ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 and NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650: Taking on DX9
by Andrew Ku on September 14, 2003 11:04 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
The Test
For NDA reasons, as we have cited in previous reviews, we can’t go into details when describing the platform we tested. The only thing we can reveal is what is cited below, and that the system has a modular GPU design. This allows us to isolate the GPU in the same manner as a desktop system.The term “qualified” has been tossed around, and we are sure that it will be used when discussing this review. Unlike desktop components, the graphic vendors can’t validate their own graphics processors for mobile use. The final approval goes to mobile system vendors like IBM, Dell, HP, etc., which is based on bidding price, heat/thermal emissions, and power consumption among other things. Even though validation comes into question when making this comparison, we do it because these two graphic processors, in and of themselves, are shipping in systems.
| Windows XP Professional Notebook Test System | |
| Motherboard(s) | 855PM DDR |
| Memory | 512MB PC2100 |
| Video Card(s) | ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 128MB 128-bit DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650 128MB 128-bit DDR |
| Ethernet | Onboard Ethernet Adapter |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP1 |
| Video Drivers | ATI 7.93 NVIDIA 44.82 |
| Benchmarking Applications | Blizzard Entertainment Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne – High Quality Settings Microsoft FlightSim 2004: Century of Flight – High Quality Settings Edios Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness - High Quality Settings Ubi Soft Splinter Cell – Normal Settings Valve Half-Life 2 – Normal Settings Massive AquaMark 3 – High Quality Settings |
We should, additionally, note that we used DirectX 9.0b in our system configuration.
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Andrew Ku - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
We are currently revising our graphics benchmark suite in the anticipation of future DX9 stuff. These two GPUs are full DX9 parts, and we are benchmarking them accordingly. UT2003 and our current line of benchmarking titles are DX8, and therefore aren't specifically appropriate for this context. Why are our choices of benchmark titles odd? The Mobility and Go mobile graphics parts are no more than mobile version of desktop processors (clocked down, better power management features and in the M10 case integrated memory package).dvinnen - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
Where's UT2003 and other stables? Odd choice of benchmarks. I would of liked to see how it stood up to desktop varients also.Andrew Ku - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
AgaBooga,Question 1: Actually, we were considering memory bandwidth as a possible issue. I will try and report back as soon as we sort this out.
Question 2: We tested at 1600x1200 for benchmark purposes, as it shows degrade. Additionally, the newer desknotes and mobile multimedia notebooks are capable of this resolution and higher.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 15, 2003 - link
Great review, funny too. (And it wasn't just the horrible failure of the Go5650 to perform that I found amusing!)AgaBooga - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
Wow, nice set of benchmarkings applications! That is really something you've put together! My compliments to you!Do you think it is bound by something other than the GPU at 1024x768 on Splinter Cell 2_2_1 Set 1? Also, why was it tested at 1600x1200 because laptop users usually don't use resolutions that high on a relatively small screen than what is used on a desktop.
Andrew Ku - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
I am somewhat considered a new writer. My first article was the CEO Forum - Q3/2003.AgaBooga - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
New article writer? Not bad, it seems pretty good!