Hey guys!
Finally managed to get round to some testing now my makeshift room has been put back together and so far what I can say is that I am suitably impressed so far!
So lets get this started!
INTRODUCTION
So here we have it the box in all its glory....
HiS HD2900Pro 512MB DDR3 nice shiny reflective box with solid construction and a fairly decent package!
However moving onto the package we will see a shortcoming, the lack of the Black Box! On the Pro's this has been replaced with the free offer of ATi owners of lost coast and half life 2 deathmatch! A disappointment but I'll live with it!
My first impressions of the card are wow look at the size of that thing and wow how heavy is it! The thing I like is the back plate which seems to keep the card rigid and the whole build quality seems rather impressive.
Also in the pics you will see that there have not been any losses to the new card and both the external power connectors, 6+8pin are both present! I will be running the card through my Hiper Type R 580W Modular PSU and yes its now 22months old!
Now lets have a look inside the case, in my tiny Centurion Cooler Master the card manages to fit in with a bit of space to go! The best part about the external power connectors is that they are on the side of the card so they face you and that helps if your in a tight spot.
Installation and Drivers
Well Installation was fairly hassle free and so far I have only tested the card out in XP MCE! Card was recognised and we got things going from there.
Benchmarks
Yes the Section you all wanted to know about and I will provide it for you now! I have tested all games under XPMCE and also using the Catalyst 7.10 BETAS! Also note all games were ran at the default specs of 600MHz Core vs 1600Mhz Memory!
So the test spec is:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 2.65Ghz
3GB DDR2 Corsair Value Select
DFi Infinity Black 965 S
ATi Radeon HD2900Pro
Hiper Type R 580W
So lets get started!
3D Mark 2006
3DMark Score 9118 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 3862 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 4232 Marks
CPU Score 2338 Marks
First run of 3D mark and a decent score and also expected by myself! Why? Well my Ram holds back my CPU overclock and thus holds back the final score a tad! With a faster CPU things will go closer to the 10k but I'm sure I will break that later on with the overclock!
World In Conflict
I decided to run loads of different tests for this game as it is damned, damned intensive on any system! For this I used the ingame supplied benchmark! Needless to say everything was set to the highest possible @ 1280x1024 just changes in AF and AA!
@ 1280x1024 + 16xAF
Min 19
Max 50
Avg 34
@ 1280x1024 + 4xAA 4xAF
Min 16
Max 46
Avg 28
@ 1280x1024 + 4xAA 16xAF
Min 15
Max 37
Avg 25
Decent performance in the benchmark where everything goes on with explosions wild and debris and physics flying all over the place! So yeah the benchmark is so intensive its unreal if you havent seen it yet! Playing the game itself it runs smooth as anything and very playable at highest settings!
Bioshock
The latest game to grip us all and a bunch of tricks and treats from a fantatic engine! Using fraps I recorded a good old 2minutes of sheer action to see how the new card stacked up! For some reason AA(possible game/driver issue) didnt want to work but here are some results with 16xAF and Highest of the High settings!
@1280x1024 + 16xAF
Min 50
Max 139
Avg 89.642
Extremely playable as we can see here! Ati have totally cracked DX9 performance in this game and they know it! Dont know why I had issues getting AA sorted out but it may just be some sort of driver/game conflict which no doubt should be sorted some time! Remember this is with the card at stock settings, no OC at all! All in all very impressed!
Medal of Honor: Airborne
Another brand new game this time from EA and it is the cinematic experience in WWII games! Some lovely visual effects including motion blur really make you feel a part of the game! Nice frantic action and definately worth a look!
Again issues with getting AA to enable here which was annoying tbh but again lets hope for an update soon
@1280x1024 + 16xAF
Min 32
Max 129
Avg 77.267
Again another solid performance by the card int his newer game! I would have liked to have seen the AA in action but again an issue has stopped this from happening. The game is very fluid and is ideal for the packed action!
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Its been about for ages now but we all know you cant beat the extreme foliage in this game and it can bring any card to its knees under these conditions!
I went and found a dence foliage area and went for a walk and fought a few enemies along the way! This was recorded for 2mins and I finally got some AA back in the action! Quick test here with 4xAA and of course 16xAF!
@1280x1024 + 4xAA 16xAF
Min 20
Max 77
Avg 38.117
The impact the graphics engine in oblivion supplies when you launch on all the effects and some AA and AF is astounding! I love just exploring in this game and it just became all the more playable at higher settings for me! Again the card is just at stock and is doing just well so far!
Half-Life 2 Stress Test
Staple stress test in Half-Life 2, we all know it we all do it so lets have a few runs on this too!
@1280x1024 + 2xMSAA 16xAF
Avg Framerate 170.03fps
@1280x1024 + 4xMSAA 16xAF
Avg Framerate 163.45fps
@1280x1024 + 6xMSAA 16xAF
Avg Framerate 149.31fps
Playable at any settings as expected, its the source engine, its not too hard really!
Temperature and Cooling
Temps so far have been not too bad, I have recorded these on ATi Tool and at the standard clocks the card idles around 55-58degrees and during load will rise to around 70-72degrees. So yes the cooling solution seems to do the job here no problem and there should be headroom for Overclocking without worrying about the temps.
So we have all heard how loud the XT's can be well this card is no exception as it is essentially the same! I dont think the card is that bad when idle, its just a slight hum, certainly ignorable and I can take it no problem! When the card starts to get used you will realise if you aint playing any music as it does become audible during games! Not so much though that you can hear it over speakers at a normal volume. So the noise does not annoy me in the least as long as the cooler is effective.
OVERCLOCKING, can it match the XT?
Well here has been the question since this card was announced, will it match the XT clocks or are these cores just rubbish! Well one review pointed to a....yes and I will have to say that the card......DID match the XT clocks at first attempt.
I didnt really bother about the whole lets find the max core or mem and just loaded up ATiTool and set the clocks as follows, 750Mhz Core and 1650 Memory which are identical to the HiS 2900Xt! Temps went up slightly in general by around 1-2degrees but again nothing to worry about! Nice to see you can clock ok without that dreaded 8pin external power we all hate!
So a quick overclocked run on 3D Mark 06 and could I break that 10k barrier.....THANK GOD I DID!
3DMark Score 10177 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 4392 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 4978 Marks
CPU Score 2336 Marks
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3166444
Quick a boost can be seen in the 2.0 and 3.0 SM scores and this would obviously transfer down to the games.
In other reviews we have seen around a 15% performance drop in certain benchies so this will be obtainable to get this back with these cards!
So XT speeds for around £70 cheaper are a reality!
Conclusion
Well from this quick quick quick in demand test I can tell you all I am more than happy with this card. There are a good few pros here in terms of performance but I can only really complain with two things, the Bundle is a tad lacklustre and also the Noise generated by the card at times! As I said the noise in games is fine since you have sound anyways!
I have to recommend this card though and I have owned the 8800GTS 320MB! I like the speed, the fact it can easily be clocked to an XT and it has plenty of potential in the technology, hopefully we see that come sooner rather than later. This 512MB of ram should come in handy at higher resolutions and also more shader intensive games!
Have to say though, this is superb value for money and a great boost to any system, do not hestitate
Id like to thank OCuK for taking my cash and sending me the card!
P.S still to do Vista and DX10 performance
Finally managed to get round to some testing now my makeshift room has been put back together and so far what I can say is that I am suitably impressed so far!
So lets get this started!
INTRODUCTION
So here we have it the box in all its glory....
HiS HD2900Pro 512MB DDR3 nice shiny reflective box with solid construction and a fairly decent package!
However moving onto the package we will see a shortcoming, the lack of the Black Box! On the Pro's this has been replaced with the free offer of ATi owners of lost coast and half life 2 deathmatch! A disappointment but I'll live with it!
My first impressions of the card are wow look at the size of that thing and wow how heavy is it! The thing I like is the back plate which seems to keep the card rigid and the whole build quality seems rather impressive.
Also in the pics you will see that there have not been any losses to the new card and both the external power connectors, 6+8pin are both present! I will be running the card through my Hiper Type R 580W Modular PSU and yes its now 22months old!
Now lets have a look inside the case, in my tiny Centurion Cooler Master the card manages to fit in with a bit of space to go! The best part about the external power connectors is that they are on the side of the card so they face you and that helps if your in a tight spot.
Installation and Drivers
Well Installation was fairly hassle free and so far I have only tested the card out in XP MCE! Card was recognised and we got things going from there.
Benchmarks
Yes the Section you all wanted to know about and I will provide it for you now! I have tested all games under XPMCE and also using the Catalyst 7.10 BETAS! Also note all games were ran at the default specs of 600MHz Core vs 1600Mhz Memory!
So the test spec is:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 2.65Ghz
3GB DDR2 Corsair Value Select
DFi Infinity Black 965 S
ATi Radeon HD2900Pro
Hiper Type R 580W
So lets get started!
3D Mark 2006
3DMark Score 9118 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 3862 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 4232 Marks
CPU Score 2338 Marks
First run of 3D mark and a decent score and also expected by myself! Why? Well my Ram holds back my CPU overclock and thus holds back the final score a tad! With a faster CPU things will go closer to the 10k but I'm sure I will break that later on with the overclock!
World In Conflict
I decided to run loads of different tests for this game as it is damned, damned intensive on any system! For this I used the ingame supplied benchmark! Needless to say everything was set to the highest possible @ 1280x1024 just changes in AF and AA!
@ 1280x1024 + 16xAF
Min 19
Max 50
Avg 34
@ 1280x1024 + 4xAA 4xAF
Min 16
Max 46
Avg 28
@ 1280x1024 + 4xAA 16xAF
Min 15
Max 37
Avg 25
Decent performance in the benchmark where everything goes on with explosions wild and debris and physics flying all over the place! So yeah the benchmark is so intensive its unreal if you havent seen it yet! Playing the game itself it runs smooth as anything and very playable at highest settings!
Bioshock
The latest game to grip us all and a bunch of tricks and treats from a fantatic engine! Using fraps I recorded a good old 2minutes of sheer action to see how the new card stacked up! For some reason AA(possible game/driver issue) didnt want to work but here are some results with 16xAF and Highest of the High settings!
@1280x1024 + 16xAF
Min 50
Max 139
Avg 89.642
Extremely playable as we can see here! Ati have totally cracked DX9 performance in this game and they know it! Dont know why I had issues getting AA sorted out but it may just be some sort of driver/game conflict which no doubt should be sorted some time! Remember this is with the card at stock settings, no OC at all! All in all very impressed!
Medal of Honor: Airborne
Another brand new game this time from EA and it is the cinematic experience in WWII games! Some lovely visual effects including motion blur really make you feel a part of the game! Nice frantic action and definately worth a look!
Again issues with getting AA to enable here which was annoying tbh but again lets hope for an update soon
@1280x1024 + 16xAF
Min 32
Max 129
Avg 77.267
Again another solid performance by the card int his newer game! I would have liked to have seen the AA in action but again an issue has stopped this from happening. The game is very fluid and is ideal for the packed action!
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Its been about for ages now but we all know you cant beat the extreme foliage in this game and it can bring any card to its knees under these conditions!
I went and found a dence foliage area and went for a walk and fought a few enemies along the way! This was recorded for 2mins and I finally got some AA back in the action! Quick test here with 4xAA and of course 16xAF!
@1280x1024 + 4xAA 16xAF
Min 20
Max 77
Avg 38.117
The impact the graphics engine in oblivion supplies when you launch on all the effects and some AA and AF is astounding! I love just exploring in this game and it just became all the more playable at higher settings for me! Again the card is just at stock and is doing just well so far!
Half-Life 2 Stress Test
Staple stress test in Half-Life 2, we all know it we all do it so lets have a few runs on this too!
@1280x1024 + 2xMSAA 16xAF
Avg Framerate 170.03fps
@1280x1024 + 4xMSAA 16xAF
Avg Framerate 163.45fps
@1280x1024 + 6xMSAA 16xAF
Avg Framerate 149.31fps
Playable at any settings as expected, its the source engine, its not too hard really!
Temperature and Cooling
Temps so far have been not too bad, I have recorded these on ATi Tool and at the standard clocks the card idles around 55-58degrees and during load will rise to around 70-72degrees. So yes the cooling solution seems to do the job here no problem and there should be headroom for Overclocking without worrying about the temps.
So we have all heard how loud the XT's can be well this card is no exception as it is essentially the same! I dont think the card is that bad when idle, its just a slight hum, certainly ignorable and I can take it no problem! When the card starts to get used you will realise if you aint playing any music as it does become audible during games! Not so much though that you can hear it over speakers at a normal volume. So the noise does not annoy me in the least as long as the cooler is effective.
OVERCLOCKING, can it match the XT?
Well here has been the question since this card was announced, will it match the XT clocks or are these cores just rubbish! Well one review pointed to a....yes and I will have to say that the card......DID match the XT clocks at first attempt.
I didnt really bother about the whole lets find the max core or mem and just loaded up ATiTool and set the clocks as follows, 750Mhz Core and 1650 Memory which are identical to the HiS 2900Xt! Temps went up slightly in general by around 1-2degrees but again nothing to worry about! Nice to see you can clock ok without that dreaded 8pin external power we all hate!
So a quick overclocked run on 3D Mark 06 and could I break that 10k barrier.....THANK GOD I DID!
3DMark Score 10177 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 4392 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 4978 Marks
CPU Score 2336 Marks
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3166444
Quick a boost can be seen in the 2.0 and 3.0 SM scores and this would obviously transfer down to the games.
In other reviews we have seen around a 15% performance drop in certain benchies so this will be obtainable to get this back with these cards!
So XT speeds for around £70 cheaper are a reality!
Conclusion
Well from this quick quick quick in demand test I can tell you all I am more than happy with this card. There are a good few pros here in terms of performance but I can only really complain with two things, the Bundle is a tad lacklustre and also the Noise generated by the card at times! As I said the noise in games is fine since you have sound anyways!
I have to recommend this card though and I have owned the 8800GTS 320MB! I like the speed, the fact it can easily be clocked to an XT and it has plenty of potential in the technology, hopefully we see that come sooner rather than later. This 512MB of ram should come in handy at higher resolutions and also more shader intensive games!
Have to say though, this is superb value for money and a great boost to any system, do not hestitate
Id like to thank OCuK for taking my cash and sending me the card!
P.S still to do Vista and DX10 performance
Last edited:
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