G400 Max + Athlon Review

[Giz]

For those of you interested in finding out which video card to go with your new Athlon system, check out this article (http://www.anandtech.com/html/articledisplay.cfm?document=1081). They test out a variety of video cards, including the G400 and G400 Max with a variety of Athlon CPUs.

Of course the G400 Max performs very well!!!

Enjoy.

[kelin]

I agree...great writeup...certainly makes me GLAD I went for the Max to mate with my K7 600!!!
But, after playing the heck out of Q3 and Ut...I already NEW dis...
Kelin

[Joel]

Yeah and it even beats the G-spot in several of those test with the G400 image quality still being the best. www.anandtech.com/html/articledisplay.cfm?document=1081&pagenum=1

On a different note. EPoX has released some information on their upcoming EP-K7VA motherboard at www.epox.com/events/comdex99/las_vegas/ep-k7va.htm

Supports AMD Athlon.
ATX form factor.
VIA 'KX133' with 686A.
200MHz Front Side Bus support.
5 PCI, 1 ISA, 1 AMR, 1 AGP.
3 DIMM. 768MB SDRAM max.
ATA 66 EIDE.
AGP 4x mode support.
Onchip Audio AC-97.
Estimated Release Date: TBD (Q1 2000).

And just to think that our G400s are already 4X mode AGP compatible. Looks good for Matrox and AMD all the way around.

Joel

[This message has been edited by Joel (edited 13 November 1999).]

[kelin]

Remember, though, while the G400 is AGP 4X compatable, it IS NOT able to run at AGP 4X!!!
Don't think it will be much of a prob, though, as most games, etc...are hardly using 2X to its capability...
Kelin

[Joel]

Oh I know that but at least it will be able to run on 4X AGP boards without any modifications.

Joel

[kelin]

I AGREE...something interesting I found out while I was buying/returning TNT Ultras, a few months back(obviously, afo I got my Max!!!) I picked up a Diamond Ultra and is says AGP 4X (BIGGGGG Letterz on BOX) and the Creative Ultra didn't say it would go 4X...so I wrote Creative and they said (amd remember this is probably at the beginning of summer, when the Ultras first came out)that while SOME manufacturers were saying they were AGP 4X( and Diamond even has that jumper on the Ultra to choose 2X or 4X)no one really knew, cause there was NO 4X YET!!!
And, what stuck me as strange is that both the Diamond and Creative Ultras have the SAME CHIP!!! So if one isn't AGP 4X the other probably isn't!!!
And, with what I have been reading, until they start really optimizing for 4X, there won't be any real advantages for having an actual 4X card (not 4X compatable, like my MaX)...but actually running AGP 4X...
Kelin

[Dyre]

I Agree with all this, except the part about cards not using all of 2x. Right now the biggest limitations on most vid cards is memory speed and aviable bus bandwidth!

now at 640 x 480 w/ 256 x 256 textures this doesnt come into play. but when you start running a 1600 x 1200 w/ large textures, bandwith really becomes important, along with memory speed.

have you seen a GeForce DDR play quake at 1600 x 1200 with high detail? its very scary, while the GeForce SDR just chokes on those settings.

Need more proof? turn off bus mastering on your G400, and watch fps go through the floor.
if anyone things im wrong, let me know.
: )




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PIII 450 @ 464
generic BX6 motherboard
G400 MAX : )
Maxtor 13 gig UDMA 33
Maxtor 13 gig UDMA 66
Creative 36x CD-ROM
HP 2x2x6x CD-RW
64 megs PC100 RAM
Intel 10/100
Soundblaster 32 AWE
DiamondMAX 56k
Logitech Wireless Desktop (best $50 ive ever spent)
4 large fans.

[Greebe]

I haven't tested it with my new cpu (an OC'd 800!) but will be doing as soon as I get more of these mods done

------------------
System: Win98 + SP1, DX7; K7 500 @ 650; Modified CoolMaster
K7 heatsink/fan; MSI MS-6167, bios 1.3, AGP drivers 4.45 and IDE driver
4.45; Matrox G400 Max DH, bios 1.5-22, PD 5.3 & TurboGL, Cornerstone 50/95 21" monitor, 128 regular
PC100 sdram cas3 set to cas2; TB Quadzilla sound, latest Aureal driver
2.25; Promise FastTrack raid controller, bios 1.6; Twin IBM DTTA-171440
14.4 gb GXP series HD's, Linksys 10/100 pci nic, 3.5 floppy, Asus
CD-S400 cdrom, Imation IMW040420IA 4x4x20 CD-R/RW, bios 1.3; InWin Q500
full tower case w/ a 300w supply.

Scores:
3Dmark 99 Max 800x600 16bit triple buffered
6525 3Dmarks
11000 CPUmarks
Game 1 Race 73.7
Game 2 First person 59
Fill rate w/ multi-Texturing 301.7
2meg texture rendering speed = 556 (640x480 16bit, double buffer)
2meg texture rendering speed = 432 (800x600 16bit, triple buffer)
32meg texture rendering speed = 97 (800x600 16bit, triple buffer)

Q3 compkill.dm3 1024x768 All settings set to MAX except for color
depth 16 bit and texture filter set to bilinear.
26.9 fps

Q3demo1.dm3 all setting to highest except, 16 bit color depth, set to bilinear and sky set low
1600x1200 = 21.5
1280x960 = 31.2
1024x768 = 48.1
800x600 = 74.6
640x480 = 89.2
Fastest = 111.4!

Q2demo1.dm2 + 3Dnow drivers all settings highest.
1024x768 = 82.1 fps
1280x960 = 53.4 fps
1600x1200 = 34.1 fps

Sandra 99 Pro
2154 Mips
840 mflops

Drives benchmark
Raid array
Drive index = 15669

Greebe... who's really smile'n lately