mird-OC
25-06-2002, 08:14 PM
thought i'd start a thread for anyone interested. first real review:
Chip.de (German)
http://www.chip.de/produkte_tests/produkte_tests_8737618.html
HWZone (Arabic?)
http://www.hwzone.co.il/archive.php?file=newsid1024962420,5658,
Heise Online (German)
http://heise.de/newsticker/data/anw-24.06.02-006/
3DCenter (German)
http://www.3dcenter.org/artikel/parhelia_firstlook
the general feeling around the Matrox Users Forum is that it's come across as a success, but that matrox is holding back on purpose. the emphasis is on performance at high res with all options turned on - doing better than Ti4600 can do. low res, with AA and what not turned off it doesn't compare too well, although it certainly holds it's ground. there have also been comments on frame rate consistency from the beta testers - i.e. extremely smooth gameplay, not possible to tell from benchmarks.
many people are pointing at the drivers which makes sense. beta testers seem to be a bit surprised at the results from the reviews which also hints at matrox's strategy:
a) matrox have chosen stability over outright performance with their release drivers - good move.
b) it's obvious the hardware is capable of much more, and it's obvious there's much room in driver development.
c) it's almost certain that matrox have played down the performance side so they can give ramp things up some when necessary (i.e. new competitor card releases etc).
Chip.de (German)
http://www.chip.de/produkte_tests/produkte_tests_8737618.html
HWZone (Arabic?)
http://www.hwzone.co.il/archive.php?file=newsid1024962420,5658,
Heise Online (German)
http://heise.de/newsticker/data/anw-24.06.02-006/
3DCenter (German)
http://www.3dcenter.org/artikel/parhelia_firstlook
the general feeling around the Matrox Users Forum is that it's come across as a success, but that matrox is holding back on purpose. the emphasis is on performance at high res with all options turned on - doing better than Ti4600 can do. low res, with AA and what not turned off it doesn't compare too well, although it certainly holds it's ground. there have also been comments on frame rate consistency from the beta testers - i.e. extremely smooth gameplay, not possible to tell from benchmarks.
many people are pointing at the drivers which makes sense. beta testers seem to be a bit surprised at the results from the reviews which also hints at matrox's strategy:
a) matrox have chosen stability over outright performance with their release drivers - good move.
b) it's obvious the hardware is capable of much more, and it's obvious there's much room in driver development.
c) it's almost certain that matrox have played down the performance side so they can give ramp things up some when necessary (i.e. new competitor card releases etc).