by Anton Shilov
08/09/2005 | 01:23 PM
Introduced back in the spring of 2004, NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 and GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics cards were the fastest devices of the moment. But while the 6800 Ultra was rather rare and expensive, the GeForce 6800 had a higher appeal due to its high and affordable performance.
<%BANNER[article]%>Later on NVIDIA also introduced its multi-GPU SLI technology, setting a problem of choice before some users: what is better – one top-end graphics card or two simpler devices in a SLI configuration?
We already tested SLI platforms based around GeForce 6800 Ultra and GT as well as GeForce 6600 GT cards and came to the conclusion that for top-end graphics cards NVIDIA’s SLI technology is a real method of lifting the performance up in many applications, if the price of the solution is of no concern. The SLI configuration of two GeForce 6600 GT cards seemed a rather unappealing alternative to a single high-end card which would cost the same money as two 6600 GT. So now it’s time to see how the weakest of the GeForce 6800 family performs in the SLI mode.
To check this out we took two NX6800-TD128E graphics cards from MSI. These cards are based on the NV42 chip, recently and quietly released by NVIDIA. So, we’re pursuing three goals in this review: checking if it makes sense to use the GeForce 6800 in SLI and examining the new graphics card from MSI as well as the new version of the GeForce 6800.
The NX6800-TD128E graphics card comes in a colorful package with a picture from the popular game Far Cry (you receive a copy of this game as an accessory to the product). By the way, there exists a version of the same card with 256MB of graphics memory on board. The 256MB version comes with a copy of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher’s Bay .
The package is not too big (like the one of the NX6800GT-T2D256E model, the GeForce 6800 GT card from MSI that we tested recently, for details see our article called MSI NX6800GT-T2D256E Graphics Card Review ). But like the package of the more expensive card, it has a carry handle.
The accessories supplied with the NX6800-TD128E match its positioning as of an inexpensive device: the manufacturer includes just the necessary things as well as some useful software. Here’s the full list:
The video output unit allows you to connect to devices with different inputs (S-Video, YPbPr or RCA), but unfortunately the length of the unit’s own cable is short and you still have to access the rear panel of your computer to attach a video cable to it. If the unit’s cable were longer, this problem would be eliminated as you would be able to place the unit everywhere.
MSI doesn’t include component and RCA cables as accessories to the card. You have to purchase them separately.
We found the following on the software DVD:
So, the MSI NX6800-TD128E looks a nice product at first sight: besides the card proper, you get a popular game, an extensive software pack and a universal splitter for connecting to TV-sets and other display devices.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E graphics card for the PCI Express x16 bus is based on NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 GPU which has 12 pixel and 5 vertex processors. The MSI card is interesting for its using the new NV42 core which is manufactured by TSMC on 0.11-micron tech process.
The older core, NV40, was manufactured by IBM on 0.13-micron facilities and was installed on all the models of the family, i.e. on GeForce 6800, GeForce 6800 GT and GeForce 6800 Ultra, and on both AGP 8x and PCI Express versions of these cards. Since IBM seemed to have problems with producing the NV40 in sufficient quantities for a long time after the launch of the production of the chip, NVIDIA didn’t use the NV40 in PCI Express graphics cards of the so-called performance-mainstream class. As a result, the GeForce 6800 for PCI Express came out only in late 2004 and was based on a specially developed chip codenamed NV41.
The NV41 core included 12 pixel and 5 vertex processors against the NV40’s 16 and 6 processors, respectively. On the other hand, the NV41 was manufactured on TSMC’s 0.13-micron tech process and was cheaper than the NV40. Trying to reduce the manufacturing cost further, NVIDIA has developed another chip, NV42, which has the same characteristics as its predecessor, but is manufactured on a thinner, 0.11-micron process and features native support of the PCI Express interface (the NV40 natively supported AGP 8x and required the BR02 bridge).
The 0.11-micron process achieves a number of goals for NVIDIA:
Thus, the manufacturing cost of the graphics processor and of the whole graphics card is reduced with the NV42, while the technical characteristics of the product remain the same. It means NVIDIA has got a graphics card with many pixel and vertex processors and with a 256-bit memory bus that can be used to oppose the RADEON X800 which has similar characteristics.
Complying with the theory, the MSI NX6800-TD128E is really smaller than early GeForce 6800 cards and uses a simpler PCB.
The power circuitry is however more complex than on such graphics cards as NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT, ATI RADEON X800 and ATI RADEON X800 XL. The positioning of the memory chips at an angle of 45 degrees raises the price of the card further. On the other hand, the manufacturing cost of this card can hardly be much higher than that of ATI’s RADEON X800 cards since 256-bit memory buses and 8-layer PCBs are used in both cases, so the manufacturers have little elbowroom in cutting the costs.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E is equipped with a simple aluminum heatsink painted like it is made of copper. Like with many today’s graphics cards, the fan is placed a little away of the graphics core so that the air stream better cooled the heatsink ribs right above the chip. The heatsink also cools the memory chips, thus increasing their overclockability somewhat. The cooling system touches the GPU through a layer of gray-colored thermal paste and the memory chips through special thermal pads.
As we said above, the MSI NX6800-TD128E carries 128 megabytes of memory on board (and has seats for as many memory chips for the MSI NX6800-TD256E model). These are 128Mb 2.8ns DDR chips from Hynix rated for 700MHz frequency and working at 2.5V voltage (the voltage is reduced: DDR memory usually works at 2.6V, and modules clocked at 500MHz and higher work at up to 2.8V). The graphics card offers one D-Sub, one DVI-I and one universal TV-out connector.
It was an unpleasant surprise for us to see that our sample of the MSI NX6800-TD128E worked at 325/600MHz frequencies (GPU/memory), while NVIDIA’s recommended clock rates for the GeForce 6800 are 325MHz GPU and 700MHz memory.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E is a compact device and its cooler has protecting inserts to prevent any damage to the graphics core, so the installation should go without a hitch. A good point about this graphics card is that it doesn’t require external power. Thus, the MSI NX6800-TD128E might be an optimal choice for computers with low-power power supplies.
The noise from the cooling system of the MSI NX6800-TD128E is rather low but it is louder than the noise from the reference cooling system of the ATI RADEON X800 XL in 2D applications. We think you won’t hear the NX6800-TD128E in a closed system case even in 3D games because this graphics card cannot adjust the speed of its fan while the RADEON X800 XL can speed its fan up in some cases.
Both samples of the MSI NX6800-TD128E that we had did well in our overclocking tests. We managed to speed the GPU up by 135MHz, from 325MHz to 460MHz. The memory, unfortunately, could only achieve 650MHz frequency, never making it to its theoretical rating of 700MHz. The memory is clearly a weak spot of the reviewed product due to the reduced voltage or the simplified PCB wiring or to both.
Our samples of the MSI NX6800-TD128E both delivered a satisfactory image in 2D applications, but there was some blurring in the 1600x1200@85Hz mode on our Dell P1130 monitor. You should be aware of this if you own a large CRT monitor.
We performed our tests on the following testbed:
We will compare the performance of the MSI NX6800-TD128E in various modes (including overclocking and in a SLI configuration) with that of the following graphics cards:
Drivers:
Following our traditional methodology, we enabled the ForceWare optimizations, except the Anisotropic mip filter optimization. The Image settings slider was set to the Quality position. In ATI’s Catalyst we enabled Catalyst A.I. using the Standard mode. The Mipmap Detail Level option was set to Quality. We disabled the VSync option in both drivers.
If possible, we control FSAA and anisotropic filtering from the application. Otherwise, we force the necessary mode from the driver. We don’t edit any configuration files. The graphics quality settings in the games were set to the maximum level, the same for graphics cards from NVIDIA and ATI Technologies. The following games and applications were used:
First Person 3 D Shooters :
Third Person 3D Shooters:
Simulators:
Strategies:
Semi-Synthetic Benchmarks:
Synthetic Benchmarks:
The GeForce 6800-based card from MSI runs this game at an acceptable speed up to 1280x1024 resolution. It is not very fast against the cheaper GeForce 6600 GT, though. On the other hand, the MSI card works with NVIDIA’s perfected OpenGL driver and thus matches the performance of the more expensive ATI RADEON X800 XL.
The performance of the SLI platform with two MSI cards is impressive: the speed is high even in 1600x1200 and higher than that of the single GeForce 6800 GT as well as of the GeForce 6800 Ultra!
The rather average speed of the single GeForce 6800 and the impressive performance of the SLI configuration are due to the low clock rates of the GPU and memory on this card as well as due to the strong dependence of The Chronicles of Riddick on the GPU’s fill rate.
In the “eye candy” mode (i.e. when we enable such image-enhancing features as full-screen anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering) the single MSI NX6800-TD128E can hardly provide a playable frame rate even in 1024x768. Meanwhile, the SLI pair of such cards yields enough frames per second even in 1280x1024.
So, like in the “pure speed” mode, the GeForce 6800 is a little ahead of the GeForce 6600 GT but is much slower than the GeForce 6800 GT.
NVIDIA’s GeForce 6 cards have traditionally been superior in Doom 3 thanks to their UltraShadow II technology. The MSI NX6800-TD128E runs this game at a comfortable speed up to 1280x1024, and the SLI platform with two such cards makes 1600x1200 resolution playable.
Like in The Chronicles of Riddick , the GeForce 6800 isn’t far ahead of the GeForce 6600 GT because of the low core frequency.
When anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are enabled, the MSI NX6800-TD128E is too slow even in 1024x768 at the maximum graphics quality settings (save for the texture quality setting which was set to “High”). The two GeForce 6800 in a SLI platform can solve the problem of low performance, though. On the other hand, the SLI platform with two MSI cards is no better than the single GeForce 6800 GT – this is not an enjoyable fact.
Another demo record we use does not load the graphics processor as much as the Hellhole demo does, so the results are overall higher: the MSI NX6800-TD128E is sufficiently fast even in 1600x1200, being slightly ahead of the GeForce 6600 GT. The two SLI-linked GeForce 6800 cards are rather far ahead of the GeForce 6800 GT as well as the GeForce 6800 Ultra.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E isn’t much better than the GeForce 6600 GT in this test, but its performance scales up well in the SLI mode: the two GeForce 6800 cards can successfully compete with a single GeForce 6800 GT.
As you know from our previous reports, Far Cry’ s Pier level depends heavily on the overall performance of the computer and is thus less dependent on the performance of the graphics card. The exception is 1600x1200 resolution where the MSI NX6800-TD128E has a high speed as a single card and is slightly ahead the GeForce 6800 GT in the SLI mode.
The MSI card only has an acceptable speed in 1024x768 in the “eye candy” mode and it is noticeably faster than the GeForce 6600 GT there. The SLI platform with two MSI NX6800-TD128E cards successfully competes with products like RADEON X800 XL or GeForce 6800 GT (the X800 XL is still faster in 1600x1200, though).
The performance of the graphics card influences the result of this test more. The GeForce 6800 performs well, but not much better than the GeForce 6600 GT. The SLI configuration with two MSI cards beats the single GeForce 6800 GT and Ultra.
Like in the Pier test, the GeForce 6800 is only any good in 1024x768 in the “eye candy” mode. The GeForce 6600 GT is slightly behind it. The SLI mode brings about a predictable performance gain, sufficient for competing with the GeForce 6800 GT.
The Performance Test from F.E.A.R. Multiplayer Beta is probably the hardest trial among all first-person shooters. Graphics cards like GeForce 6800 or 6600 GT can hardly provide a playable frame rate even in 1024x768 resolution.
As you know from our reviews, none of the currently available graphics cards, except NVIDIA’s GeForce 7800 GTX in the SLI mode, can yield more than 40fps at the “eye candy” settings in this test. The SLI platform with two GeForce 6800 Ultra cards is close to this mark, though.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E gave out 15fps in 1024x768 as a single card and 25fps as a SLI pair. This is obviously too little for comfortable play.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E gives you enough speed in any resolution, outperforming the GeForce 6600 GT.
The Canals map from Half-Life 2 abounds in version 2.0 pixel shaders, so the results depend on the number of pixel pipelines and their frequency. The SLI configuration with two MSI cards is an exception: the second card brings in a very small performance gain.
When full-screen anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are enabled, the MSI NX6800-TD128E still shows a good speed, also in 1600x1200 resolution, and outperforms the GeForce 6600 GT thanks to the 256-bit memory bus.
There are problems here with the SLI technology: the performance either remains the same or degenerates against that of the single card.
The street fighting scenes in Half-Life 2 require more processing power than the Canals levels do. Our demo record also includes numerous special effects, so the performance is generally lower here. The MSI is however fast enough up to 1600x1200. Its speed is roughly equal to that of the GeForce 6600 GT.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E works fast in the lowest resolution of the “eye candy” mode, but lacks speed starting from 1280x1024. And still this graphics card is faster than the GeForce 6600 GT due to the 256-bit memory bus.
The Painkiller engine runs smoothly on any graphics card.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E is fast even in 1600x1200 resolution of the “eye candy” mode, but its frame rate is nearly the same as the GeForce 6600 GT provides. The SLI platform with two MSI cards is slower than the GeForce 6800 GT.
The Torlan demo in Unreal Tournament 2004 is mostly limited by the system’s central processor, so we can’t make any comparisons about the participating graphics cards here.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E is fast enough until 1600x1200 and leaves the GeForce 6600 GT far behind.
Note also that the overclocked GeForce 6800 is close to the GeForce 6800 GT, while the SLI platform with two MSI cards is much faster than the 6800 GT in the highest resolution.
The MSI card is always ahead of the GeForce 6600 GT on the Metallurgy map. The SLI mode, unlike overclocking, brings in a rather small performance gain – the game is too CPU-dependent.
Quite expectedly the MSI NX6800-TD128E allows playing this game with comfort even in the highest resolutions of the “eye candy” mode and it leaves the GeForce 6600 GT far behind due to the faster memory bus. The multi-GPU mode and overclocking affect the performance strongly.
Being filled with shader-based special effects, Prince of Persia 2 shows good scalability depending on the capabilities of the graphics subsystem.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E gives you a playable frame rate up to 1600x1200 and this card is much faster than the cheaper GeForce 6600 GT.
The SLI technology acts up again: having a certain advantage in the first two resolutions, the SLI platform with two MSI cards is only a little faster than the single card in 1600x1200 and is much slower than the overclocked single card.
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory abounds in special effects, too, showing similar scalability in terms of the test results. This game uses version 3.0 shaders, so graphics cards that support them deliver a better-quality image.
The MSI card isn’t fast enough even in 1024x768, although it does perform well in the SLI configuration or when overclocked. The gap between the GeForce 6800 and GeForce 6600 GT is very small.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E and the GeForce 6600 GT are not powerful enough to run this game in the “eye candy” mode, yielding low frame rates.
This game has modest system requirements, but its using many shaders gives a certain advantage to graphics cards that are better at executing version 1.4 and 2.0 pixel shaders.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E performs well up to 1280x1024, but the 54fps in 1600x1200 may be too low for a racing simulator. The SLI mode and overclocking bring their bonuses, too, but the GeForce 6800 still cannot overtake the RADEON X800 XL.
All the participating devices (except the GeForce 6600 GT) easily overtake the 60fps barrier in 1024x768 resolution of the “eye candy” mode, but the SLI pair of MSI cards and the RADEON X800 XL are the only solutions to have high results in 1280x1024.
None of the tested cards allows playing Colin McRae Rally 2005 in 1600x1200 with enabled anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E makes the first two resolutions playable in this game. In both cases it is a little faster than the GeForce 6600 GT. Despite NVIDIA’s claims, SLI technology does not work in IL-2 with ForceWare 77.72, but overclocking ensures a nice speed bonus.
None of the participating graphics cards allows playing IL-2 comfortably with enabled full-screen anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.
The graphics cards all have similar speeds in Lock On.
The more expensive RADEON X800 XL and GeForce 6800 GT are on top in the “eye candy” mode.
Being the most demanding of all the benchmarks we use, Perimeter varies its speed strongly depending on the capabilities of the graphics card.
As you can see, the MSI NX6800-TD128E easily beats the GeForce 6600 GT and ensures the frame rate of 24fps necessary for playing a strategy with comfort, except in 1600x1200.
The graphics cards are all sufficiently fast in Warhammer 40000 , and the SLI configuration of two MSI NX6800-TD128E cards is far ahead of the GeForce 6800 GT and the RADEON X800 XL.
It’s all roughly the same in the “eye candy” mode, except that only the most expensive graphics solutions can provide a 24fps and higher frame rate in 1600x1200 resolution.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E finds this benchmark an easy trial and, except high resolutions and hardest modes, there is a considerable speed gain from adding the second graphics card.
Despite the numerous textures and certain dependence on the geometrical performance of the GPU, this benchmark doesn’t run much faster on the overclocked MSI NX6800-TD128E. The MSI card is a little slower than the GeForce 6800 GT but is far ahead of the GeForce 6600 GT. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy is another application where SLI technology fails and leads to a performance hit.
Quite expectedly the MSI NX6800-TD128E has a slightly higher overall score than the GeForce 6600 GT and is far better than the other participating solutions in the SLI mode.
Modern graphics cards easily pass the first game test from 3DMark03, emulating the fixed T&L from DirectX 7.0. The MSI NX6800-TD128E outperforms the GeForce 6600 GT in the hardest modes and highest resolutions due to its 256-bit memory bus.
The second test abounds in pixel shaders and shadows. It is more complex than the first one, and the MSI NX6800-TD128E finds it difficult to yield more than 60fps.
The third test uses rendering techniques similar to those from the second test, but includes highly polygonal models. So, only the SLI platform with two MSI NX6800-TD128E cards can boast a high speed here.
The last test from 3DMark03 makes intensive use of version 2.0 pixel shaders, so graphics cards with a high math1ematical performance have an advantage. As you see, the MSI NX6800-TD128E matches the GeForce 6600 GT, while the leaders are the SLI configuration of two MSI cards and the single RADEON X800 XL.
The GeForce 6800 scores almost the same number of points as the GeForce 6600 GT. Meanwhile, the SLI configuration of two MSI NX6800-TD128E cards beats the rest of the participating solutions.
The shaders-heavy tests from the 3DMark05 suite are all terribly difficult for graphics cards, so there’s no talking about comfortable frame rates. Note, however, that the MSI NX6800-TD128E in the SLI mode has the highest speed among the participating solutions.
We want to remind you that graphics cards with 128 megabytes of memory cannot work in resolutions above 1024x768 in the “eye candy” mode in 3DMark05.
The participating cards are all very slow here. The SLI system assembled with two GeForce 6800 cards enjoys a certain advantage.
The MSI NX6800-TD128E is as fast as the GeForce 6600 GT, while the SLI configuration with two MSI cards is faster than the single GeForce 6800 GT and RADEON X800 XL.
Although not without drawbacks, the MSI NX6800-TD128E graphics card was always faster than the GeForce 6600 GT and was especially good at overclocking. The accessories to this product are not gorgeous but sufficient, and this is another indication that the NX6800-TD128E is a quality and at the same time inexpensive product that will suit well for building an inexpensive PCI Express platform.
You should be aware, however, that the MSI card clocks its memory at a 100MHz smaller frequency against the reference design (600MHz against 700MHz) and also has some problems with the image quality in 2D applications.
A SLI pair of MSI NX6800-TD128E cards is either faster or at least equal to a single GeForce 6800 GT, with a few exceptions. So, it will make sense to buy two GeForce 6800 instead of one GeForce 6800 GT only if the former configuration costs the same or a little more money.
The NV42 chip showed an impressive overclocking potential, speeding up by 40% without special cooling methods. This result is close to a miracle since we’re talking about a modern graphics processor. Unfortunately, the chip comes out rather late: NVIDIA is expected to replace the entire GeForce 6 series with the GeForce 7 line which offers more performance and has advantages from the manufacturing point of view. So, even considering the low cost of the NV42 chip, we doubt GeForce 6800 graphics cards will be transferred to the mainstream market where they would be unrivalled champions in speed.
Highs:
Lows: