X-bit labs

ELSA ERAZOR X² Review

Category: Video

by FastSite

[ 12/10/1999 | 12:00 AM ]

This is the first graphics card on NVIDIA GeForce256 equipped with DDR memory. We really felt the doubling ofthe memory bus bandwidth. And you?

Table of contents:

• Conclusions
  

Some time ago we posted NVIDIA GeForce 256 Graphics Cards Comparison dealing with the graphicscards equipped with SDR SDRAM (Single Data Rate) memory. In that article, as well as in allother ones, devoted to the graphics cards based on GeForce 256 chipset we kept mentioningtheir main drawback: insufficient local graphics memory bandwidth, which appeared especiallytangible in 3D-graphics 32-bit color regimes. We tried to give you a clear idea of this negativefactor and expressed our sincere supposition that only the graphics cards with DDR SGRAM (DoubleData Rate) memory could reveal the full potential of NVIDIA GeForce 256 chip and provide theappropriate performance of the cards in 32-bit color regimes.

So,this time we tested ELSA ERAZOR X² graphics card with DDR SGRAM local graphicsmemory on-board.

This graphics card is based on NVIDIA reference design; it meets AGP 2.0 specification andsupports AGP 2x and 4x. Although ELSA had been working out its own special design for all theprevious graphics cards, including ERAZOR X with SDR memory, this time ELSA engineers decided toresort to NVIDIA's solution so that the so long awaited product could come out in time.

There is an active cooler stuck to the top of GeForce 256 chip, absolutely the same as thatof Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator. Besides, the card is also equipped with DDR SGRAM memorymicrochips from Infineon. There are 4 memory chips on each side of the card, which make 32MBaltogether.

The memory installed in ERAZOR X² is intended for 166MHz bus frequency,however, it is not all Infineon is capable of. They also produce another two DDR SGRAMchips versions supporting up to 200MHz.

The card also has a connector for Silicon Image chip supporting DVI interface as well as theinstalled TV-out set including Conexant controller and S-Video OUT connector.

And on the CD-disk, which went together with the card, we found the last 1.04-020 version ofELSA drivers dating back to 26 November and developed for this particular cards family.

We didn't have any problems with the driver installation and as soon as it was over we gotsome additional properties pages. Among those were:

Direct3D settings:

All the parameters here are taken from NVIDIA reference drivers. However, it should be notedthat you can disable Vsync directly from this page without looking for the specific options inthe menus.

OpenGL settings:

This page is also a copy of NVIDIA reference driver settings that is why we won't dwellhere for long. We have already discussed the peculiarities of NVIDIA GeForce 256 referencedrivers in detail in our Graphics cards comparison.

The overclocking utility from the reference drivers set allows increasing the chipset andmemory working frequency by up to 25% of the nominal value equal to 120/150MHz correspondingly.However, though the memory is initially intended for 166MHz it is clocked to 150MHz as default.Unfortunately, we failed to significantly overclock the chipset of the piece we had at our disposal.The maximum we managed to reach was only 130MHz, and for the memory - only 170MHz. But you shouldbear in mind that the real data transfer frequency provided by DDR SGRAM is twice as high as itsworking frequency, because the data is transferred along two signal fronts.

Stereo-settings:

As is known, all ERAZOR graphics cards support ELSA 3D Revelator stereo glasses,which can be either supplied together with the graphics cards or sold separately as anindependent product. The current model is not an exception. We have already covered thepeculiarities of these glasses in our review so pleasecheck ELSA 3D REVELATOR 3D Glasses Review for moredetails on the corresponding settings.

General 2D settings:

This page is a certain extension of the standard Windows display properties and allowssetting the required monitor refresh rate for each resolution.

Moreover, you can also load 2D graphics fine tuning for more detailed settings:

This page lets you fill in the monitor model and offers the full range of the correspondingsettings for your particular case. With these settings you can squeeze the maximum out of yourmonitor. Moreover, you can even define the range for each monitor type:

The testing system we used was configured as follows:

• Intel Pentium III 600 CPU;
• ASUS P3B-F (i440BX) mainboard;
• 128MB PC100 system memory;
• Quantum FB CR 6.4GB HDD;
• ViewSonic P810 (21") monitor;
• Windows 98.

We applied Winbench99 testing package to study the card's performance in 2D:

As we had expected, nothing extraordinary happened. ELSA ERAZOR X² performedalmost the same as all the other graphics cards on NVIDIA GeForce 256 chipset did. That iswhy we dare state that this graphics card proved as cool in 2D as Matrox Millennium G400 MAX.

Unfortunately, there isn't any universal tool to estimate the graphics quality in 2D that'swhy all we can do is just give our personal subjective evaluation of the thing. At all theresolutions up to 1600x1200 ELSA ERAZOR X² provides very clear 2D images, which isnot surprising, actually. All the graphics cards on NVIDIA GeForce 256 chip can boast very highimage quality in 2D. You can feel absolutely at home when working in 2D-graphics.

We would like to stress that we don't look at the performance of mainstream gaming graphicscards working in systems with very expensive large-screen monitors where the 2D-requirements aremuch higher. If you are a specialist and need very high quality 2D, you will anyway be verysceptical about the quality provided by the gaming graphics cards no matter how good it is.

Speaking about the architecture of ELSA ERAZOR X², we can say that it differsfrom its SDR-memory analogues only by a more efficient memory type, which works as if it hada 256-bit data bus. That is why we are going to devote the major part of our review to ELSAERAZOR X² performance in 3D-graphics. We will compare it to one of NVIDIA GeForce256 based graphics cards with SDR SDRAM memory, namely to Leadtek WinFast GeForce 256.

For our tests we used NVIDIA ver. 3.62 reference drivers. Vsync (monitor refresh ratesynchronization with RAMDAC) was disabled. You are probably wondering why we utilized NVIDIAreference drivers instead of those from ELSA (ver. 1.04-020)? Well, because NVIDIA's driversprovide a bit higher general performance.

Among the testing tools we used to take the 3D performance were:

• id Software Quake2 v.3.20 (external demo massive1) - a gaming test used to find out thecard's performance in OpenGL in 16- and 32-bit color.
• id Software Quake3 DEMO v.1.09 (built-in demo002) - a gaming test intended to show thecard's performance in OpenGL in all the four standard modes: Fast, Fastest, Normal, High Quality.
• Monolith Shogo (external demo revshogo) - a gaming test demonstrating the accelerator'sperformance in Direct3D in 16-bit color without multitexturing.
• Rage Expendable (built-in timedemo) - a gaming benchmark allowing us to evaluate theaccelerator's performance in Direct3D in 16- and 32-bit color with multitexturing enabled.
• NVIDIA TreeMark DEMO - a synthetic test giving us an idea of the accelerator'sperformance in OpenGL when the geometric coprocessor is involved.
• Epic Games Unreal Tournament DEMO v.3.48 (external demo mydemo1) - a gaming test,which shows the card's performance in Direct3D in 16- and 32-bit color with multitexturingenabled, and the utilization was very high.

As we can see, the differences between Leadtek WinFast GeForce 256 with SDR-memory and ELSAERAZOR X² with DDR-memory are minimal. The memory bandwidth doesn't seem to be thecard's bottleneck in this game.

Here we can notice that as soon as the color regime changes to 32-bit the memory utilizationgets considerably higher. That's why we can regard the memory bandwidth increase as a highlypositive effect, which helps the card with DDR DGRAM to take the lead.

In Quake3 tests we will as well offer you the results shown by ELSA ERAZOR X²working at overclocked chip and memory bus frequencies.

You can easily notice that even at 1024x768, not to mention lower resolutions, the performancesolely depends on the CPU. So, you can actually feel the performance difference between thegraphics cards starting from 1280x1024. It appeared pretty interesting that the graphics cardwith SDR-memory was much closer to the card with DDR-memory at 1600x1200 than in case they bothworked at 1280x1024. Actually, GeForce 256 chip is very likely to have totally exhausted itspower at this resolution that is why we obtained the results like that.

This example shows that the graphics chip clock frequency starts prevailing over that of thegraphics memory. Even when overclocked, ELSA ERAZOR X² working at lower chipset frequencythan that of the card with SDR SDRAM yields to its rival.

These results prove once again that when the local graphics memory bandwidth doesn't slow down thewhole show, namely in 16-bit color, it is the graphics core clock frequency that plays the mainpart. Nevertheless, you have probably noticed that a faster memory still tells slightly on theperformance if the graphics core clock frequencies of the card with SDR SDRAM and DDR SGRAM areequal. In case the chip frequency is higher by Leadtek WinFast GeForce 256 with SDR SDRAM thanthat by the card with DDR SGRAM memory, the picture turns absolutely reverse and not so favorablefor DDR any more, even despite its higher bandwidth.

This test perfectly illustrates the main DDR SGRAM advantages when used on GeForce 256 basedgraphics card. ELSA ERAZOR X² manages to show all the cons of higher graphics memorybandwidth. And as for the card with SDR SDRAM, even when overclocked it fails to catch up withour hero, though the latter is working at its nominal frequencies.

In this situation, no one will argue about the victory of DDR-memory, that's why we have nothingto comment on, actually.

First of all it should be noted that for us it was the first experience when the CPU computingcapacity appeared a bottleneck at all resolutions including 1600x1200. In other words, it turnedout absolutely useless to buy powerful and expensive graphics accelerators for games without T&Lsupport. Even overclocking a DDR card didn't lead to any increase in performance.

This test is a perfect example of DDR SGRAM features, as well as Quake3 in High quality mode.No comments on our part.

Since not so much is required from the local graphics memory bandwidth, the graphics core workingclock frequency appears the most serious factor. In fact, the core is also responsible for T&L.

According to the graph showing the dependence of the performance on the number of light sources,the general outlook of the curves for both graphics cards is very similar. However, ELSA ERAZORX² performs a bit better due to the card's faster memory, which undoubtedly tells.Nevertheless, the graphics processor performance and its functional features appear of greaterimportance here.

The curve of the dependence of the performance on the amount of polygons in the scene alsoproves that the GPU working clock frequency appears the determinative in 16-bit color depthand with no severe requirements to the local graphics memory bandwidth. However, if fewerpolygons are applied, more efficient memory ensures cooler outcome.

This is a very hard game for the system CPU, because it utilizes it to the full extent.Therefore, the graphics adapter performance goes to the background and we see a very smallperformance difference between Leadtek WinFast GeForce 256 and ELSA ERAZOR X².

Here it is evident that faster DDR SGRAM memory exerts the major influence, although thesystem CPU and the fillrate still remain the system bottleneck.

DDR SGRAM shows its worth only in 32-bit color regime. Nevertheless, if the graphicsprocessor performance is not a weak point in some cases, the use of DDR SGRAM memory canbe very fruitful even in 16-bit color, since it has a noticeable positive influence overthe overall performance.

So, regarding all the things mentioned above, we have every right to suppose the following.In spring NVIDIA will launch a modernized NV15 chip capable of working at higher clock frequenciesthan the today's GeForce 256. That's why, the graphics cards based on NV15 and equipped with DDRSGRAM memory will very likely become the gamer's choice No 1 and will retain this favorableposition for a considerable while.

Conclusions

We have every reason to state that ELSA ERAZOR X² graphics card is one of the coolestgaming accelerators today. As we have supposed before, high performance memory type used - DDR SGRAM -very positively tells on the general performance of the graphics card based on NVIDIA GeForce 256 chip.

However, from time to time we come across the situations when the GeForce 256 chip appears the onlyobstacle preventing the graphics subsystem from performing even better.

Besides, we would like to point out that if your CPU is relatively weak, it doesn't make much senseto buy very powerful and expensive graphics cards with DDR SGRAM while there is just a handful of gamessupporting hardware T&L in the market. The thing is that the system CPU turns out a real bottleneckrestricting the system performance almost at all resolutions and especially in 16-bit color regimes,because it appears unable to fully utilize the graphics accelerator.

ELSA ERAZOR X² proved a very promising high quality product, which will find itsway in gaming PCs. If we take into account that these graphics cards will be supplied togetherwith very high quality software and a game supporting hardware T&L, its brilliant future willhardly seem doubtful.