CONTENTS

1. Video card's features
2. Testbeds, test tools, 2D quality
3. Test results: Quake3 ARENA
4. Test results: Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
5. Test results: Return to Castle Wolfenstein
6. Test results: Code Creatures DEMO
7. Test results: Unreal Tournament 2003
8. Test results: FarCry DEMO
9. Test results: RightMark 3D
10. Test results: Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness
11. Test results: Half-Life2 (Beta)
12. Test results: HALO
13. Test results: Unreal II
14. Test results: Call Of Duty
15. Test results: Splinter Cell
16. Conclusion

Why, in our opinion, does the collage above picture some S3 Trio based card? How is it related to Sapphire and its current RADEON 9800 based products? Well, Sapphire Technologies was founded a short time ago as a branch of PC Partner which used to place orders with other companies. But sometimes the market offered video cards of this trade mark too. In particular, today's hero was produced at PC Partner's factory, that is why this card has a certain attitude to Sapphire's history though this trade mark didn't exist yet at that time. 

So, Sapphire is pretty popular on the market. Actually, it offers the widest range of cards based on ATI's GPUs. Today we will test three cards, each having its peculiarity, based on R350-360 processors. 

Theoretical materials and reviews of video cards which concern functional properties of the GPU ATI RADEON 9500/9600/9700/9800 (R300-R350)

• 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 
• Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9200 PCI 64MB 64bit, Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9200SE 128MB, Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 128MB 128bit, Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 128MB, Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO Lite 128MB, PowerColor RADEON 9800SE 128MB 256bit
• ATI RADEON 9800 XT 256MB
• TYAN TACHYON G9800Pro-M 128MB on ATI RADEON 9800 PRO
• ASUSTeK ATI RADEON 9200SE/9600SE/9600XT/9800XT cards
• Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800XT 256MB and RADEON 9800SE 128bit
• Connect3D RADEON 9800 XT 256MB 256
• ATI RADEON 9800 XT: extremal overclocking

One of three Sapphire's cards is the High-End RADEON 9800XT based solution (with Zalman's cooler), another is an interesting marketing version of the RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB based on the 9800XT PCB. The last one is a strange RADEON 9800SE based one with a 256-bit bus and the clocks speeds of RADEON 9800 (non-Pro).   

Cards

Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision)
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit

AGP x8/x4 interface, 256 MB DDR SDRAM (9800SE has 128MB) in 8 chips on both PCB sides.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate; Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision)
Hynix 2.5ns memory chips (corresponds to 400 (800) MHz), the memory is clocked at 365 (730) MHz in Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate, and at 340 (680) MHz in Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision). GPU clocked at 412 MHz (first card), and at 380 MHz (second card). 256 bit memory bus.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit
Samsung 3.3ns memory chips (corresponds to 300 (600) MHz), memory clocked at 290 (580) MHz. GPU at 325 MHz. 256 bit memory bus.

Comparison with the reference design, front view
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate	Reference card ATI RADEON 9800 XT
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision)
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit	Reference card ATI RADEON 9700 PRO

Comparison with the reference design, back view
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate	Reference card ATI RADEON 9800 XT
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision)
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit	Reference card ATI RADEON 9700 PRO

Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate and Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision) are copies of the reference RADEON 9800 XT card. The latter has a simpler cooler (that cools only the chip) and lower clock rates. Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit is based on the PCB of RADEON 9700 PRO. But this is not just a copy of the reference design - the company slightly modified it (in particular, there's a RAGE THEATER connector). Unfortunately, the release of R300 based cards on the same PCB with the VIVO support was canceled. 

Now let's look at the coolers.

Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate
This card differs from the reference RADEON 9800 XT in the cooler which is based on Zalman's design. The more heating front heatsink transfers heat to the back heatsink through a pipe with low-boiling liquid to expand the heat-dissipation area. But two simple heatsinks are not sufficient for cooling the RADEON 9800 XT based on the 0.15 micron technology, that is why the cooler is equipped with a low-speed fan attached on top. However, the mount is not handy (it can easily fall apart whenever the fan touches it). If you don't use it the temperature of the heatsink can reach 85 degrees and the driver will start reducing the clock speeds.  Although Ultimate usually implies a fan-less system, this low-noise fan doesn't worsen the impression. Besides, if your PC case is well blown through, you might not need the fan at all.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision)
The main difference of this card from the reference 9800 XT is the cooler which consists of a large heatsink. It cools down only the core. The memory that runs at a much lower clock than its rated one needs no heatsinks.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit
The cooler is black, like that on RADEON 9700 PRO (RADEON 9800SE 256bit Gold) based cards.

It's clear that the Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate has the R360 core, let's look at the other chips:
 

The RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB is based on the R360 Revision, which has lower clock speeds because of the marketing purposes. Why so? Just imagine that some system builder or distributor asked for a 256MB model based on the RADEON 9800. The production of RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB with DDR-II was stopped long ago because it was senseless to make such cards with too expensive DDR-II memory. At the same time, a customer wouldn't want to pay too much for the 9800 XT. So, why not to make RADEON 9800 XT based cards with the clock speeds of the Pro version? The company wouldn't suffer losses with such price drops and even would get an additional income. That is why the reduced clock speeds is a pure marketing step - it's silly to cut prices for the 9800 XT if they sell well even without it. If you are an overclocker, remember, that you can flash in the BIOS from RADEON 9800 XT to get the latter cheaper by $80-90. You just only have to provide proper cooling for the memory (like for the 9800XT). 

Note that the 9800SE cards are also based on the R360 chips! Unfortunately, this sample doesn't work properly with all 8 rendering pipelines. Remember that the difference between the RADEON 9800SE and 9800 is similar to the one between RADEON 9500 and 9700 - half of the rendering pipelines and the HSR unit are disabled. 

Let's get back to our card. We know that the market offers two types of RADEON 9800SE: with 256-bit and 128-bit memory buses. The first type was produced by PowerColor with the Gold suffix, the second type was made by Sapphire without any suffix (see the list of reviews above). I don't think that it's a nice idea to make cards based on different PCBs under the same name. It confuses users and allows resellers sell cheaper 128-bit cards at the price of the 256-bit ones. There is one more difference between the first and second versions: the 256-bit RADEON 9800SE from PowerColor runs at the clock speeds of the 9800 PRO: 380/340 (680) MHz, while the 128-bit 9800SE from Sapphire was clocked at the frequency of 9800: 325/290 (580) MHz. 

Now the Hong Kong company produces a 256-bit 9800SE version similar to PowerColor's Gold with the clock rates left old - 325/290 (580) MHz. So, the market offers THREE versions of 9800SE. Does it make sense? - The tests will show it.

Traditionally, first we look at the Retail boxes. 
 

Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate
This package nicely combines small dimensions and a bright attractive and stylish decoration. You can see the card through an opening in the box.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision)
This card ships in the package left from the first release of RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit
The design is similar to the above one. Note that it doesn't say a word about the bus. That is why if you want to get the retail 9800SE card from Sapphire check its clock speeds before purchasing it. More details about the different 9800SE are given below.

Now come the accessory packs:
 

Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate
User guide, software CD, CD with RedLine utility, PowerDVD, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, Half-Life2 coupon, TV extension cords, DVI-to-d-Sub and SVideo-to-RCA adapters.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision)
The same.
Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit
The same except the Half-Life2 coupon.

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 9.0b;
• ViewSonic P810 (21") and ViewSonic P817 (21") monitors.
• ATI driver 6.430 (CATALYST 4.3).

VSync off, S3TC off in applications.

The following cards are used for comparison:

• ASUS V9950 Ultra (GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, 450/425 (850) MHz, 256 MB, driver 56.56);
• Gigabyte GeForce FX 5950 Ultra (475/475 (950) MHz, 256 MB, driver 56.56);
• Inno3D Tornado GeForce FX 5700 Ultra (475/450 (900) MHz, 128 MB, driver 56.56);
• AOpen Aeolus GeForce FX 5900XT (390/350 (700) MHz, 128 MB, driver 56.56);
• Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 (325/290 (580) MHz, 128 MB);

Here are the pairs to compare (according to the prices):

• RADEON 9800SE 256bit vs GeForce FX 5900XT è FX 5700 Ultra
• RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB vs GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
• RADEON 9800 XT vs GeForce FX 5950 Ultra

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

Test applications:

 
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein (MultiPlayer) (id Software/Activision) - OpenGL, multitexturing, Checkpoint-demo, test settings - maximum, S3TC OFF, the configurations can be downloaded from here

 
• Serious Sam: The Second Encounter v.1.07 (Croteam/GodGames) - OpenGL, multitexturing, Grand Cathedral demo, test settings: quality, S3TC OFF 

 
• Quake3 Arena v.1.17 (id Software/Activision) - OpenGL, multitexturing, Quaver, 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) test demonstrates operation of cards in the 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 game 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 recorded demo. Highest quality, Depth of Fields PS20 off. Test settings are here.

 
• HALO: Combat Evolved (Microsoft) - Direct3D, Vertex/Pixel Shaders 1.1/2.0, Hardware T&L, highest quality

 
• Half-Life2 (Valve/Sierra) - DirectX 9.0, two different recorded demo (ixbt07 and coast). Tests carried out with anisotropy enabled, and with AA and anisotropy enabled.


 

• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell v.1.2b (UbiSoft) - Direct3D, Vertex/Pixel Shaders 1.1/2.0, Hardware T&L, Very High quality; demo 1_1_2_Tbilisi

 
• Call of Duty (MultiPlayer) (Infinity Ward/Activision) - OpenGL, multitexturing, ixbt0104demo, test settings- maximum, S3TC ON

 
• FarCry DEMO (Crytek/UbiSoft), DirectX 9.0, multitexturing, the demos can be downloaded from here (game loads with -DEVMODE), test settings - Very High (except textures where DEMO doesn't allow over Medium). 

 

If you need the demo benchmarks please email me. 

Quake3 Arena, Quaver

No AA, no anisotropy: R9800SE is still an outsider while R9800RPO and 9800XT take the lead (except 1024x768 where the speed unfortunately (for users who pay $500 for such card) jumps from one driver version to another).

AA enabled: the picture is the same

Anisotropy enabled: just the same

AA+anisotropy: R9800SE doesn't justify even 2/3 of its price, while the other two score pretty good results. But it's very possible that the next driver version will show a much worse picture..

Code Creatures

No AA, no anisotropy: defeat. Well, we know about cheats and optimizations, but it's hard to solve this problem because it's impossible to set anti-cheats for all driver versions and it can also kill useful optimizations. I just can say that the rendering quality doesn't suffer yet. 

AA enabled: the same.

Anisotropy enabled: this function let the two powerful R9800 win, though R9800SE is still hopeless.

AA+anisotropy: R9800Pro and 9800XT go on a par with their competitors while R9800SE still loses.

Unreal Tournament 2003

No AA, no anisotropy: R9800SE loses, and the other two have equal scores with their competitors

AA enabled: R9800Pro and 9800XT both take the lead

Anisotropy enabled: the two cards demonstrate the parity again

AA+anisotropy: R9800Pro and 9800XT take a lead while 9800SE loses again.

FarCry DEMO

R9800Pro and 9800XT thrive everywhere while R9800SE beats FX5700Ultra at least.

RightMark 3D

No AA, no anisotropy: as usual, 9800SE loses this time and the other two cards win it.

AA enabled: the same

Anisotropy enabled: just the same

AA+anisotropy: the picture is identical.

TR:AoD, paris5_4

No AA, no anisotropy: pixel shaders 2.0 helped R9800SE beat FX5700U, but 5900XT is unbreakable. R9800Pro and 9800XT look excellent!

All the other modes, (AA, anisotropy, AA+anisotropy) shows just the same picture.

Half-Life2 (beta), ixbt0703

Anisotropy enabled: here even pixel shaders 2.0 can't help R9800SE, though the other cards easily win.

AA+anisotropy: identical.

HALO

No AA, no anisotropy: 9800SE loses and the other cards go on a par with their rivals

Anisotropy enabled: R9800Pro and 9800XT win the battle, and 9800SE looks bad.

Unreal II

R9800SE loses the fight and the other cards win it in all modes.

Call Of Duty

In general, the picture is similar to the previous test - R9800SE should have its price cut.
 
 

Splinter Cell

No AA, no anisotropy: all the cards lose this time

Anisotropy enabled: 9800PRO is a loser like 9800SE, and R9800XT outedges its competitor.
 
 

Conclusion

1. Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 XT Ultimate: an excellent product for those who like silence (in spite of the fan). The video card is able of everything a High-End solution must be able of. 

 
2. Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB (R360 revision): it's very interesting for those who want a 9800XT based card at a lower price, i.e. for overclockers. It can become a good choice if the price corresponds to the level of R9800PRO. 
3. Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9800SE 256bit: the card has a chip with the poorer parameters than even the RADEON 9600 PRO could offer! This product can't be priced over $120 (judging by the prices for the middle of March 2004).

 

 
 

Note: the market offers three types of RADEON 9800SE based cards:

• RADEON 9800SE 256bit, 380/340 (640) MHz - red PCB of RADEON 9700 with 4 memory modules on each side at the right angle around the chip. The cooler is usually black, i.e. it looks like ATI RADEON 9700 PRO. Produced by PowerColor under RADEON 9800SE Gold trade mark.
• RADEON 9800SE 256bit, 325/290 (580) MHz - black PCB of RADEON 9700 (with some changes), the chips are also located at the right angle around the chip. The cooler can be black or it can be roundish, Sapphire's proprietary one. Produced by Sapphire.
• RADEON 9800SE 128bit, 325/290 (580) MHz - red (black is also possible though) PCB of RADEON 9500 PRO, with 4 memory chips on each side lined above the chip. Produced by Sapphire.

When purchasing a 9800SE based card study the exterior to find out what bus is used and note the manufacturer to find out the clock rates. 

The build quality of all the cards is very high, plus they run very steadily!

In our 3Digest you can find full comparison characteristics for video cards of this and other classes. 

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