx bud !
Guess what I voted ?:laugh:

[PersianImmortal]

I imagine 3rd party companies are already aware of this and busy perfecting their own, quieter, cooling systems - at least I hope.

I'll try and contact some of these companies and see what they have to say.

I think the retail version will be slightly less noisy, but just as Tom's Hardware says, it's hard to imagine it being much less noisy because the card puts out such heat that any cooling solution would involve a high RPM fan.

The noise is also more noticeable because the exhaust for the card comes out the back of the PC, so even a closed case system would be noisy.

What's worse is it has passive cooling on the back of the card, which means it'll be pumping out heat inside the case, so those with highly overclocked FSBs will notice additional - and perhaps too much - heat on other components especially the CPU.

[Mr.Tweak]

Just talking to some folks "in the know" over ICQ, rumor has it nVidia were going to release the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra at 400 / 800, but then ATI came in with their R300 and put the presure back on nVidia to clock both core and memory higher so it actually remained competitive against ATI.

So this might explain the reason for delays, and of course the noisy beast.

[Mr.Tweak]

A marketing rep from Gainward answered some of my questions over ICQ regarding the GeForce FX cooling system... (unedited)


Mr. Tweak: Do Gainward intend on using the reference (LOUD!) cooling system or produce your own quieter version?

Gainward: about that fan... seems like it is nVidea NV30's one of the fallback here

Gainward: everyone doesn't like to noise it makes

Mr. Tweak: so will Gainward produce their own, a modifed one which works better and quieter?

Gainward: I am not sure about the first launch product

Gainward: it is all come from nVidia's standard design

Gainward: so I believe as long as the VGA manufactures use nVidia's standard design card, will have the same problem for its first launch.

Mr. Tweak: I understand

Gainward: after that, we may have time to make some adjustment

Gainward: but, so far....everyone is the same....


Next on the hit list is Thermaltake to see what they have planned for the GeForce FX!

[PersianImmortal]

Thanks for that info...doesn't look good :(

Looks like we'll all need headphones for gaming, just like nvidia suggested before...