PNY GeForce FX 5900 Ultra

Company: PNY
Product: GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
Street Price: ~$499
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2003
Reviewed By: Joey Chao

Conclusions and Final Thoughts:

The FX5900 beat out our Radeon 9800 Pro in a number of tests. In fact, the 9800 Pro was only faster in three out of our twenty tests. The 5900 Ultra was faster but not by enough to notice. This makes purchasing the fastest video card from NVIDIA a tough decision. We personally do not think that the small gain in performance is worth the extra $100 dollars over a 9800 Pro. For enthusiasts it will come down to things like image quality, driver support, and for some, which company they are loyal to (if any).

NVIDIA fans will definitely love this card if they can afford to shell out the $500 for it. It will be able to handle the next generation games and of course comes with NVIDIA's unified driver support meaning that all future video card drivers will be able to function with this card. Another thing NVIDIA does to make their cards run better with games is they actually work with game developers to make the game and card meld together nicely. You may have already seen the NVIDIA logo on games like Unreal Tournament 2003. The upside to this is that you know your card will run great with the game since NVIDIA worked with the software developers.

If you are an ATi fan or already own a 9800 Pro, we suggest that you stick to your current video card and wait till the next set of cards come out. There is no reason to purchase this $500 card unless you must have the fastest hardware out (3DMarks fanatics). Sure the 9800 Pro might be a little slower, but it will also be able to handle the next generation games. ATi has also started using unified drivers and has been updating them regularly, which shows that the company has listened to the community and is working towards better driver support.

As far as this PNY card goes, it is not very feature rich. It has VIVO and a DVI connector but there is no software or utilities that are provided besides some stuff for your desktop. It is nothing like what we have seen in the past from companies like MSI. For $500 dollars, one would expect to get a few extra features in the bundle but the one with the PNY card is somewhat weak. The card is backed by PNY's limited lifetime warranty. The wording on the warranty is tricky but basically if the card is not being made anymore, you are out of luck.

Overall, this was a pleasant experience and we are a little excited to see NVIDIA making a comeback. For awhile there with the first release of the FX line we weren't sure if NVIDIA would take the crown back anytime soon. They have done so with the FX5900 and we can't wait to see what cards in the future will duke it out between the two manufacturers.

Overall Rating: 8/10