XFX 9800 GTX Black Edition

With the recent launch of new graphics cards from both ATI and nVidia, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the demise of previous generation cards would be swift and merciless. However, that has yet proved to be the case, with ATI in particular, assuring us that the 3000-series of cards is here to stay for a while. Also, fresh on the back of some hefty price cuts old stalwarts like the nVidia 9800 GTX and ATI HD 3870 can still offer great value, especially when you look at some overclocked cards. It's with this in mind that we're looking at the XFX 9800 GTX Black Edition - the most highly overclocked 9800 GTX we've yet come across.

As you would expect, given the name, the packaging is a mostly black affair which will certainly catch the eye on a shop shelf - assuming that you can find a shop that sells graphics cards anymore. Inside, as well as the card itself, you get a very healthy bundle including both DVI-to-HDMI and DVI-to-VGA dongles (in fact you get two of the latter) as well as an S-Video cable and component dongle. There are also two dongles for converting two Molex power connections to a single 6-pin PCI-Express connection for use with older power supplies. Finally, at least on the hardware front, there's an S/PDIF cable that can be used to connect your graphics cards to your sound card and output digital audio over you graphics cards' HDMI connection.

On the software side you get the a copy of Assassin's Creed, which is worth a few bob. It's not the most modern title and it certainly didn't quite live up to the hype but it's a welcome addition nonetheless. You also get a driver and utilities disc and a miscellany of well written quick installation guides and information cards. Oh and of course the essential, 'I'm Gaming, Do Not Disturb' door handle tag! Woo!

As for the card, well, it's an nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX with a sticker on it. Although XFX's internal tweakings have pushed the card's performance, the cooler and the rest of the card's design is just the same as any other 9800 GTX, which just goes to prove how good nVidia's reference coolers have been of late.

Along the top edge of the card are the twin SLI connectors that can be used to join two or even three of these cards together for more performance. Also up here are the two extra power connectors that are needed to keep this thirsty card running. Two dual-link DVI sockets (which are HDCP enabled) grace the double width back panel along with an analogue video output socket that supports S-Video natively and component and composite with the help of dongles. This is the standard output configuration we've come to expect from cards in this price range.

The back of the PCB is covered by a metal plate, which helps protect the delicate electronics resident there and also performs some additional heatsink duties. This is a feature we first saw on the 9800 GX2 and it's one we've come to appreciate, especially as the regularity with which we're swapping cards around in our test bed requires us to manhandle them more than would otherwise be good for them - does anyone ever really use those anti-static wrist bands?

For those that aren't familiar with the 9800 GTX, what this card will get you is 128 stream processors, 16 ROPs, 64/64 texture address/filter units, and 512MB GDDR3 memory talking to the chip over a 256-bit interface. Standard clock speeds for the 9800 GTX are 675MHz core, 1,688MHz shader, and 2,200MHz memory. XFX has up these to 760MHz core, 1,900MHz shader, and 2,280MHz memory.

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Of course the key selling point of the Black Edition, aside from its impressive overclocking figures is its price. On the back of nVidia implementing some severe price cuts XFX has also taken an aggressive stance with pricing for this particular card. Whereas many 9800 GTXs are still demanding around £200, Scan already has the Black Edition listed on pre-order for £168.

This pricing means the card fits in perfectly within nVidia's current range, sitting comfortably below the GTX 260. In fact, it also falls squarely in-between ATI's HD 4870 and the HD 4850 so in fact it has no direct price competition, which is always going to help its cause.

For testing we ran through our usual set of gaming tests and also measured the power draw of our test bed with this card installed. The test setup is as follows:

Common System Components

• Intel Core 2 Quad QX9770
• Asus P5E3
• 2GB Corsair TWIN3X2048-1333C9 DDR3
• 150GB Western Digital Raptor
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Drivers

• ATI: Catalyst 8.4
• nVidia GTX200 Series: Forceware 177.34
• Other nVidia cards: Forceware 175.19

Cards Tested

• XFX 9800 GTX Black Edition
• nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX
• nVidia GeForce GTX 260
• ATI HD 4870
• ATI HD 4850

Games Tested

• Crysis
• Race Driver: GRID
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
• Call of Duty 4
• Counter-Strike: Source

Looking first at power draw, it's clear the overclocking required some internal voltages to be increased as both total idle and load power draw have also risen slightly. The difference is pretty negligible and is still below both the GTX 260 and the HD 4870, though.

In terms of performance, the card equips itself pretty well though the impact of the overclocking varies from title to title. Most notable, perhaps, are the results for Crysis that see the Black Edition being nearly 40 per cent faster than a standard card and comfortably faster than the HD 4850. The HD 4870 is still on average considerably faster, though, and as it costs only £20 - £30 more we'd be inclined to save for that card. That said, if you can't spend anymore the Black Edition is a great value option. Indeed, it's probably the best value nVidia card available at the moment.


Our only real gripe is that the card is rather large. Sure it's only about the same size as an HD 4870 but then that card is considerably faster. Also, the HD 4850, although slower, is half the width and markedly shorter. It's not something we'd term a deal breaker but it will certainly be of concern for some.

Verdict

XFX has got the pricing and performance of the 9800 GTX Black Edition just right with it sitting just inbetween the ATI HD 4850 and ATI HD 4870 on both counts. If you can push your budget we'd still recommend gunning for the ATI HD 4870 but if you can't stretch any further then you can't go wrong with this card.

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ATI HD 4670

We were suitably impressed when ATI released its last range of high-end graphics cards. The HD 4870, HD 4850, and HD 4870X2 all produced impressive performance and most importantly delivered it at a decent price. However, relative prices are one thing but if you simply can't afford or can't justify spending more than £50 just to play the latest 3D games then you'll be wanting something a little cheaper. Something like this ATI HD 4670, in fact.

It's based on the same basic design features of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) chip that lies at the heart of the 48x0 series of cards but, as you would expect considering its price, there's just less of all the processing bits inside. So, rather than 800 stream processors, the HD 4670 features just 320 and instead of 16 ROPs it has only 8. It also uses the more conventional GDDR3 memory found on the HD4850, rather than the super-fast GDDR5 memory used on the HD 4870, and the GPU talks to this memory over a 256-bit interface. Core clock speeds and memory speeds also differ though these aspects will vary depending on the exact configuration the card manufacturer's release - expect there to be plenty of exotic overclocked versions.

As well as the HD 4670, there is the HD 4650, which uses the same smaller GPU but along with lower core clock speeds, the memory type has changed to DDR2 and the interface has been reduced in width to just 128-bit.

In terms of features there's little to distinguish the HD 4670 from its more powerful brothers. As well as the 3D graphics processing elements, you get ATI's Universal Video Decoder (UVD) and Avivo video that accelerate and improve the quality of video playback. There's also support for the latest edge-detection anti-aliasing mode, which offers by far the best image quality we've seen on any graphics card.

If you're looking to spread the cost of your graphics upgrade, you can buy one of these cards now then in a few months time you can buy another one and take advantage of CrossfireX to use the power of both cards together - assuming you have a CrossfireX or SLI capable motherboard, of course.

We're always a little sceptical of these dual/multi card configurations, due to their potential problems with compatibility and stability, and if you had a choice of getting two cards or a single one for the same price we'd always recommend going for the latter. However, in such a price-sensitive market this route makes sense. I'd certainly rather buy one card now and have some gaming ability in time for Christmas, then save for a few more months and improve performance further, rather than save the entire time.

The card itself is very short so it should fit in just about any non-low-profile case. Likewise, the HeatSink/Fan (HSF) doesn't protrude into the next slot so there's plenty of room for other expansion cards. However, this does mean heat from the card isn't allowed to escape so your case will have to be well ventilated elsewhere to keep things cool.

When I first saw the cooler I was rather worried it would be pretty noisy as the tiny fan span itself silly trying to keep the card cool when under load. However, wrong I most certainly was proved. While it's by no means silent mid-gaming session, it is far from disturbing and is to all intents and purposes silent when idle or watching video.

Along the top edge are the two connectors for using the HD 4670 in CrossfireX. Just one connection is needed for two cards whereas the second connector is needed if you add a third card.

Simplifying things further is the HD 4670's power requirement. It also doesn't require any extra power connections as it draws all the power it needs from its PCI-E 2.0 slot. Essentially, so long as your computer's motherboard has an x16 PCIe-Express 2.0 slot you're good to go.

Our test sample provided by ATI came with an interesting output configuration. Rather than the conventional dual-DVI-I outputs, it has a DVI-I and two DisplayPort sockets. As well as giving you the ability to connect three displays to a single card the use of this new (soon to be standard) connection will be useful for when you do eventually upgrade you monitor. If you do still rock an old CRT monitor with a VGA connection, a DVI-to-VGA dongle on the single DVI-I output will sort you out.

Now the biggest contender for your money at this price point is nVidia's 9500GT. This card actually has almost identical components to nVidia's previous generation 8600GT so it seems performance is unlikely to blow anyone away. Nonetheless we've put one up for test so we'll see how it goes.

For testing we ran through our usual set of gaming tests and also measured the power draw of our test bed with each card installed. The test setup is as follows:

Common System Components

* Intel Core 2 Quad QX9770
* Asus P5E3
* 2GB Corsair TWIN3X2048-1333C9 DDR3
* 150GB Western Digital Raptor
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Cards Tested
* ATI HD 4670
* ATI HD 4850
* nVidia GeForce 9600 GT
* nVidia GeForce 9500GT

Games Tested
* Crysis
* Race Driver: GRID
* Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
* Call of Duty 4
* Counter-Strike: Source

Installation and testing passed without a hitch and we experienced no stability problems whatsoever. The card did become quite hot to the touch but we've come to expect that from ATI's cards and it has yet to cause a problem.

As for performance, the HD 4670 held up very well. Framerates were consistently within a 'playable' range for all games except Crysis where, at the settings tested, it struggled to hit 25fps. However, turning down the graphical settings a little should give you playable performance even in this most demanding of games. Most importantly, the HD 4670 distinguishes itself as being by far the best performer for its price.

Power consumption is of course a great concern in the current economic and environmental climate so it's good to see the HD 4670 does its bit as well. We did note that the 9500 GT consumed a little less power though. Nonetheless, you can rest assured that adding an HD 4670 to your system won't suddenly triple your electricity bill.

Verdict

We really like the ATI HD 4670. If you're seriously into your gaming and have an enormous 24in (or above) monitor, then it's probably not for you. However, if all you have is a modest PC and a modest upgrade budget and you fancy a bit of 3D gaming fun, this card is the perfect option.

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ATI HD 4550 vs nVidia 9400 GT

Very recently we looked at ATI's latest 'mainstream' graphics card offering, the HD 4670, and also briefly touched on nVidia's competing circa £60 part in the same article. Putting aside, for a moment, which was actually better, the overwhelming point that took away from reviewing those cards was just how much graphical processing power you can get for £60. If only the state of PC gaming wasn't in massive decline at the moment I'd be inclined to hail this as a truly great era for the PC gamer.

I digress, though. For today I'm not here to discuss the whys and wherefores of the PC gaming industry. Instead I'm going to take a look at what spending around £40 on a graphics card will get you. Specifically I'll be picking apart ATI's new HD 4550 and nVidia's new 9400 GT.

Now both cards are actually quite difficult to buy as very few shops and e-tailers seem to be stocking them. There are, however, a few places with cards available and based on those few shops it seems the HD 4550 is the more expensive of the two, costing as it does around £45. The 9400 GT, meanwhile, can be had for as little as £35.

Of course, raw cost is not the most important figure. What's most significant is your price/performance ratio. So if the HD 4550 outperforms the 9400 GT by double then it has a higher price:performance ratio and would get our recommendation. So that's what we'll be looking at a bit later on.

Also, important to consider is the other multimedia capabilities of these cards. With HD video nearing ubiquity, you don't want to be left behind with a graphics card (and/or CPU) that can't cope with playing back HD video. This is obviously of particular importance if you're thinking of equipping your Media Center PC with one of these low cost cards but is also something to consider if you're just looking for a new card for your all-rounder desktop PC. Thankfully with the advances that both nVidia and ATI have been making recently in this area, both these cards will cope quite happily playing back all the usual HD formats, leaving your CPU free to perform other tasks - all you need to do now is buy a Blu-ray drive and a few discs to play.

The most obvious thing about this card is that it's half height so straight away should appeal to those looking to add some graphics power to their sleek low-profile Media Center box. The review sample we were given didn't include a half height backing platet but retail samples should include these in the box (we know Sapphire's version of this card does) - you might want to double check before buy one, though.

Another area where you'll likely see differences in final retail products is the Heatsink/Fan (HSF). Being such a relatively low-power card there's potential to have passively cooled versions, whereas the sample we have uses a fan assisted cooler. Thankfully noise levels from this cooler are not too bad with it emitting a fairly constant, gentle, relatively high-pitched hum that should be mostly blocked out when hidden inside a case.

It also seemed to keep the card plenty cool enough. Even during a run through of our Crysis demo, the heatsink and back of the card were only warm to the touch - as opposed to the scalding hot we've come to expect from more powerful cards.

As you might expect for such a low-power card, it doesn't require any additional power connections as it draws all its power from the PCI-Express slot. It also means you won't have to upgrade your power supply just to play the latest games.

Video connection options will vary according to the actual retail card you buy, but the sample we were given had a healthy trio of DVI, S-Video, and VGA outputs. The DVI can be used in conjunction with a DVI-to-HDMI dongle (something which, again, should be included with most retail cards) to easily connect to your TV. This HDMI connection can also be used to pass the audio signal from your computer to your TV.

The chip that lies at the heart of the HD 4550 is known as the R710. It's derived from the same chip that powers the entire HD 4x00 range so has all the same principle features including support for DirectX10.1, the aforementioned HD video decoding, and in the future will support the ever increasing number of applications that use the power of graphics cards to accelerate everyday tasks (the Adobe CS4 suite being the most high-profile example). What makes this card cost £45 and other cards cost £200 is the number of those number crunching components.

Most notably the number of stream processors (the core processing parts of the GPU) is far less than ATI's other cards, as is the number of texture processing units and ROPs. Essentially this card will let you run most games at low resolutions and, where needed, lower in-game detail settings to get a consistently playable framerate.

Whereas the HD 4550 marked itself out as being half-height, the 9400 GT does exactly the opposite. For such a low-power card we were surprised to see it utilise a full-height PCB. Not that this should be a problem for most users but anyone with a low-profile case will have to look elsewhere. Also, this is something that will vary depending on which exact card you buy. Sparkle, for one, does a low-profile version of this card.

Thankfully, the card isn't quite so big and powerful as to require extra power connections so, again, any motherboard with a PCI-Express slot will be able to handle this card.

You may notice the yellow sticker on the top edge of the board. This covers an SLI connector and has the words 'Do not tear off the sticker SLI bridge is not supported' written on it, which rather says it all. This makes it abundantly obvious the 9400 GT is using an existing PCB for a card that would normally support SLI but the chip has just been replaced with the 9400 GT. It also goes some way to explain why this particular card is full-height.

The cooler is also an indicator of the rushed approach to the design of this particular card. Like the HD 4550, the 9400 GT can be kept cool enough with just a heatsink and can do without a fan. For this version, though, the manufacturer has just tacked on a cheap HSF. In fairness, the fan isn't very noisy, though it is markedly louder than the HD4550 when under load.

Video outputs are exactly the same as the HD4550 with DVI, VGA, and S-Video all supported.

Inno3D is the maker of the card we're looking at today so we can actually make a judgement on its retail credentials. Unfortunately they don't make for great reading. As well as the issues with the size of the card and the HSF, the bundle is quite poor. There's only an S-Video to Composite cable and driver CD included in the box. No DVI-to-HDMI dongle, no DVI-to-VGA dongle, no games, nada. While the 9400 GT chip may still be worth a look, this particular version is probably best avoided.

The 9400 GT chip itself is unsurprisingly lowly when it comes to sheer grunt. With only 16 shader units (remember these aren't directly comparable with the shaders on ATI's cards) and eight ROPs. Without further ado, let's look at what those numbers mean when it comes to real world performance.

For testing we ran through our usual set of gaming tests and also measured the power draw of our test bed with each card installed. The test setup is as follows:

Common System Components

• Intel Core 2 Quad QX9770
• Asus P5E3
• 2GB Corsair TWIN3X2048-1333C9 DDR3
• 150GB Western Digital Raptor
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Cards Tested

• ATI HD 4550
• nVidia GeForce 9400GT

Games Tested

• Crysis
• Race Driver: GRID
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
• Call of Duty 4
• Counter-Strike: Source

It's testament to just how much work both nVidia and ATI have been putting into their drivers in the last few years that we experienced absolutely no stability problems when installing and using either of these cards. Both also managed to remain cool and quiet throughout our testing even when under extended periods of heavy work load. Obviously if you opt for one of the passively cooled versions of either of these cards you'll need to ensure there is at least a modicum of airflow to allow hot air to escape but any normal sized desktop PC should provide this.

Unfortunately, when we look at performance the reason for the low price of these cards becomes all too apparent. Both cards struggle to maintain playable framerates even at the relatively lowly resolutions we've tested at. In particular the 9400 GT really stuggled with only Counter-Strike: Source proving playable.

In fairness, in all but Crysis, we did run our tests at the maximum in-game detail settings, which won't have helped framerates. Indeed, by experimenting with resolutions and detail settings we were able to get playable framerates with both cards in all games, even if it meant dropping to 800x600. Obviously the visual experience at that sort of resolution isn't great but it's better than nothing.

As for power, it's not surprising to see that both these cards veritably sip energy. What is interesting, though, is the HD 4550 consumes less power both at idle and when under load even though it outperforms the 9400 GT.

So, it would seem there's a clear winner here today. The HD 4550 is faster and consumes less power than the 9400 GT. However, when you factor in the cost of these two cards, the decision is less clear cut. With the HD 4550 costing around £10 more than some versions of the 9400 GT, there's a good argument for getting either. Conversely, who can't spare an extra £10? I guess the choice is yours.

Verdict

We set out today to see what spending around £40 on a graphics card would get you and it seems that, although a few compromises do have to be made when it comes to what resolution you game at and what detail settings you use, even the most modern games can be played for very little money. Add in the ability to playback back HD quality video with these cards and you have a good reason to plump up for either. If we were to recommend one over the other, though, we'd have to say the ATI HD 4550 is the one to go for.

All games use custom timedemos or manual run-throughs with framerates recorded by FRAPs. All games except Crysis used maximum in-game detail settings but with transparency anti-aliasing (adaptive anti-aliasing) turned off. For Crysis we turned all in-game settings to medium.

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