While the Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB and Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB are based on the reference PCB, the Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB has a unique PCB design. I compared the card to the GeForce FX 5600 Ultra since its PCB is closer to it, though it's still different. Why didn't they use this design for all GeForce FX 5900 cards? Probably, it's more convenient to have FX 5900 and 5900 Ultra based on the same PCB since the 5900 Ultra differs from the 5900 in the GPU and the way the memory modules are mounted on back.

The new PCB doesn't support installation of memory modules on back, that is why it doesn't suit for the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra. This PCB has a simpler layout because of the slower 2.8ns memory in contrast to the 2.2ns on the original 5900/5900 Ultra.

What's the use in the Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB? The solution is an intermediary between the original 5900 and the 5900CP. The traders say that the price difference between all three types of 128MB 5900 cards from Albatron is insignificant ($10-15). That is why the release of the new card looks really strange.

Let's have a look at the coolers.
 
 
 

Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB
The cooler is made of a massive heatsink with a copper base and three fans the impellers of which are covered with paint shining in UV rays.  The cooler has a LED in the center which is seen through a drop-like hole in the center of the sink cover. The most interesting feature is a three-fan system, with two fans working simultaneously and the third being reserve (the right one on the picture). When the PC turns on the fan controller starts all of them but after taking the measurements from the first two fans it stops the third one. The controller (logic device) is located in the sink center on a small printed-circuit board. The cooler is very quiet, and the sink's cover looks like a flying bird.
Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB
The good old cooler used for GeForce4 cards also suits such monster as the GeForce FX 5900. However, it hardly copes with the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra which runs at 450 MHz. The memory chips arranged in two lines are covered with the sinks.
Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB
Leadtek uses a very solid cooler! One of the guys who doesn't know much about video cards thought that it was a stereo radio receiver :) The cooler consists of three sinks, the front one (top jacket) has two fans: input (closer to the VGA slots) and output. The second sink has a copper core pressed to the GPU and two impellers for the memory chips. This sink is aired by the fans from the first sink. The third sink mounted behind is not of much use - it just completes the single sink design.

The Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB card is equipped with the Philips 7108 TV codec which supports Video-In. The card does support VIVO, though the TV-out is realized in the GeForce FX5900. However, the space provided on the Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB is meant for a different processor - Philips 7114.

Here are the processors:
 

Ordinary FX 5900s.

I must say it wasn't easy to install the Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB on the DFI I875P board because the cooler was pressed against the capacitor.

It' possible to bend the capacitor, but that would be a wrong way. Leadtek which is so proud of careful designing of its coolers should take into account that there can be other types of mainboards which may not get on with such card.

All fans on the Albatron have impellers radiating in UV rays:

The Leadtek supports the hardware status monitoring, according to the TDH suffix. Actually it's supported in all GeForce FX 5900 based cards. The monitoring is realized through the WinFox II utility  - we talked about it in the previous reviews of Leadtek's products.

Accessory packs.
 

Testbed and drivers

Testbed: 

• Pentium 4 3200 MHz based computer:
• Intel Pentium 4 3200 MHz CPU;
• DFI LANParty Pro875 (i875P) mainboard; 
• 1024 MB DDR SDRAM; 
• Seagate Barracuda IV 40GB HDD; 
• Windows XP SP1; DirectX 9.0a;
• ViewSonic P810 (21") and ViewSonic P817 (21") monitors.
• NVIDIA drivers v52.16.

VSync off, S3TC off in applications. 

Test results

Before we start examining 2D quality, I should say there are no complete techniques for objective 2D quality estimation because: 

1. 2D quality much depends on certain samples for almost all modern 3D accelerators; 
2. Besides videocards, 2D quality depends on monitors and cables; 
3. Moreover, certain monitors might not work properly with certain video cards. 

With the ViewSonic P817 monitor and BNC Bargo cable the cards showed excellent quality at the following resolutions and clock speeds: 

Test results: performance

Conventional signs: ANISO 8xP - Anisotropic 8x Performance (earlier it was called Balanced), ANISO 8xQ - Anisotropic 8x Quality, ANISO 16xQ - Anisotropic 16x Quality. 

Test applications: 

• Return to Castle Wolfenstein (MultiPlayer) (id Software/Activision) - OpenGL, multitexturing, ixbt0703-demo, test settings - maximum, S3TC OFF, the configurations can be downloaded from here 
• Serious Sam: The Second Encounter v.1.05 (Croteam/GodGames) - OpenGL, multitexturing, ixbt0703 demo, test settings: quality, S3TC OFF 
• Quake3 Arena v.1.17 (id Software/Activision) - OpenGL, multitexturing, ixbt0703 demo, test settings - maximum: detailing level - High, texture detailing level - #4, S3TC OFF, smoothness of curves is much increased through variables r_subdivisions "1" and r_lodCurveError "30000" (at default r_lodCurveError is 250 !), the configurations can be downloaded from here 
• Unreal Tournament 2003 v.2225 (Digital Extreme/Epic Games) - Direct3D, Vertex Shaders, Hardware T&L, Dot3, cube texturing, default quality 
• Code Creatures Benchmark Pro (CodeCult) - the game that demonstrates card's operation in DirectX 8.1, Shaders, HW T&L. 
• Unreal II: The Awakening (Legend Ent./Epic Games) - Direct3D, Vertex Shaders, Hardware T&L, Dot3, cube texturing, default quality 
• RightMark 3D v.0.4 (one of the test scenes) - DirectX 8.1, Dot3, cube texturing, shadow buffers, vertex and pixel shaders (1.1, 1.4). 
   
• Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness v.49 (Core Design/Eldos Software) - DirectX 9.0, three demo scenes, maximum quality, Depth of Fields PS20 off. The settings are equal for all the cards tested.

If you need patch 49 which is not easy to find and the demo benchmarks let me know by email. 
 

Attention! Since this is a leaked beta version, we won't take into account the cards' scores obtained in this test.

Quake3 Arena

Light modes without AA and anisotropy: all the cards easily beat the RADEON 9800.

AA enabled: the advantage is growing up.

Anisotropy enabled: the GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV look perfect.

AA & anisotropy enabled: the same.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB - wins
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - win

Serious Sam: The Second Encounter

Light modes without AA and anisotropy: the GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV are just a little ahead.

AA enabled: NVIDIA wins

Anisotropy enabled: GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV is still ahead though the gap is narrower.

AA & anisotropy enabled: The GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV wins again

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB is a success
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB are a success

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Multiplayer)

Light modes without AA and anisotropy: GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV are a little ahead

AA enabled: in some modes the cards lose.

Anisotropy enabled: GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV lose

AA & anisotropy enabled: the same.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB loses the battle
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB lost.

Code Creatures

Light modes without AA and anisotropy: GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV take the lead

AA enabled: the advantage of the Leadtek/Albatron grows up

Anisotropy enabled: the GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV fall a bit behind their competitors

AA & anisotropy enabled: the cards win in more cases.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB - it wins but not everywhere
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - the same

Unreal Tournament 2003

Light modes without AA and anisotropy: almost parity

AA enabled: GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV lose

Anisotropy enabled: sometimes they win, sometimes they lose.

AA & anisotropy enabled: defeat

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB loses the competition
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - the same

Unreal II: The Awakening

All the cards tested lose in all modes.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB - defeat
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - defeat

RightMark 3D

Light modes without AA and anisotropy: the GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV lose in most cases

AA enabled: the same

Anisotropy enabled: the GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV do not shine at all

AA & anisotropy enabled: the GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV lose the battle again

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB - defeat
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - defeat

TR:AoD, Paris5_4 DEMO

Shaders again. Although the price is lower at the same GPU clock, the R9800 which has lower clock speeds beats all three cards.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB - far behind the competitor
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - far behind as well

TR:AoD, Paris1c DEMO

There are less shaders, and the gap shrinks to 1/4 from 1/3. But it's still a defeat.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB loses the battle
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB fall behind again

TR:AoD, Paris2g DEMO

This test use much fewer shaders, and the GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV recover, though they are still inferior.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB - defeat
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - defeat

HALO: Combat Evolved

Light modes without AA and anisotropy: GeForce FX 5900LX/CP/EPV are insignificantly ahead

Anisotropy enabled: here they lose the battle.

So:

• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900EPV 128MB - it generally loses the competition taking into account the defeat in the anisotropic mode
• Albatron Gigi GeForce FX 5900CP 128MB; Leadtek A350LX TDH 128MB - the same

Half-Life2 (beta): ixbt07 demo

I don't take into account these scores when estimating the overall performance, since this is a leaked version of the game. 

Half-Life2 (beta): coast demo