Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB,
Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB
Connect3D RADEON 9600 128MB
Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB
on ATI RADEON 9200/9600/9600 PRO/9800 PRO
|
CONTENTS
-
Video card features
-
Testbed, test tools, 2D quality
-
Test results: Quake3 ARENA
-
Test results: Serious Sam:
The Second Encounter
-
Test results: Return to
Castle Wolfenstein
- Test results: Code
Creatures DEMO
-
Test results: Unreal
Tournament 2003
-
Test results: Unreal
II: The Awakening
-
Test results: RightMark
3D
-
Conclusion
The summer is close to its end, top 3D accelerators have reached the
summit of sales... But in Septemper/October ATI and NVIDIA are going to
announce something new. Poor card makers... Users especially those who
have just bought an extra-expensive accelerator are not in a better situation.
However, apart from High-End, Middle-End cards are also going to be announced.
But the autumn hasn't come yet, and we keep on estimating video cards
of the latest generation. In case of ATI, the most popular processors are
RADEON 9500 (getting dated), RADEON 9600 (new-comer), RADEON 9800 (top
product). In the low-end sector it's RADEON 9200 though it doesn't support
the DirectX 9.0. You can find the detailed information on all these products
in the following reviews:
Theoretical materials and reviews of video cards which concern functional
properties of the GPU ATI RADEON 9500/9700/9800
-
Analysis of
RADEON 9700 architecture and Microsoft DirectX 9.0
-
ATI RADEON 9700
Pro 128MB Review
-
Gigabyte MAYA
II R9700Pro 128MB - performance estimated on the new Pentium 4 2.53
GHz based platform, comparison with the NVIDIA's 40.41 driver
-
Hercules 3D Prophet
9700 Pro 128MB - new CATALYST 2.3 driver estimated in 3DMark2001 SE,
and Unreal Tournament 2003 DEMO final release
-
PowerColor Evil
Commando2 RADEON 9700 Pro 128MB - performance of the new CATALYST 2.3
driver estimated in game tests, 3D quality issues
-
Hercules 3D Prophet
9700 Pro on ATI RADEON 9700 Pro: extreme overclocking
-
ATI RADEON 9500,
9700 and Gigabyte MAYA II RADEON 9500
-
Sapphire
Atlantis RADEON 9500 128MB and videocards tests in DOOM III v.0.02
-
ATI RADEON 9500 PRO
128MB
-
Gigabyte
MAYA II RADEON 9500 PRO and Hercules 3D Prophet 9500 PRO - detailed
analysis of anisotropic filtering of RADEON 9700
-
Sapphire Technology
RADEON 7500, 8500, 9000/Pro, 9700 Pro, anisotropic filtering of RADEON
9700
-
HIS Excalibur RADEON
9700 PRO - Tests in DirectX 9.0 RC0
-
ATI RADEON
9500 64MB, 9500 128MB, 9500 PRO, 9700 and 9700 PRO in DirectX 9.0: Part
1 - Game tests in 3DMark2001, and Soft9700!
-
ATI RADEON
9500 64MB, 9500 128MB, 9500 PRO, 9700 and 9700 PRO in DirectX 9.0: Part
2 - Tests in DirectX 9.0 - synthetic tests from RightMark 3D
-
Sapphire
Atlantis RADEON 9700 and RADEON 9700 PRO Ultimate Edition
-
YUAN SmartVGA RADEON
9000 64MB and RADEON 9700 PRO
-
Connect3D
video cards on the ATI's chips
-
ATI RADEON 9800
PRO 128MB
- ATI RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB: Part 1 - game tests and performance
- Hercules 3D Prophet 9800 PRO 128MB and Hercules
3D Prophet 7500 128MB, and scandal around the 3DMark03
- Hercules 3D Prophet 9800 PRO 128MB and Hercules
3D Prophet 7500 128MB (single page)
- Sapphire Technologies ATI RADEON 9200/9600/9600PRO/9800PRO
video cards
- Connect3D, Gigabyte and CP.Technology ATI RADEON 9800 PRO video
cards
- Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9600 256MB, Sapphire Atlantis
RADEON 9600 PRO Ultimate Edition 128MB, Gigabyte RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB, Hercules
3D Prophet 9600 PRO 128MB
- Manli RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB on ATI RADEON 9800
PRO
- ATI RADEON 9600/9600 PRO based cards from Gigabyte,
Hercules and Sapphire
- Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB Ultimate
Edition on ATI RADEON 9800 PRO - graphics quality in UT2003/Unreal II and
other games, tricks with anisotropy
Today we are dealing with 4 video cards from Connect3D which are based
on the RADEON 9200/9600/9600 PRO/9800 PRO. The company itself is European
and headquartered in Great Britain. But its production facilities are in
China (like 95% of IT-related companies). Its products, however, comply
with the European quality standards.
Card
| Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB |
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB |
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 128MB |
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB |
|
| Comparison with the reference design, front view |
| Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9800 PRO |
|
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9600 PRO |
|
|
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 128MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9600 |
|
|
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9200 |
|
|
|
| Comparison with the reference design, back view |
| Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9800 PRO |
|
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9600 PRO |
|
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 128MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9600 |
|
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB |
Reference card ATI RADEON 9200 |
|
|
|
The RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB is the reference card itself, and judging
by its sticker it's made for ATI. Such cards are produced at the same factory,
that is why you can be sure that whatever ATI's partner is the cards are
the same.
The RADEON 9600 PRO from Connect3D is based on the reference design
as well. But the RADEON 9600/9200 have their own design.
As you know, almost all cards coming from ATI's partners have identical
coolers. Just note that the RADEON 9600/9200 has a passive heatsink, while
the RADEON 9800/9600 PRO has coolers with fans.
Here are the accessory packs:
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB, Connect3D RADEON 9600
128MB |
| User manual, CD with drivers and utilities, S-Video-to-RCA and DVI-to-d-Sub
adapters. |
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB |
| User manual, CD with drivers and utilities, S-Video-to-RCA and DVI-to-d-Sub
adapters, TV extender and external power supply splitter. |
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB |
| User manual, CD with drivers and utilities, S-Video-to-RCA adapter. |
|
All cards ship in something like a retail package (I can't call it
a normal package).
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB; Connect3D RADEON 9600
128MB |
| All packages have a single style. |
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB |
| They differ in just what's written and in dimensions, but they are
anyway so small that some video cards with their accessories hardly fit
in. |
|
| Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB |
| The design looks tasteless and unattractive. |
|
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.
-
ATI drivers v6.368.
VSync off, S3TC off in applications.
Cards used for comparison:
-
Leadtek WinFast A310 Ultra (GeForce FX 5600 Ultra, 350/350 (700) MHz, 128
MB, driver 45.20);
-
MSI FX5600-VTD128 (GeForce FX 5600, 325/275 (550) MHz, 128 MB, driver 45.20);
-
ASUS V9950 Ultra (GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, 450/425 (850) MHz, 256 MB, driver
45.20).
We have taken the FX 5600 Ultra running at 350 MHz instead of 400 MHz because
the 400MHz cards are in short supply and much more expensive than the RADEON
9600 PRO.
Test results
Before we start examining 2D quality, I should say there are no complete
techniques for objective 2D quality estimation because:
-
2D quality much depends on certain samples for almost all modern 3D accelerators;
-
Besides videocards, 2D quality depends on monitors and cables;
-
Moreover, certain monitors might not work properly with certain video cards.
With the ViewSonic P817 monitor and BNC Bargo cable the card showed excellent
quality at the following resolutions and clock speeds: |
| Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB |
1600x1200x85Hz, 1280x1024x120Hz, 1024x768x160Hz (the quality
is generally excellent) |
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB |
1600x1200x75Hz, 1280x1024x100Hz, 1024x768x100Hz (the quality
is generally acceptable, almost good) |
| Connect3D RADEON 9600 128MB |
1600x1200x75Hz, 1280x1024x75Hz, 1024x768x85Hz (the quality is
satisfactory) |
| Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB |
1280x1024x75Hz, 1024x768x85Hz (the quality is almost satisfactory,
in 1600x1200@75Hz the image's soapy) |
Test results: cards' performance
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,
ixbt0703demo, 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 game scenes) - DirectX 8.1, Dot3, cube texturing, shadow buffers, vertex
and pixel shaders (1.1, 1.4).
If you want to get the demo benchmarks that we use let me know by e-mail.
Quake3 Arena
The RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB has lost to the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra in almost
all heavy tests except the modes with the Quality-level anisotropy. Without
AA and anisotropy the cards are equal. The same picture can be seen on
the ring of RADEON 9600 PRO and GeForce FX 5600 Ultra.
As to the RADEON 9600/9200, they have no chance to win at all.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
In the High-End sector that cards have very close scores, with the RADEON
9800 PRO 256MB falling a little behind in the heavy modes. In the Midde-End
sector the RADEON 9600 PRO performs better though the heavy modes make
this card lose as well. The RADEON 9600 loses to its competitor in the
heavy modes to a greater degree.
The RADEON 9200 loses in the low-end sector!
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Multiplayer)
In this test the RADEON 9800 PRO almost wins in the High-End sector (except
two modes), RADEON 9600 PRO takes the lead in its sector, as well as the
RADEON 9600 (except one mode).
The RADEON 9200 beats the FX 5200 once more.
Write a comment below. No registration needed!
|
|
 |
|
|
|
