X-bit labs

ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS Review

Category: Video

by FastSite

[ 12/18/2000 | 12:00 AM ]

ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS equipped with 64MB DDR memory is one of the most overclockable graphics cards based on NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS.We managed to overclock it quite impressively in our testlab: it appeared faster than GeForce2 Pro and just a littlebit behind the GeForce2 Ultra card.

Table of contents:

• Closer Look
  
• Drivers
  
• Testbed
  
• Overclocking
  
• Performance
  
• Conclusion
  

Nowadays there is quite a number of graphics cards based on NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS. All serious graphics card manufacturers launched their products based on this chip long ago already. However, those of ABIT are worth emphasizing. As a rule, mainboards developed and manufactured by ABIT became good selling points chiefly thanks to non-standard approaches implemented that made it possible to bring about extreme CPU overclocking. Take, for instance, KT7, one of ABIT's latest mainboards, which is an indisputable proof to the point. However, we seem to be veering too far away from our today's topic. In this article we will focus not on mainboards but on another member of ABIT's graphics family - ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS based on one of the today's fastest graphics processors NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS. Although this card appeared much later than its major competitors and can hardly be considered a totally innovative piece in its class, we still think it deserves our attention. Well, let us examine its features very carefully, as ABIT has always been known for some really unexpected ideas implemented in most of their products.

Closer Look

As you can see on the photo, ABIT didn't take the trouble to work out its own design for ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS, but got away with using that of NVIDIA (developed by Creative, by the way). Since ABIT Siluro GF256 supports a TV-Out, this graphics card is equipped with a daughter card based on Bt869KRF chip. Via an S-Video-Out located on the card you can connect your TV-set to the computer.

For GeForce2 GTS chip an original round cooler is used. After a more detailed examination we found a thermal pad stuck to the chip-facing side of the heatsink. This heat conductive pad plays a very important role in the heat dissipation process.

On the face of it, the cooler used on ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS seems inefficient, but changing it to a different Blue Orb didn't improve the overclocking results even with a layer of heat conducting paste applied. So, the default cooler installed on ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS produces a false impression and indeed it is quite enough for the chipset proper cooling.

The card is equipped with 64MB DDR SDRAM by Hyundai with 6ns access time. ABIT ignored the fact that most other manufacturers tended to provide "basic" versions of NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS based graphics cards with 32MB of memory only, and added another 32MB to ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS. At the same time, there is no 32MB version of this graphics card at all. Today's games don't need all these 64MB so far, but ABIT seems to be now getting ready for the future that's why the company equipped this graphics card with more memory, although it has affected the price badly. These 32MB added make ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS about $100 more expensive than any average graphics cards based on NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS with only 32MB.

The specs claim that these 6ns modules are designed to work at 333MHz (166MHz DDR). Default frequency for the card's memory is 333MHz and 200MHz for the core, this way the settings fully match NVIDIA's recommendations.

This graphics card has an idle layout for a second display, but ABIT has rejected using TwinView (dual-displays support) on the card, aiming Siluro mainly at gaming applications.

Certainly, we would like to specifically pinpoint an original asymmetric box ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS is shipped in:

The boxes contains not only the card, of course, but also a CD with drivers and utilities, two more CDs with relatively outdated but still nice SHOGO and Test Drive5 games. The set also features an S-Video cable (for TV connection).

Drivers

Brand drivers for Siluro are based on NVIDIA Detonator 3.93 reference drivers, but by the time the card became available these drivers turned obsolescent. For instance, they have even no FSAA support. Unlike NVIDIA, which never forgets to update its drivers from time to time, ABIT doesn't keep up with these updates and uses somewhat outdated versions for its graphics cards. So, since brand drivers for Siluro are based on Detonators, their functions are almost the same.

After ABIT drivers are installed, in the system tray you'll see the utility icon, by clicking on which you may access the settings:

ABIT treats overclocking as a separate utility called Graphic MAX that can be launched independently of the drivers:

These tools help only to bring the frequency of the memory and the chipset up and down. Actually, this utility fulfils the functions of the reference drivers, nothing new, so we have no idea why ABIT decided to single it out into a separate utility.

As it follows from above, owners of this graphics card had better use NVIDIA reference drivers, because they are faster and support a number of new technologies.

Testbed

We ran all the tests on the following testbed:

• Intel Pentium III 866 CPU;
• ASUS CUSL2 mainboard;
• 256MB (2 modules x 128MB) PC133 SDRAM by Hyundai;
• IBM DTLA-372050 HDD;
• Microsoft WINDOWS 98.

For you to get a better idea of the product, we took NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS with 64MB of graphics memory (ASUS AGP-V7700 64MB), NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro (ASUS AGP-V7700 64MB performing at 200/400MHz core and memory correspondingly) and GeForce2 GTS Ultra (Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator 2 Ultra). We tested these cards in Quake3 Arena v1.16n (demo001, quaver) and in Unreal Tournament v4.32 (utbench).

Overclocking

Bearing in mind that ABIT products can very often boast something outstanding, we decided to test Siluro GF256 GTS under extreme conditions, that is to overclock it heavily. We also kept in mind that Hyundai memory chips, which we saw on the card, had proven well-overclockable.

Thanks to high-quality mounting and selected elements the tested card worked in Unreal Tournament at the resolution of 1600x1200x32 for about an hour at 250/420MHz core and memory frequency. No problems were discovered. But then we decided to reduce the memory frequency down to 415MHz in order to increase stability. So, all the other results obtained for the overclocked card were received at 250/415MHz supported frequencies.

In fact, achieving 250/415MHz by overclocking may be taken for a very good result because in this mode the chip works at the frequency of GeForce2 Ultra and the memory proves to be faster than even that on GeForce2 Pro. This way, overclockers won't be disappointed with ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS. By the by, that may explain why ABIT refused to manufacture graphics cards based on GeForce2 GTS with 32MB of memory. These graphics cards are equipped with Infineon memory chips that are known for their much lower overclockability.

We also tested the card's efficiency at increased FSB frequencies on a mainboards based on i440BX chipset. ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS demonstrated stable results at FSB frequencies up to 150MHz (and the AGP bus frequency is 100MHz instead of the nominal 66MHz).

Performance

First let's check the results ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS showed in Quake3:

As we can see, ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS keeps up with its faster-working brothers in the lower resolution at nominal frequencies, while at higher frequencies it lags behind losing circa 15% in 16bit color and 21% in 32bit color. No wonder, since the memory of GeForce2 Pro and GeForce2 Ultra works at a higher frequency and that results in a performance gain at higher resolutions. The ABIT card's closest competitor, ASUS AGP-V7700 64MB, demonstrates almost the same results. However, ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS makes quite a change when tested at the frequencies of 250/415MHz taking an edge on all its major rivals. It is just a bit behind the main leader of the competition, GeForce2 Ultra, (costing about $100 more, by the way).

Now let's see what we have got in Unreal Tournament:

These results are hardly different for both: 16bit or 32bit color mode, since they are more dependent on the speed and the performance of the CPU. In this very case Pentium III 866 failed to be fast enough to make the tested graphics cards work at full blast.

Conclusion

ABIT Siluro GF256 GTS has proved to be the most overclockable member of the class. That's the reason for its good results in gaming applications, so it can become "The Best to Choose" or "The Highest Speed for a Plum Sum". If it is not overclocked, it shows casual results for cards of the rank, but in case it is, it can emulate the success of NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro graphics card and even go farther. Moreover, ABIT Siluro GF256 has now almost caught up with NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra GTS in regular resolutions! And since it is cheaper than NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro and NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra, the card can become a good choice for gaming fans.

Among the card's shortcomings there stand the presence of 64MB graphics memory (that tells on the card's price only and hardly influences its performance), but on the other hand this drawback results from its virtues. If it hadn't been for DDR SDRAM, the card would have never achieved such high working frequency. And as for 32MB of memory, the cards like that are designed for DDR SGRAM that can't indulge overclockers' demands so well.

So, ABIT's admirers were pleased once again with a product of really high quality. Let us hope that this graphics card will get cheaper, when cards based on GeForce2 Pro and GeForce2 Ultra appear on the market, and more people will be able to afford quality products from ABIT.