X-bit labs

MSI MS-8809 Review

Category: Video

by FastSite

[ 05/02/2000 | 12:00 AM ]

This graphics card is based on NVIDIA GeForce256 and equipped with SDR memory. It would be just an ordinary piece, if it were not for the super cool 3D! Turbo II utility for graphics card control in 2D.

Table of contents:

• Closer Look
  
• Overclocking
  
• Installation and Drivers
  
• Performance
  
• Conclusions
  

As we have already written in our reviews, graphics cards on NVIDIA GeForce256 chipset keep cropping up in themarket, although we can hardly call this chipset a "novelty". 0n 26 April 2000 NVIDIA announced their newchipset - GeForce2 GTS. So, we are looking forward to new graphics cards on this chip. In the meanwhile,we can only say that GeForce256 based graphics cards are about to get cheaper, especially those with SDRmemory. And finally, when the history of GeForce256 based cards family was about to finish, MSI launchedits offspring: MS-8809. As usual, we will stick to our tradition of telling you about all the new hardware,which appears in the market. So, let us introduce MSI MS-8809 based on NVIDIA GeForce256. We believe thereis no need in telling you who MSI are, because this company is famous for its high-quality mainboards. MSIgraphics cards are also quite well-known.

We have already mentioned in our previous reviews that NVIDIA GeForce256 based graphics cards are veryoften as like as two peas. And there are only a few exceptions among the manufacturers, who have the rightto call their products unique and really exclusive. As for all the other manufacturers, they are usuallyquite satisfied with simple cloning of similar graphics cards being a copy of the reference card. Thistime we have the same case.

Closer Look

The main features of MSI MS-8809 include:

• NVIDIA GeForce 256, 256-bit GPU
• 15 Million Polygons/sec, 480 Million Pixels/sec
• 350 MHz RAMDAC resolution up to 2048x1536
• 32-bit Z-buffer/stencil
• Display Modes:
  
  

  Resolution	Colors	Vertical Refresh Rate
  640x480	8/16/32 bits	60Hz to 240Hz
  800x600	8/16/32 bits	60Hz to 240Hz
  1024x768	8/16 bits	60Hz to 240Hz
  1024x768	32 bits	60Hz to 200Hz
  1152x864	8/16 bits	60Hz to 200Hz
  1152x864	32 bits	60Hz to 170Hz
  1280x960	8/16 bits	60Hz to 170Hz
  1280x960	32 bits	60Hz to 150Hz
  1280x1024	8/16 bits	60Hz to 170Hz
  1280x1024	32 bits	60Hz to 150Hz
  1600x900	8/16 bits	60Hz to 150Hz
  1600x900	32 bits	60Hz to 120Hz
  1600x1200	8/16 bits	60Hz to 120Hz
  1600x1200	32 bits	60Hz to 100Hz
  1920x1080	8/16 bits	60Hz to 100Hz
  1920x1080	32 bits	60Hz to 85Hz
  1920x1200	8/16 bits	60Hz to 100Hz
  1920x1200	32 bits	60Hz to 85Hz
  1920x1440	8/16 bits	60Hz to 85Hz
  1920x1440	32 bits	60Hz to 75Hz
  2048x1536	8/16 bits	60Hz to 75Hz
  2048x1536	32 bits	60Hz

And now let's take a look at the card:

The card is based on AGP 2x/4x interface, has 32MB 5.5ns SDR SDRAM located in 16 chips on both sides of thePCB. Memory microchips are made by EliteMT and feature 5.5ns access time, which means that this memory can work at 183MHz.NVIDIA advises using 166MHz memory in graphics cards with SDR that is why the nominal memory working frequency onthis card is reduced to 166MHz (as well as on other cards of the same type).

The distinguishing feature of MSI MS-8809 graphics card, which catches your eye from the very beginning, is anactive cooler fastened to the chipset. At first it seems absolutely the same as by some other similar graphicscards: a small fan pressed into the heat sink, with sharply turned down fan blades, which blow the air sideward.The main feature distinguishing this cooler from all the other similar ones is its a bit bigger size and the slitsfor warm air to go out through, which are made on all sides of the heatsink instead of only two, as we saw by manyother graphics cards. The cooler is fastened to the card with two spring clips. Between the heatsink and the chipsetwe found a layer of thermal paste, which should improve the cooling. By the way, we saw the same cooler on therecently reviewed Chaintech Desperado RI70 that is why you can easily mix them up if you look at them at a certaindistance.

Further examination of the PCB showed that the cooler was the only difference from the reference card. The PCB iscolored dark-yellow. The piece we tested was equipped with a TV-out and had special empty spaces for the digitalLCD-Out. TV-Out was controlled by Conexant (former BrookTree) BT869 chip.

Unfortunately, TV-Out has only S-Video out that is why if your video equipment is not very up-to-date, you willhardly be able to make use of it (otherwise, you will have to buy an S-Video-to-RCA converter).

In MS-8809 specs list available on MSI web-site, you can find out that both additional devices are optional that'swhy you have to pay special attention to the package (box) when purchasing this graphics card. They should mention onthe box whether the piece you are holding in your hands has a TV-Out and/or LCD-Out.

The graphics card is supplied in a stylish black-and-white box. The package includes two CD-disks: with the driversfor this card and a PowerDVD DVD-player. The user's manual looks like an originally designed brochure with two pocketsfor CDs. Besides, there is also an extension cord for S-Video signal output.

Overclocking

We managed to overclock MSI MS-8809 chipset up to 160MHz, and the memory only to 190MHz. The chipset frequency wemanaged to achieve is one of the highest today due to very efficient cooling. However, the memory failed to surpass190MHz, although it is only 7MHz higher than the nominal 183MHz of 5.5ns memory. Nevertheless, we stilled expectedthe overclocked MSI MS-8809 to show a really significant performance increase.

Installation and Drivers

Let's pass over to the testing results. Here is the testbed configuration. Take a look:

• Intel Pentium III 733 CPU;
• Chaintech 6ATA4 (VIA Apollo Pro133A) mainboard;
• 256MB PC133 system memory;
• IBM DPTA 20GB HDD;
• ViewSonic P810 (21") monitor;
• Windows 98 SE.

MSI provides its graphics card with MS-8809 reference drivers from NVIDIA ver. 3.62. That's why we don't think weshould discuss them in detail, because we have already done it in our NVIDIA GeForce256 Graphics Cards Comparison.

The only thing we would like to particularly dwell on now is MSI 3D! Turbo II utility, which accompanies the card.

Having installed this utility we got a special tray icon, which opens the menu if clicked:

You can set screen resolution and refresh rate via 3D! Turbo II:

It allows setting refresh rates for all screen resolutions in advance:

This function seems to be quite useful for many users.

But this is not all! With this utility you can create a virtual desktop. For a long time Matrox has been the only oneto boast this cool feature. And now all GeForce256 based MSI MS-8809 owners have the chance to try it as well and to getaccess to a much larger desktop than that allowed by the screen resolution.

And again this is not all! Have you ever though of creating a few desktops and of switching between them depending onthe type of work you are doing? No problem! 3D! Turbo II will let you do it:

Besides, there is also a special overclocker's page for chipset and memory overclocking settings. However, we spared noeffort but still failed to activate this panel. All the settings remained unavailable:

To finish with the software we have to admit that 3D! Turbo II utility easily makes up for the absence of MSI own drivers.This utility is a real bonus for MSI owners, because it allows adjusting MS-8809 in 2D modes quite effectively. We have neverseen anything like that by other NVIDIA GeForce256 based graphics cards.

Performance

As usual, we will begin with 2D-graphics. Here we would like to point out very good performance and 2D-image quality shownby all NVIDIA GeForce256 based cards, and MSI MS-8809 in particular. However, you should bear in mind that high quality imagein 2D depends not only on the graphics card used, but also on the monitor. That's why we suppose there are some users, whowon't be satisfied with what they see in 2D on their screens. As for us, we worked with a 21" ViewSonic P810 monitor andeven at the resolution set to 1600x1200 the quality was very good.

We will look at the following two games considering the performance of MSI MS-8809 in 3D graphics:

• Rage Expendable (Direct3D, multitexturing);
• id Software Quake3 v.1.16h (OpenGL, multitexturing).

These two tools should be just enough to provide you a complete picture of the graphics card performance. For a moreillustrative comparison we will also show the performance of one more graphics card on GeForce256 chipset with SDR SDRAM:Gigabyte GA-2560. We will also test our MSI MS-8809 when overclocked.

As you can actually see from the pictures above, MSI MS-8809 performs very close to its counterparts, which we actuallyexpected to happen, since the card was almost identical to the reference design. And as for the performance duringoverclocking, it is undoubtedly quite remarkable. The performance gain is quite significant, which is especiallynoticeable in Quake3.

And now a few words about the DVD-Video. To our great disappointment, the software DVD-player supplied togetherwith the graphics card, Cyberlink PowerDVD v.2.0, didn't recognize GeForce256 chipset that is why the CPU utilizationwas unbelievably high: up to 85%, although the DVD playback was of very good quality. So, we had to test the card withthe available WinDVD version 2.0. MSI MS-8809 proved impressively cool with it having shown perfect image quality at 45%CPU utilization at the most.

As for the TV-Out, we didn't have the chance to try it because we lacked equipment with S-Video In.

Conclusions

Drawing the final conclusions we would like to say that although this product can't boast any remarkable features,it is relatively cheap, which gives it a really good chance to be demanded. However, the situation with the graphicscards with SDR-memory, which appear so late in the market, forces most graphics card manufacturers to drop the pricessignificantly in order to sell at least something. Not to mention the fact that the cards on NVIDIA GeForce256 withSDR-memory feature very narrow memory bus bandwidth, which prevents the chipset from using its potential in full.

Highs:

• High performance provided by NVIDIA GeForce256 chipset
• Good chipset overclockability
• High quality design and mounting
• 3D! Turbo II utility, which is just irreplaceable in 2D
• Low cost

Lows:

• No LCD-Out
• No unique technologies used to make this card an outstanding piece among its analogues
• Belated launching