Performance: CodeCult Codecreatures Benchmark Pro

This test is a hard nut to crack. It resembles Mother Nature from 3DMark03, although doesn’t use DirectX 9 features.

Once again, there is the same problem we had in Splinter Cell. The highest quality mode wouldn’t turn on in 1600x1200 resolution. Otherwise, Tyan Tachyon G9500 PRO is beyond competition.

Conclusion

We have tested a mainstream graphics card, Tyan Tachyon G9500 PRO. We would like to point out first of all that we liked the thing. Tyan seems to have taken care of everything: high quality mounting, well-thought cooling and diagnostics systems, the option to adjust fan rotation speed (by the way, the noise level was really low). We just don’t quite understand why there is such a slow memory: with only 3.6ns cycle time. Otherwise, the card seems to be a treat for an enthusiast; it is not locked against overclocking. The only disappointing thing was a pretty poor software bundle, which doesn’t include any game, only a DVD-player (WinDVD 4) and demos from ATI.

According to TYAN, the card costs around $200, which is a bit higher than the price of similar solutions from other graphics card vendors. However, it is less than TYAN Tachyon G9700 Pro costs with its super high speed and quality. This way, we can state with all certainty that TYAN Tachyon G9500 Pro does cost the money they ask for it, however, if you are not planning to take advantage of all its features, maybe you should look for something not so pricy.

As for performance comparison with older cards, there can be only one conclusion: GeForce4 Ti and RADEON 8500 based cards and the like can maintain a nice fps rate in older games, but prove too slow for modern games like UT2003 or Splinter Cell. We are not even mentioning 2x FSAA or higher modes: such modes are impossible to play in on these cards. RADEON 9500 PRO, on the contrary, does quite well even with enabled full-screen anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. So, the resume is: if you only play older games, GeForce4 Ti or RADEON 8500/9100/9000/9200 will serve you well, but if you are a hardcore gamer (and a little pressed for money) the high-quality and high-performing Tyan Tachyon G9500 Pro is exactly what you need.

Highs:

• High performance;
• Good cooling solution;
• Monitoring diagnostics system;
• Fan rotation speed control;
• Overclocking-friendly options;
• High mounting quality;
• Low noise level.

Lows:

• Slow memory;
• High price;
• Not very rich accessories set.