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SimGuy
9 Dec 2003, 7:58am
<CENTER>http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/threadheader.jpg</CENTER>

The following listing of benchmarks are courtesy HardwareTweakers.de (http://www.hardware-tweaker.de).

They have what I believe to be the first offically benchmarked review of XGI's newest flagship product, the XGI Volari V8 Duo Ultra. The original review is available to read, but it's in German.

Original Review (German) (http://www.hardware-tweaker.de/HTML/Home_4/Overclocking/Artikel_Teil1/XGI_Volari__duo_V8Ultra_Part1/xgi_volari__duo_v8ultra_part1.html)

The results? I'll let you judge for yourself.

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

Test System:

Intel Pentium 4 2800C @ 3500 (250x14), cooled by VapoChill PE
Asus P4C800 Motherboard
2x512 MB OCZ Performance DDR500 @ CAS 2.5 in Dual Channel Mode
Seagate Barracuda 120 GB SATA-150, 7200 RPM
Windows XP Professional SP1
Microsoft DirectX 9.0B + HotFix

Video Cards Tested:

Club3D XGI Volari V8 Duo Ultra 256 MB (XGI Reactor 1.0.0.0 Drivers)
3DConnect Radeon 9700 Pro 128 MB (ATI Catalyst 3.9 Drivers)
PowerColor Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB (ATI Catalyst 3.9 Drivers)

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

The Card:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8ultra-31.jpg

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8ultra-18.jpg

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8ultra-17.jpg

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

Anti-Aliasing Image Quality:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/6FSAA.jpg

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

MadOnion's 3DMark2001SE Build 330 Performance:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-3d01se.gif

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-3d01se-hpc8.gif

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-3d01se-nature.gif

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

MadOnion's 3DMark2003 Build 3.4.0 Performance:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-3d03-fill-mu.gif

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-3d03-vertex.gif

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

Massive Development's AquaMark 3 Performance:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-aqua3.gif

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

GunMetal Benchmark - Maximum FPS Performance:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-gunmetal-maxfps.gif

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

ShaderMark 2.0 Performance:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-shadermark.gif

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg

UT2003 (DirectX 7.1/8.0) Performance:

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-ut2003flyby.gif

http://s90844858.onlinehome.us/short-media/volari/v8duo-ut2003botmatch.gif

http://www.short-media.com/img/bluedivider.jpg
pseudonym
9 Dec 2003, 8:09am
Interesting results. Drivers seem to need a little tweaking by the looks of things. I'd say price would be the determining factor now. Anyone know what it is?
SimGuy
9 Dec 2003, 8:24am
http://www.maxpc.nl/N_grp_31_141-1.html

Reasonable for a 256 MB DDR-II card...
Black Hawk
9 Dec 2003, 9:11am
I wonder how it OC's :rarr:
Nosferatu
9 Dec 2003, 9:15am
I'd say in 6 months to a year when the drivers mature, it'll be a formidable card! I think I read it will be cheaper than NVIDIA and ATI's competing cards as well. It's good to see more competition to shake things up and move things forward.
Black Hawk
9 Dec 2003, 9:20am
6 months to year from now, ATi will probably come out with 2-3 top performing cards. IMHO unless they can actually outperform ATI, they should try the low end market. Not GF4MX low end but something like a 9500/9600, atleast untill they can really tweak their drivers and then ramp up the performance.
Templar
9 Dec 2003, 9:54am
Anyone else think those results are kinda whacked? Yeah, I'm betting driver problems. Looks like the SiS curse may live on :bawling: Granted the drivers are a first release.
SimGuy
9 Dec 2003, 1:48pm
Black Hawk had this to say
6 months to year from now, ATi will probably come out with 2-3 top performing cards. IMHO unless they can actually outperform ATI, they should try the low end market. Not GF4MX low end but something like a 9500/9600, atleast untill they can really tweak their drivers and then ramp up the performance.

Don't bank on it.

Industry projections show that the graphics card market may actually start to slow down. We actually may see the end of the 6-month product cycle from the graphics vendors, in favour of a longer 12-18 month cycle simply because of the lack of software to utilize the features of these $499 USD cards.

In 6 months, we'll be lucky to see ATI release their PEG 16x R420 or NVidia release their PEG 16x NV40 adapters.

Considering this is the first silicon, first driver revision (1.0.0.0), XGI has some work to do optimizing and refining their drivers for use. Give it some time to mature and it will be a worthy competitor. As with any product, the first one is not always the best performer, especially in the graphics card arena. :D
NoFuture
9 Dec 2003, 5:27pm
IMO this card has a lot of potential, especially if its priced competitively. But the thing that bothers me right now is about water cooling it.... :)
Templar
9 Dec 2003, 6:28pm
SimGuy had this to say
Black Hawk had this to say
6 months to year from now, ATi will probably come out with 2-3 top performing cards. IMHO unless they can actually outperform ATI, they should try the low end market. Not GF4MX low end but something like a 9500/9600, atleast untill they can really tweak their drivers and then ramp up the performance.

Don't bank on it.

Industry projections show that the graphics card market may actually start to slow down. We actually may see the end of the 6-month product cycle from the graphics vendors, in favour of a longer 12-18 month cycle simply because of the lack of software to utilize the features of these $499 USD cards.

In 6 months, we'll be lucky to see ATI release their PEG 16x R420 or NVidia release their PEG 16x NV40 adapters.

Considering this is the first silicon, first driver revision (1.0.0.0), XGI has some work to do optimizing and refining their drivers for use. Give it some time to mature and it will be a worthy competitor. As with any product, the first one is not always the best performer, especially in the graphics card arena. :D

But you've got to remember that ATi and nVidia have been going at it for a while.. at least a year or so of really pumping out models. XGI just arrived. If ATi and nVidia slow down, it'll give XGI a chance to seize a good portion of the market.
Jengo
9 Dec 2003, 6:43pm
Looks interesting, i want to try one out! i cant wait until there are three companies to choose from and not just 2

:D
Mr_Bojingles
9 Dec 2003, 7:43pm
More Compitition=lower prices=better products(hopefully)

It looks like a win-win situation for consumers :)

Can't wait till the drivers mature. Going to be looking to retire my ti4200 sometime in the first half of the year, so it will be nice to have another option.
Gravite2090
9 Dec 2003, 9:50pm
Im honestly impressed by the results, gg Volari. I bet it OCs fine judging by the heatsink it has there. Cant tell what kind of memory is on it though by those pictures.

The pic shows better color and AA too, but the shading doesn't look quite as smooth.

2mbit BIOS, interesting. I cant wait for anandtech or short to get their hands on one =]
Nosferatu
9 Dec 2003, 10:10pm
Black Hawk had this to say
6 months to year from now, ATi will probably come out with 2-3 top performing cards. IMHO unless they can actually outperform ATI, they should try the low end market. Not GF4MX low end but something like a 9500/9600, atleast untill they can really tweak their drivers and then ramp up the performance.

You say that now, but remember when NVIDIA looked unbeatable? Look at them now. Blunder after blunder. ;D
Al_Capown
9 Dec 2003, 11:16pm
Now, if only the card didn't require 2 molex connectors and was so long, but then again Radeon256's and FX5950's are fairly long as well. Guess that's the price you pay for bleeding edge.
croc_
9 Dec 2003, 11:22pm
the AA looks like it has a bit more "blend".

looks good so far .... price? (usd)
SimGuy
9 Dec 2003, 11:38pm
Gravite2090 had this to say
Im honestly impressed by the results, gg Volari. I bet it OCs fine judging by the heatsink it has there. Cant tell what kind of memory is on it though by those pictures.

The pic shows better color and AA too, but the shading doesn't look quite as smooth.

2mbit BIOS, interesting. I cant wait for anandtech or short to get their hands on one =]

It's Samsung DDRII memory modules (don't know speed off hand).
TheLostSwede
9 Dec 2003, 11:47pm
It's going to be hell to cool that thing with water/phase. That card needs to be redesigned if they want to cut down the noise.
Black Hawk
9 Dec 2003, 11:50pm
croc_ had this to say
the AA looks like it has a bit more &quot;blend&quot;.

looks good so far .... price? (usd) $520 :hrm:
croc_
9 Dec 2003, 11:59pm
Black Hawk had this to say
croc_ had this to say
the AA looks like it has a bit more &amp;quot;blend&amp;quot;.

looks good so far .... price? (usd) $520 :hrm:

520??!??!!?

eh ..... no .... nice try .... who would buy that?
TheLostSwede
10 Dec 2003, 12:15am
Then the point is gone IMO.