Geforce FX 5900 Ultra advice...

[Quaksyx]

I want to go all out -- I am planning to buy the new 256 MB RAM Nvidia Geforce FX 5900 Ultra. However, I don't know which manufacturer I should go with...Any thoughts?

I know that currently only eVGA is fairly available; I am planning to wait a bit for some of the other manufacturers to get their products to market.

Thanks,

Q

 

[SkazzyUK]

Just go with Nvidia themselves? least you will know it will be decent legit stuff.

800th Post

Skazzy

 

[Quaksyx]

Just go with Nvidia themselves? least you will know it will be decent legit stuff.

Thanks for the reply, but Nvidia themselves only make the reference board; it is not available for retail purchase. eVGA's card is almost identical to the reference design, however. I don't know much about eVGA so I probably won't go with them. I've heard good things about Gainward and am considering them. Other manufacturers include MSI, PNY, and BFG to name a few. I just don't know who among the manufacturers isthe most reputable...

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by Quaksyx
I want to go all out -- I am planning to buy the new 256 MB RAM Nvidia Geforce FX 5900 Ultra. However, I don't know which manufacturer I should go with...Any thoughts?

I know that currently only eVGA is fairly available; I am planning to wait a bit for some of the other manufacturers to get their products to market.

Thanks,

Q

have heard good stuff bout the eVGA and gainward boards... the gainward seems to be clocked a little above reference but the overall clock difference does not appear to give it a big boost

considering the 256mb... not a bad move with the 5900ultra... there is little difference in the 9800pro board between 128/256mb version cept in a couple of games... on the other hand there is apparently a noticeable difference in the nvidia section...

I would wager it is due to a less efficient memory management system (i.e such as AA and AF enabled situations) but whatever the case... it is a fact that it is a better performer in a number of benches...

still... @ around $500... ouch

FYi... msi/pny and bfg all manufacture highly capable cards... the highest of the highend cards from nvidia and ati follow a generally reference design mainly due to trhe sheer complexity of having to deal with over 110 million transistors... so you are unlikely to see a major difference between the various OEM partners...

instead consider the offerings of the packages (bundled software/hardware) and the clocks... like I said.. it appears as though gainward are oc'ing slightly.. however this does not seem to be providing THEIR card with any extra performance over the regular ULTRA boards...

enjoy the card

btw skazz... Quaksyx is right... nvidia does not make their own boards I think BFG is to nvidia as sapphire is to ATi...

 

[ntentz]

I have delt with Gainward and BFG and cant say a bad thing about either of them. I worked with a guy who burnt up his GAinward g4 ti4200 64 mb and tried to sell it to me(as good lol), i took it home and it was all wavy and looked like a rainbow, so i gave him $10 for it I called Gainward thye told me to send it in and in about 2 weeks i had a differnt card in my mailbox( i marked my old one so i know it was a differnent card). And i have used tht card even since works great, gainwards have a lifetime warrenty they asked 0 questions greatpeople to deal with. As for BFG a friend bought thier ti4600 and had a ecs k7s5a mb that i found it had a conflict with so I called them and asked about it. Being a new company thye didnt know of the problem but were eager to hear about it and called me back 3 times to see what kind of progress i had made , not much thye could do really but they were great to work with. We changed him over to a msi mb and all was solved. I think BfG has a good warrenty too maybe lifetime not sure. I dont normally post nor am i long winded but if a compnay treats me as well as these 2 have ill spead the word. hope this helps ya
Don

 

[Quaksyx]

Thanks guys! Your advice is much appreciated. Sounds like Gainward may be the way to go!! The Gainward card definitely looks cool too (has two fans)...I just hope it becomes available soon. Newegg.com has an ETA of July 3 for the 128MB Gainward card; I haven't seen any ETA anywhere for the 256MB one.

Q

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by Quaksyx
Thanks guys! Your advice is much appreciated. Sounds like Gainward may be the way to go!! The Gainward card definitely looks cool too (has two fans)...I just hope it becomes available soon. Newegg.com has an ETA of July 3 for the 128MB Gainward card; I haven't seen any ETA anywhere for the 256MB one.

Q

theres a guy on the nvnews forums who has a 256mb nv35... so they must be somewhere out there on the web...

 

[ntentz]

Is it a Gainward ? Quaksyx stated above that it was available but he only found it from evga which id stay away from also. Think hes waiting for one of the big companys to release thier cards.

And yes the gainward cards are shrps looking Q, but i must say shop around read reviews the gainwards are menat o be among the best from my research but Msi come with a great amout of software in the bundle normally.... do your research on the hardware sites as all the cards will perform different.

 

[Eck]

Getting a 256MB card over 128MB is pretty much a waste of $100 in my opinion. Only at the highest resolutions like 1600x1200 with 8X AA and 16X anisotropic filtering will you see a difference. And then, the difference is like 5 frames per second. Hmm, 14 fps, or 19 fps? Not like you'd be playing a game at 19 fps anyway.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030604/radeon_9800-06.html

"The benchmark results of the new Radeon 9800 Pro with 256 MB are sobering when compared to those of the 128-MB variant. It's only in extreme situations (in the highest resolutions and high FSAA settings) that any difference could be seen. In these areas, however, the frame rates are at a low level, which is therefore not realistic and certainly not worth the extra $100. "

Just my 2 cents.

 

[cs-cky]

u want to go gainward all the way. i have a gainward geforce 4 ti 4200 128. there cards have golden sampleing and it runs faster than all the other cards. One last things nvidia has the best card on the mraket right now. it is faster than the ati 9800 pro. it kicks it ass when all the eye candy is turned on.

 

[Taurus]

but if someone is planning on sticking with this card for the long haul (say, two years), the 256mb version might be worth the extra investment.

in late 2000, i paid $320 for a 64mb gf2 gts. that card lasted me 2 years and i was glad i got the 64mb version. i can't say the same for slower cards like the gf2 mx, though.

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by cs-cky
One last things nvidia has the best card on the mraket right now. it is faster than the ati 9800 pro. it kicks it ass when all the eye candy is turned on.

not quite true..

but it is a very good card

 

[LeeJend]

Since when does Gainward have a lifetime warantee?????

The printed warantee's I've seen were 12 months. My "golden sample" started getting unstable at 9 months then crapped out at 13 months. No card, no $179, no warantee.

 

[Quaksyx]

Originally posted by LeeJend
Since when does Gainward have a lifetime warantee?????

The printed warantee's I've seen were 12 months. My "golden sample" started getting unstable at 9 months then crapped out at 13 months. No card, no $179, no warantee.

Geez...Sorry to hear that. You're the first one to say something bad about Gainward. You are right about the warranty not being liftetime - it seems to be 36 months

Robust and Complete Software Support
...Gainward’s products are also backed by a free driver update support through the internet, telephone/fax/e-mail technical support and a 36 months limited warranty.

This info is taken directly from Gainward's site (www.gainward.com/d-5.html?id=112).

Q

 

[Quaksyx]

Looks like Asus is entering the market too...what do you guys think of this one?

 

[ntentz]

Hmmm strange i was told of the lifetime by someone at Gainwards repair shop, which they did tell me was seperate from the sales part of things because I had asked since this one was bad was a upgarde to a 4600 possible if i paid the difference, but being a repair facility thye couldnt do it. Lifetime did seem alittle to good to be true sry if i mislead anyone and thanx for setting me str8, the moment he said that I was a gainward custumer for life lol. But regardless id buy one they treated me great and make a killer card. Ill even by the flaky one Leeland has for $10 jsut to give um a try who knows maybe ill have 2 cards for 10 a piece lol. Again sry for the misinfo

 

[Quaksyx]

ntentz, no apology necessary...

I am definitely still considering the Gainward. But, I just noticed that Asus jumped into the lot. Apparently, Asus is one of the couple of manufacturers that is allowed (by Nvidia) to implement some of their own design into the card -- just sounded pretty interesting.

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by ntentz
Hmmm strange i was told of the lifetime by someone at Gainwards repair shop, which they did tell me was seperate from the sales part of things because I had asked since this one was bad was a upgarde to a 4600 possible if i paid the difference, but being a repair facility thye couldnt do it. Lifetime did seem alittle to good to be true sry if i mislead anyone and thanx for setting me str8, the moment he said that I was a gainward custumer for life lol. But regardless id buy one they treated me great and make a killer card. Ill even by the flaky one Leeland has for $10 jsut to give um a try who knows maybe ill have 2 cards for 10 a piece lol. Again sry for the misinfo

lifetime driver support is free AFAIK

but yah.. $10 sounds like a VERY good offer

 

[Goatman]

I'd go for the MSI..... MSI is known for including amazing software bundles with their cards and they have a nice PCB colour! AFAIK PNY is the only company that has a lifetime warranty, and that's not even really lifetime, it's only as long as the product is still available in Retail, so it's only about 2 - 3 year warranty.

 

[shoulin]

Leadtek all the way woot, u cant go wrong with them