MDD Graphics Card Test

nVidia GeForce 4Ti (OEM)  |  ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (OEM)  |  ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (OEM)

 

 

Introduction

 

Recently I was able to get my hands on an OEM Radeon 9000 Pro and an OEM Radeon 9700 Pro. I have outlined in the graph below exactly where these cards fit in the MDD family.

 

Model	Standard Configuration	BTO Configuration
1st Rev. MDD FW400	GeForce 4MX (867MHZ) Radeon 9000 Pro (1GHz & 1.25GHz)	GeForce 4Ti
MDD FW800	Radeon 9000 Pro	Radeon 9700 Pro or GeForce 4Ti
MDD 2003 FW400*	Radeon 9000 Pro	GeForce 4Ti

* Note: The 2003 MDD FW400 is currently still available (May 2, 2004) in single or dual 1.25GHz configurations from your local Apple Store. Additionally, you can find a full list of differences here including graphic cards between all MDD G4's and Quicksilvers.

 

When I purchased my 2003 MDD, I upgraded to the GeForce 4Ti. Since I had these cards at my disposal, I decided to benchmark all three cards in my machine using as many tests as possible. Before I go any further, I must point out that both the Radeon cards were sent as samples to a local developer from ATI direct. At least one of the cards was not the final revision available in retail MDD's therefore the benchmark results may not be accurate.

Since I have no idea what revision the final models were, I have attached these screen shots and photos of both cards in the hope that a reader would be able to shed some light on just how many further revisions were made to the cards before they were officially available. I would like to know what ROM version your Radeon 9000 Pro or Radeon 9700 Pro is running so feel free to contact me. Additionally, if anyone has any other information or a possible ROM update that I can apply to them, drop me a line.

The Radeon 9000 Pro physically looks like a final shipping card and contains the regular barcodes and stickers. This may very well be the case because the 9000's were available in the first revision MDD's in 2002 (also, it's performance in a few areas scored very well as opposed to the 9700). Both cards were delivered to the developer in early 2003. The 9700 on the other hand has a "Non Qualification Sample" sticker on it and what appears to be a card version code on another sticker.

 

Radeon 9000 System Profile (left) and 9700 System Profile (right)

        

 

Below is the 9700 Pro sample sticker in place of the usual barcode

 

and what appears to be the card version code

 

 

Benchmarks

*All test results are best out of 3 for every card in every test scenario

 

XBench Graphics Tests

The overall winner here is the Radeon 9700 Pro. The GeForce 4Ti showed its strength in the OpenGL tests.

 

  

 

 

CineBench 2003

CineBench results are pretty much even between the GeForce 4Ti and the 9700 Pro - Note the difference in OpenGL (h/w) scores between Xbench and CineBench (...???)

 

 

 

Halo TimeDemo

All possible hardware settings set to maximum - Halo appears to be very demanding on GPU's judging by these results. Overall the GeForce 4Ti outperforms competition.

 

 

 

Return to Castle Wolfenstein - MP Botmatch

All possible hardware settings set to maximum - Pretty much neck and neck with RTCW. The 9700 shows it's strength as resolutions increase. The Radeon 9000 Pro, as expected , doesn't fare as well.

 

 

 

Unreal Tournament 2003 - TimeDemo (Botmatch)

All possible hardware settings set to maximum - The GeForce 4Ti has a slight edge in each of these tests with the 9700 Pro trailing only marginally (note: "avg." results)

 

 

 

Unreal Tournament 2003 - TimeDemo (Flyby)

All possible hardware settings set to maximum - The FlyBy tells a different story however with the 9700 Pro absolutely tearing away where it matters most (high resolutions) achieving over 100 FPS at 1920x1200!

 

 

 

Quake 3 Arena - TimeDemo Botmatch (standard config.)

All possible hardware settings set to maximum - Once again the Radeon 9700 Pro shines with a very impressive 207 FPS at resolution of 1600x1200.

 

 

Quake 3 Arena - TimeDemo Botmatch ('Boli' config.)

All possible hardware settings set to maximum - This is a well known config file that is tweaked for maximum FPS in Q3A. Obviously this it works well at lower resolutions (a staggering 506 FPS for the Radeon 9700) however the Radeon 9700 Pro performs much better at higher resolutions using the original config above.

 

 

 

Conclusion

It looks like a pretty even race between the two top cards. One appears to be stronger than the other under different tests and can't help but think that the 9700 Pro's 'revision' status is definitely holding back its potential. If I am able to obtain any information and perhaps even an updated ROM for the 9700 I will rerun the tests above and update the results. For now though, I will keep the Radeon 9700 Pro in my MDD and monitor its performance doing day to day tasks and of course some real gaming.