Inno3D Geforce FX 5700 Ultra

Review by Jason Jacobs on 2/13/04
Video Card Provided by Inno3D

3D Mark 03 Performance

It is important here to provide a price vs. performance comparison especially when dealing with budget video cards. Its clear that the 9800 Pro easily leads all the cards in the lineup, however, this card is more than twice the price of the 5700 ultra. The performance of the 5700 ultra was very respectable, it was able to play 3D graphic games with ease and no noticable dip in fps. Some may be able to see the difference between 40fps and 50-60 but the difference for the budget gamer is very slight. The 5700 ultra even takes the lead over the 9600 XT which is its direct competition. In its market the 5700 ultra is clearly a good choice.

Graphic Quality:

The Inno3D 5700 Ultra is a mixed bag when it comes to quality. Textures presented in Quake 3, NFS Underground, and Halo were smoother and seemed more defined than the equivilant textures when using the 9600 XT. It was as though the Antialiasing and filtering had finally been worked out on the 5700. This has long been a point of superiority for the ATI chipsets, although the difference was slight, the superior image was produced by the 5700 ultra when compared to the 9600 XT.

Lighting when using the 5700 Ultra was unusual and not correctly presented. In Halo, NFS Underground, and at times in Quake 3 where lighting from lights, headlights, and gun mounted flashlights was pointed at objects, the transition from light to dark was very prounounced and not even. It looks artifical and captures your attention easily. This could be due to drivers or GPU rendering of the lighting, either way this effect was present with any level of AA and AF, on or off.

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