Page 2 - The Differences

First of all, if you like to learn about the technology that the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra harbors then please take a good look at the NV30 - GeForce 5800 Ultra review. We went rather in-depth in that artcile and feature wise .. well nothing changed to much. A few things changed though.

Basically what you need to keep in mind about GeForce FX 5900 Ultra is this:

• 256-bit Memory Architecture256MB of DDR memory (1)
• 2nd Generation compression & caching
• Intellisample HCT (High Compression Technology)
• UltraShadow Technology
• CineFX 2.0 Engine
• 0.13um Fabrication Process
• Much more silent cooling solution than FlowFX
• Core clock speed of 450 MHz
• Memory frequency 850 MHz (2x425).

Let's compare the differences between NV30 and NV35 in specific technical details.

Let's copy and paste a little from NVIDIA's whitepaper documents:

The GeForce FX 5900 Ultra was architected to render high resolution, high quality pixels, such as those found in Doom III and Unreal Tournament 2003, at blistering speeds. The amazing frames rates are enabled by the 256-bit wide memory
interface and the advanced compression technology found in NVIDIA Intellisample¢â High Compression Technology (HCT). Intellisample HCT facilitates unmatched image quality with flawless anisotropic filtering, true 128-bit precision and multi-sample antialiasing. The second-generation, CineFX 2.0 engine doubles the floating point pixel shading power of previous products. Lastly, NVIDIA UltraShadow technology accelerates the shadow calculations that are so critical to game play in next-generation titles such as Doom III and Abducted (by Contraband Entertainment). NVIDIA GPUs offer the only true Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) for simple updates, as well as rock-solid performance, quality and stability. Because developers create their games with NVIDIA GeForce FX GPUs, they are the choice of gamers that want to play their favorite game the way it's meant to be played.

What also important to know is that in the upcoming period of time there will be no less than three GeforceFX 5900 products. In threefold here we go.

• GeforceFX 5900 Ultra 128 MB (slower memory undefined yet)
• GeforceFX 5900 Ultra 128 MB 
• GeforceFX 5900 Ultra 256 MB

The last two products ladies and gentlemen will already be availabe in June. The product we test today is of course the most expensive one, the GeForceFX 5900 Ultra equipped with 256 MB DDR memory.

UltraShadow Technology
A new technology became available with the release of NV35, UltraShadow technology. Basically it can now render more accurate shadows by maintaining the interactions of various lights sources and 3D objects while remaining efficient and thus gives good performance. The more passes that are required for the lighting and shadow calculations for example, scenes that involve multiple light sources and many physical objects in sight the more significant the performance improvement, with the most complex scenes achieving the most noticeable results.

UltraShadow enables a Higher Quality somewhat cinematic experience in games. Games like the Upcoming Doom III will use it.

Vulcan Technology demo from NVIDIA. Amazing flames and smoke as this creature is getting angry. Volumetric texturing is at work here on the fire and smoke. Also UltraShadow and a skin shader.

First let's see what the product looks like with a series of photo's that we took.