ATI's All-In-Wonder X1900 Performance And DVD Decoding Quality
by Josh Venning on February 10, 2006 8:45 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
HQV Film Cadence Test
This section contains a series of 8 tests with different cadences to see how well the processor handles each cadence. While 3:2 is the most popular cadence (used for movies), other cadences like 2:2 or 5:5 might be necessary for viewing home videos or animation. Jagged edges and moire in the newspaper and coffee cups indicate poor decoding.
ATI managed to pass all of the cadence tests and score a perfect 40 points. NVIDIA however failed all of the tests except for two: 3:2, and 3:2:3:2:2. Granted, 3:2 is probably the most important cadence (24fps film requires this cadence), so it's good that NVIDIA manages to pass this test, but this is one area that ATI does decidedly better. There are quite a few tests for this section, and all the images look pretty much the same. As such, we decided to show only one case that represented most what we see (2224). The key difference is in the ring around one of the coffee cups. Take a look at how smooth and solid it looks on ATI hardware. There is s slight smudge in the ring on NVIDIA's screenshot. The difference is actually pretty subtle and hard to see in motion if you don't know what you are looking for, but there it is.
This section contains a series of 8 tests with different cadences to see how well the processor handles each cadence. While 3:2 is the most popular cadence (used for movies), other cadences like 2:2 or 5:5 might be necessary for viewing home videos or animation. Jagged edges and moire in the newspaper and coffee cups indicate poor decoding.
ATI managed to pass all of the cadence tests and score a perfect 40 points. NVIDIA however failed all of the tests except for two: 3:2, and 3:2:3:2:2. Granted, 3:2 is probably the most important cadence (24fps film requires this cadence), so it's good that NVIDIA manages to pass this test, but this is one area that ATI does decidedly better. There are quite a few tests for this section, and all the images look pretty much the same. As such, we decided to show only one case that represented most what we see (2224). The key difference is in the ring around one of the coffee cups. Take a look at how smooth and solid it looks on ATI hardware. There is s slight smudge in the ring on NVIDIA's screenshot. The difference is actually pretty subtle and hard to see in motion if you don't know what you are looking for, but there it is.
- ATI: 40
- NVIDIA: 10
- (highest score: 40)
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
43 Comments
View All Comments
bldckstark - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
The example shown does not change the overall score of the card. The example shown is for the readers reference to the test, and is not what the test scored from. There may be other reasons someone may not give these tests merit, but this is not one of them. You could maybe rank on the author for this, but not the tests.mpeavid - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
The example shown does not change the overall score of the card.But how do we know that? Take example cadence 2224. According to the text the same item is being compared, yet different frames are clearly shown. If their methadology was more concise, their text is not.
You have to be clear about this or it misleads your readers. Its like doing a 3D test using 2 different scenes to render. Anandtech uses all the same 3D scenes to render right?
rjm55 - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
Other sites did AIW 1900 reviews on January 31st. Why so long for AT? Did ATI pass you over on sending a sample?fishbits - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
By adding more polys, textures, particles, lights, shadows and shaders. You really didn't know this? Call any respected game dev house and ask them if they could possibly come up with a use for more GPU horsepower. The answer will be "Of course genius, we've got code and models we're waiting for capable hardware to run on, it's been that way for years. We'll take every bit of it we can get." Tell Anand I want you to spend this weekend benching EQ2 maxed out and tell us Monday if "we" still "aren't sure."
Anyhow, sounds like a nice card, but I'd rather have a more dedicated gaming card and a seperate TV tuner solution.
Griswold - Monday, February 13, 2006 - link
Of course they want more power so they dont have to write efficient and optimized code. Especially your EQ2 example comes to mind. There are far too few companies that come up with highly optimized code that will run top notch on current hardware and provide extra eye candy on future generations.Backslider - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
The 7800GT used in the test must be stock. The one I purchased came overclocked and performs much better than what the benchmarks are showing.ATI is still too pricy at the moment, I looked up and down for an X1800XL that could come with in price range of the 7800GT that I purchased, and I couldn't find one. I wasn't going to pay $60 over when they perform so identical. The prices were approx.
X1800XL 256 Stock $330
7800GT 256 OC $270
ATI get those prices down.
tuteja1986 - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
I sold my 7800GTX bought a x1900XT and i couldn't be happier :! if G71 fixes some issues like IQ and HDR with AA then i will sell my X1900XT and buy a 7900GTX :) or eles wait for R6XX and G8X.Backslider - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
Having owned an X800xl and a 7800GT, I honestly didn't see an IQ difference. The whole HDR with AA thing, well, you must play a lot of Far Cry.Good luck with keeping up with the latest and greatest though, it's almost a game with in it self. If you sell at the right times, you can upgrade for very little and still have the newest toys.
Happy gaming
MrKaz - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
I have a ati 9700 and geforce 6600gt and ati rendering look better.There are some annoying layers/plates on the nvidia rendering that i dont like.
And just one note: the display is the same on both cards.
DeathByDuke - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
I'd certainly buy one if it was around $299-349, considering it performs closer to a much more expensive X1800XT