ATI Radeon Xpress 200: Performance, PCI Express & DX9 for Athlon 64
by Wesley Fink on November 8, 2004 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Overclocking: ATI Bullhead
ATI has some stiff competition from nVidia in the Athlon 64 Enthusiast market. nVidia is well known and trusted by AMD enthusiasts who know the nForce3 Ultra and nForce4 will provide the kind of extra performance they are looking for.Move over, nVidia, because the ATI Reference board reached an amazing 283x10 at 4X HyperTransport and 2.5-3-3-10 memory timings.
| Front Side Bus Overclocking Testbed | |
| Default Voltage | |
| Processor: | Athlon 64 FX55 2.6GHz |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.5V (default) |
| Cooling: | Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Heatsink/Fan |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520W |
| Memory: | OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev. 2 |
| Hard Drive: | Seagate 120MB PATA (IDE) 8MB Cache |
| Maximum OC: (Standard Ratio) |
224x13, 2912MHz (+12%), 1:1 DC Mode, 2-2-2-10 memory timings, 5X HT, 2.6V |
| Maximum FSB: (Lower Ratio) |
283 x 10 (2813MHz), 2 dimms, 1:1 DC mode, 2.5-3-3-10 1T memory timings, 4X HT, 2.85V |
Using Hynix Rev. B double-sided memory, we were also able to reach a 291 (DDR582) overclock, matching the highest overclock that we have ever achieved in testing with DS DIMMs in Dual-Channel mode. The timings and bandwidth were lower at 291, which also required 2X HT, since 3X was not an option in the ATI RX480 BIOS. ATI tells us that 3X will be implemented in production BIOS for the Bullhead board. 283x10 at 2.5-3-3-10 gave the highest memory bandwidth available on the ATI with our standard overclocking test setup.
Intrigued by the performance of double-sided DIMMs in dual-channel mode, we asked ATI about the highest performance dual-channel overclocking that they had achieved with the RX480 in their labs. ATI shared results and timings using 2 single-sided 256MB PQI DIMMs at 2.5-4-4-9 1T timings, at a frequency of 313 or DDR616. We did not have single-sided Hynix B DIMMs in the lab to try to duplicate ATI's test setup. However, based on our results with DS DIMMs, we have no reason to doubt their results. If you compare these overclocks to the outstanding overclocking capabilities that we found with the DFI LANParty UT nF3-250Gb, you will see that the ATI Bullhead is reaching further in Dual-Channel mode than the highest clock speed that we could reach in single-channel mode on the Socket 754 DFI.
In our opinion, ATI has more than succeeded in their goal of proving to computer enthusiasts that the RX480 is a chipset for serious performance overclocking. These are, overall, the best overclocking results that we have ever seen with an Athlon 64 motherboard. The fact that these were achieved on a Reference board is all the more amazing!
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Sahrin - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
I'm really excited to see another performance player in the AMD chipset market. Ironically, despite the fact that Intel is considered to have the best quality chipsets, the AMD segment has the most players and the most options. This chipset looks very good to me, especially as an overclocker, but I'm kind of left hanging in the feature set, which traditionally has been the determinant in the A64 market. Sure, 6 SATA ports is nice...etc. etc. but where's my dual integrated GigE LAN? I will take a long hard look at this chipset if SB450 comes out in time, but I think I will likely be going nForce one more generation.SLIM - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
#6, of course you use an FX with the best gfx card available, he's trying to highlight small differences between chipsets. If you want P4 vs A64 look at a recent cpu review.However one large set of differences were the specviewperf benches? Huge differences when using ati/ati (some good and some bad) but no comments as to wtf is going on. Are those differences related to DX vs opengl, other driver issues, anybody know??
ipoh - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
Onboard graphics use to be not good but changed since ATi comes out with RS350...and with this RS480 DX9 VGA will be definitely goodCurrently using my RS350 playing Doom3 and still looks good :)
I will spend my money for more HDD :)
Ivo - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
With DX9 included, the integrated graphics (IG) of RS480 is good. First of all, with guaranteed future OS compatibility, it's very good for the OEM - for both business machines and home-office PCs. Secondly, as stated it the review, it is good enough for high-end 2D users because of the Surround View option. Third, it is a reasonable option for gamers too, as it could serve in emergency cases, when your high-end overclocked graphic card is tired ;-(The IG could be even more interesting for occasional gamers and even business users if, in a thinkable upcoming chipset, the IG is involved in a SLI scheme with one graphic card. In that case the IG will add it's modest 10% to 20% to the overall gaming performance (small, but from heart). This 10%-20% could be interesting for the real gamers too, if the IG is involved in a triple SLI scheme with two additional graphic cards.
My questions to this great article are:
1. What about the Cool 'N Quiet operation - does it work properly on the reference board with all (DIMM etc.) configurations used?
2. What is ATI suggesting about the SidePort - why it is limited to 32 bit and 16MB only?
byvis - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
It's very impressive. But I have one minor question about the benchmarking. Why didn't you test Nforce4 + X800XT in Winstone and other benchmarks? I see, that you DID test RX480 + GF6800U and RX480 + X800XT. Maybe the margins are very small, but I'd like to see them, I think other people would like that too.deathwalker - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
ATI might be right in the thick of it based on performance..however...from a marketing standpoint I think they will have a tough road to plow.bearxor - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
SoldJalf - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
Onboard graphics makes perfect sense for non-gamers.If they can cram in something that works for normal desktop use, *and* can claim to support DirectX 9 as well, then it's a pretty good deal. It'll serve your needs under normal use, and it'll at least be able to run games, even if they might get an unplayable framerate.
DrDisconnect - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
I'm surprised that any of you are wondering why they are producing an integrated graphics versio. Haven't you taken a walk through any of the computer superstores lately? Entry level machines from HP etc. are using integrated graphics to hold prices down yet allow users to beef up their machines when they ahve some coin later on.ranger203 - Monday, November 8, 2004 - link
-1st of all, why does anandtech keep benchmarking AMD FX chips, sure they are the fastest hands down, but none of us are buying they. I.e. they are comparing apples to oranges, (FX vs. P4). They need to bench regular A64s!!!!-2nd, Onboard video still really sucks for gaming, but atleast they are making an effort, they should relize that $30 gaming cards are better quality than their onboard video and stop integrating it into their full size atx boards!!! Unless this was just a "show" board of ati's capability, then i could understand....