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S-Media GeForce FX 5600

Ameya Dalvi, Jul 22, 2003 0000 hrs IST

The FX 5600 chipset is supposed to be the ùValue-Performance cardù for the FX series.

Expert Rating:

Good performance, VIVO support, Good software bundle, All the necessary cables provided

Could have included a game or two

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EXPERT REVIEW

Prior to the GeForce 4 series, AGP cards were classified into two primary categories – the budget cards and the performance cards. So the buyers had to be content with either inferior performance or extreme pricing. The same logic applied to the GeForce 4 series early on. There were the low-end MX cards selling for under $100 and the ultra high end Ti 4600 going for over $350. There was a huge segment of potential buyers between the two extremes that remained unexplored. Finally, some smart guy at nVidia realized that and decided to reach out to that segment.

To do so, nVidia came out with the Ti 4200-based cards for under $200. The Ti 4200 was nothing but a lower clocked Ti 4600. It supported all the features that its elder brother did. Its performance was streets ahead of the MX cards and its pricing was significantly lower than the Ti 4600. nVidia had a winner on their hands. And as expected the Ti 4200 was a runaway success. Thus a new category of cards was formed, which now is commonly referred to as the 'Value-Performance cards' or the 'Mid-range cards'.

ATI took a leaf out of nVidia's book and released the Radeon 9500 and later the 9600 based cards in this segment and they too met with a fair degree of success. The FX 5600 chipset is supposed to be the 'Value-Performance card' for the FX series. Whether it can create the same magic as its illustrious predecessor, we will soon find out.

The Package
No points for guessing that this 8X S-Media card is based on the nVidia GeForce FX 5600 chipset. The 256-bit GPU core runs at 325 MHz and the onboard 256 MB (yes, you read it right), 128-bit DDR memory runs at an effective clock speed of 550 MHz. It sports dual RAMDACs with a clock of 400 MHz each for multiple displays. The 256 MB of RAM that the card ships with may not play a major part in today's games but with texture sizes in games growing with every new release, it's certainly not a bad investment as it makes your card slightly more future-proof. The build quality of the card is pretty solid. The GPU is covered with a Heat sink and Fan combo, which does its job well. There are no RAM sinks present on the Hynix modules but then they aren't quite necessary in this case.

The back panel comprises of the usual VGA out, a Video-In/Video-Out (VIVO) module and a DVI Out connector for flat panel displays. The card supports both S-Video and Composite In and Out and cables for the same are provided. An S-Video to composite converter and a composite video cable are also included in the package. Also bundled are a couple of CDs. One comprising of the drivers and the other with licensed version of three Intervideo software: WinDVD, WinProducer and WinCoder. An instruction manual also finds a place in the box. Games or game demos are perhaps the only thing missing from the package, which as it is, is decent enough.

Test Bench:
Following is the configuration of the system that we used to review this card:

CPU:

Motherboard:

Memory:

Hard Drive:

Case:

Operating System:

The benchmarks were split in two categories: DirectX and OpenGL.

DirectX

OpenGL

I ran the tests in four different AA (Anti-Aliasing) and AF (Anisotropic Filtering) modes to test the capabilities of the graphics card across various games.

The Benchmarks

Before you check the benchmarks, kindly note that the Maximum setting for most of the cards in the comparison is 4X-S AA and 8X AF while that for the FX 5600 is 8X AA and 8X AF. So lesser FPS in case of the FX 5600 in the Max mode does not indicate inferior performance, as the other cards can't even attain that mode of AA. Hence the Max mode results cannot be compared to other cards directly. They are present just to give you an idea as to what the card can offer at that level of AA and AF.

Aquamark

Quake III Arena

Return To Castle Wolfenstein

Serious Sam: The Second Encounter

Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo

3DMark 2001 SE

Performance revisited
As we can see from the benchmarks, the performance of the S-Media FX 5600 is almost at par with the GeForce 4 Ti 4200 8X card when AA and AF are disabled. Once AA and AF come into the picture, the FX 5600 starts to get the better of the Ti 4200 cards and in the 4X AA and 8X AF setting it even outperform the Ti 4600, which is quite commendable. This once again highlights the efficiency of the FX GPU in crunching complex data. Another thing to note is that none of the above benchmarks are DirectX 9 benchmarks. When the DirectX 9 applications arrive, we will see the performance gap between the GeForce 4 Ti cards and the FX widen further in favour of the later.

Conclusion
I have to say that nVidia has once again managed to do the balancing act well with the FX 5600. It offers a very good performance at a decent price and is a worthy successor to the Ti 4200. The S-Media GeForce FX 5600 is well priced at Rs.15,400. The price is just a couple of thousands higher than the Ti 4200 with VIVO support. Also, this card has 128 MB more memory than the Ti. With a performance similar to the Ti 4200 in DirectX 8 applications and a fair amount of headroom for future applications, add to that VIVO support, 256 MB onboard memory and a highly competitive price tag, this is one bundle that serious gamers would not want to ignore.

Test Unit Sourced From: X-Serve India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore.

USER COMMENTS

where can i get s media cards in keralaaaa plzzzzzzzzzz help meeee

by jidhin.m.l, trivandrum, on Aug 02, 2004 12:11 PM, Report abuse Reply

hi.can anyone tell where can i get a geforce fx 5600 priced at Rs. 6500 in kolkata

by pratik, kolkata, on Jul 06, 2004 12:56 AM, Report abuse Reply

I am considering going in for this graphics card on a system I am building. As prices have dropped considerably on most products and this review is Jul 03, what is the current street price now and where can I source it in Kolkata ? Will be grateful for a feedback Thanks & regards

by Sitangshu M Bas, Kolkata, on Jun 23, 2004 04:48 PM, Report abuse Reply

Where can i get an S-Media card in Kolkata? Help!!!!!!

by sounak, kolkata, on Jun 13, 2004 02:35 PM, Report abuse Reply

could u tell me whyere i can get a GeForce FX 5600 in Calcutta?

by Mayukh, Calcutta, on May 12, 2004 04:17 PM, Report abuse Reply

u can get XFX GeForce FX 5600 card at Saboo Computers near Candni Chaowk. But the price is a bit high at Rs. 9500.

by sounak, kolkata, on Jun 13, 2004 02:31 PM, Report abuse

hi! Could u please tell me where I can get geForce FX 5600 in Calcutta?

by Mayukh, Calcutta, on May 12, 2004 04:15 PM, Report abuse Reply

what can be the best graphics card for gaming below rs 5000

by Sayan, Kolkata, on May 09, 2004 01:31 PM, Report abuse Reply

hi guys can anyone tell me what would be the best card in the range of Rs.3000-3500 (Geforce 4/Geforce fx) and of which company.

by vaibhav, mumbai, on Feb 11, 2004 07:36 PM, Report abuse Reply

He guys Does any one know about Geforce 5600 XT card. Can any body tell me how bad this card is compared to a GeforceFX 5600 card

by CoolGuy, Kolkata, on Feb 02, 2004 05:20 PM, Report abuse Reply

yo all you guys out there . i am thinkin of buying this card but the price is becoming the problem . can anyone tell me the approx. market price of this product at current time as depending on the date of this article prices must have droped........plz help......thanx

by ashwin, mumbai, on Dec 24, 2003 04:11 PM, Report abuse Reply

well, an digicolour fx 5600 is for just rs 6500 at lamington road, you guys should test that card... at 14k i would get my hands on a gigabyte radeon 9500 pro, at lamington road (yes they are only available in india)

by Sahil, Mumbai, on Oct 14, 2003 05:52 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hii Sahil, Can you tell me from where(in which store at lamington road?) you got info. about digicolour fx 5600 and it's price ie. 6500!

by Hrishikesh, Mumbai, on Nov 09, 2003 02:08 AM, Report abuse

Id it Compatible with 4X AGP Slots?

by Parikshit, Pune, on Nov 02, 2003 12:41 AM, Report abuse Reply

Hey guys, first i ould just like to say that your site kicks some serious ass! Best looking around and easiest to navigate. Now more to the point, I am just about to order the S-Media Geforce FX 5600 256mb, but I have just spotted the Leadtek FX5600 TDH MyVIVO 256Mb for just a sligthly higher cost. I wouldn't mind spending the extra money, but i just want to know how it would compare to the s-media. I have a group of people telling me that the leadtek is better, but i aint sure, i have a feeling they dont know much about pc's they just think they know. I know a fair bit about pc's but when it comes to gfx cards and benchmark results, I know little more than the monkey behind me, so pleas HELP!! Thanks, catcha

by Mark, Melbourne <---- SOON MOVING TO THE MOON, on Sep 02, 2003 11:44 AM, Report abuse Reply

to mark. i am a program author based benchmark porgrams for use at home and am very familiar with gfx cards. i believe that the S-Media is a hunk o' junk compared to the ever reliable leadtek cards. If you wish to buy a gfx card over $300 steer clear of crappy brands such as the S-media series. Leadtek are a leading brand and offer much in the way performance, as they have been in the biz for long time now and dwarf the S-Media's. If you have $300 DONT spend it on this card, go for the more reliable Leadtek TDH 256Mb fx5600 MYVIVO.

by Leinad, Sydney, on Sep 04, 2003 04:03 PM, Report abuse

i hate you so much

by that guy, bombay, on Sep 04, 2003 04:19 PM, Report abuse

did i say Leadtek TDH 256Mb fx5600 MYVIVO? i meant to say Leadtek TD 256Mb fx5600 MYVIVO

by leinad, brisbane, on Sep 07, 2003 05:45 AM, Report abuse

Where Can we get this cards

by Tushar, Jalgaon, on Aug 17, 2003 04:35 PM, Report abuse Reply

I need to know the following about this card. 1. Efficiency with respect to 3D accelaration. 2. Support for per pixel lighting. 3. Support for register combiners

by Gopal Mor, Bnagalore, on Aug 06, 2003 09:07 AM, Report abuse Reply

Hey site administrators... Ek problem hai yaar, There should be a DATE attached to every article, like the day it went up on the site. U know it will help us a bit. E.g. if you quote a price, we'll know that the "prices" were on the day it was posted and not the current market price. P.s - Your site is KEWL.

by Nikhil, faridabad, on Jul 29, 2003 04:21 AM, Report abuse Reply

Hey guys I am looking to upgrade my graphic card from its current radeon 9100 ( flashed the digicolor 8500 ) to a radeon 9700 Can someone tell me the cost of a non professional radeon 9700 i see a guy here has mentioned its available for 16000 if so where in bombay and whom do i contact......

by jayesh mansukha, mumbai, on Jul 30, 2003 01:34 PM, Report abuse

Great card at a reasonable price, but I'd rather go for the radeon 9700 non pro priced at 16000 bucks !

by Soham, jamshedpur, on Jul 23, 2003 11:09 AM, Report abuse Reply

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