Gainward's MX400: Serious Competition For The GeForce2 GTS?
Test Setup
System Information | |
---|---|
CPU | Intel Pentium III 866 MHz |
Motherboard | Asus CUSL2, BIOS 1006a |
Memory | Crucial PC133 CAS2setting 2-2-2-5/7 |
Network | 3Com Etherlink 3C905TX |
Hard Drive | IBM DTLA 307030, 7200 rpm, 30 GB |
Software | |
Operating System | Windows 98 SE 4.10.2222 A |
DirectX Version | 8.0a |
Quake 3 Arena | Retail versioncommand line = +set cd_nocd 1 +set s_initsound 0 |
Mercedes Benz Truck Racing | Default Features |
3DMark 2001 | Downloadable Version |
Aquamark 2.1 | FSAA Disabled24 MB TexturesPixelshader: Off |
BAPCo SYSmark 2000 | Patch 5 |
Benchmarks
Quake III Arena
Quake III remains one of the most important benchmarks, even though the graphics engine will soon be outdated. At 640x480, the GeForce2 GTS is slightly slower than the two MX boards (4 ns and 3.5 ns). At such a low resolution with its low bandwidth requirements, the core clock speeds of the two MX models (240 and 250 MHz) seem to make a bit of a difference.
At 800x600, Gainward is able to realize its ambitions, and the 3.5 ns board proves itself a GeForce2 GTS killer. At 260 MHz memory speed, the board is as fast as the GTS. However, at 1024x768 and above, the memory bandwidth of the MX cards is clearly not enough to let them keep pace with the GeForce2 GTS at 333 MHz (166 MHz DDR).
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