Better out than in, says John Gillooly with a smirk.
Over the past few generations of 3D hardware there has always been a sweet spot in the price/performance stakes. We saw it with the cheap and effective GeForce2 MX line, we saw it with the stellar GeForce4 Ti4200 and ATI's RADEON 9700. Cut down versions of top end 3D hardware are commonplace now, and on first glance the GeForce FX 5900 is still not cheap but shares everything except clock and core speeds with the several hundred dollars more expensive Ultra variants.
ABIT has used the GeForce FX 5900 as part of its latest experimentation in cooling, the OTES Siluro FX 5900 card. ABIT invented the concept of externally vented video card cooling with its GeForce4 Ti4200 card, a concept that was subsequently picked up by NVIDIA as the reference cooler for its heat pumping GeForce FX 5800 chip. Nearly everyone will agree that the FX 5800 was not the ideal way to introduce this sort of cooling to the masses. It was too loud, the cards still ran hot, and it lacked the performance needed to compete with the whisper quite RADEON 9800.
The GeForce FX 5900 needs hefty cooling, but managed to avoid the externally vented suicide route its predecessor took. Despite this, ABIT has taken the opportunity to show us again what the potential of its OTES system is by using the technology to make a cool, quiet card, laden with overclocking potential.
Perhaps the most unique thing about the new OTES implementation is the inclusion of the 'Beetle Tube'. This segmented plastic vent is designed to modify air pressure so that the air rushes out quicker, while also reducing the noise output of the card.
In fact that is the most impressive part of the FX5900 OTES card, it is damn quiet, and it was barely able to be heard over the modest noise of an Intel Pentium 4 Heatsink. This silence is a welcome change from the previous generation and is a big selling point for those after a quiet computing experience.
Perhaps the only major downside is that the card blots out two PCI slots, which is a pain in the arse for Micro ATX users but bearable for those blessed with a full complement of PCI slots. With cards in the top PCI slot usually abutting the video card, and the second PCI slot subject to the hell of shared IRQs with the IDE controller we recommend them as a last resort anyway.
We tested the FX5900 OTES against ATI's equivalent RADEON 9800 card and NVIDIA's top end GeForce FX 5900 Ultra. Testing was done using NVIDIA 44.03 Detonator drivers and ATI Catalyst 3.6 drivers on a 3GHz Pentium 4.
To get the bleeding obvious out of the way first, the Siluro FX5900 OTES is not as quick as a GeForce FX 5900 Ultra. However the performance gulf is fairly minor across our tests and this makes the Siluro FX5900 OTES a tasty alternative, especially when you consider the not insignificant price difference between the two models.
When compared to the vanilla RADEON 9800 card, the FX5900 looks damn impressive, winning in every benchmark by small but noticeable margins. In the current market the RADEON 9800 is cheaper than FX5900, but we suspect pricing will achieve parity pretty damn quickly.
Yet again ABIT has delivered a unique product that actually delivers. OTES provides the cooling needed for the GF FX 5900 while staying damn quiet. Plus the oddly segmented venting system makes for one of the most aesthetically interesting cards on the market.
Now that parity has been reached between ATI and NVIDIA's product ranges the choice is wide open, and the Siluro GF FX5900 OTES fits its niche like a glove.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012