Card analysis

eVGA e-GeForce FX 5900 XT card

Back of the card

Board layout

As you can see in the pictures, eVGA’s e-GeForce FX 5900 SE board design (which is based entirely on NVIDIA’s reference board) is a radical departure from the other cards in the GeForce FX 5900 series. In fact, at first glance some enthusiasts may mistake it for a GeForce FX 5600 Ultra board, which it shares several traits with.

The GeForce FX 5900 XT cooler

For starters, you’ve got the same heatsink/fan cooling the GeForce FX 5900 XT graphics core. NVIDIA probably had quite a few of these on hand for the revised GeForce FX 5600 Ultra, but with these cards shipping much later than expected and the arrival of the GeForce FX 5700 family (which replaces GeForce FX 5600) these coolers were able to find a new home on the 5900 XT. To keep the board’s memory cool, NVIDIA added conventional aluminum heatsinks to the board.

Another characteristic the GeForce FX 5900 XT shares with the GeForce FX 5600 Ultra is the power connector. Unlike other GeForce FX 5900 variants, NVIDIA orients the GeForce FX 5900 XT’s power connector parallel with the edge of the PCB, rather than perpendicular. This is something we’ve been griping about for quite some time as the orientation on previous 5900s consumes more cable and makes installation in small form factor PCs more difficult, so we’re glad to see it fixed with the GeForce FX 5900 XT.

Power connector oriented well

Silicon Image DVI transmitter

With all these common characteristics however, the GeForce FX 5900 XT is not based on the 5600 Ultra PCB. The 5900 XT’s design is built to supply the graphics core with more power, as you can see with all the additional capacitors located behind the DVI and VGA connectors. But at the same time, we aren’t looking at a PCB that’s as complicated as a 5700 Ultra or GeForce FX 5900. The board itself is also slightly longer than 5600 Ultra, but shorter than 5700 Ultra or GeForce FX 5900/5900 Ultra.

All of this is critical for keeping the board’s manufacturing cost in check (remember, we’re dealing with a $200 graphics card here), while at the same time building a board that’s sufficient to meet the power and thermal needs of the GeForce FX 5900 XT core and its accompanying 350MHz (700MHz effective) DDR memory.

With its more expensive PCB and DDR2 memory, we’d guess (and remember, this is a guess) that the GeForce FX 5900 XT may actually be cheaper to produce than GeForce FX 5700 Ultra. This would also explain why many of NVIDIA’s board partners are currently experiencing shortages of 5700 Ultra parts, while the 5900 XT is readily available.

As you can see, NVIDIA has also adopted Silicon Image’s Sil 1162 DVI transmitter, which is available in a smaller TSOP package than previous transmitters NVIDIA has used. The board can also support video encoding via an optional Philips encoder chip which eVGA has decided not to implement. This isn’t surprising, considering this is a card that’s intended to serve the mainstream market at a particular price point. We’ll probably have to wait for the second generation of GeForce FX 5900 XT cards before we see video input support adopted.

Packaging

Hardware accessories included with the e-GeForce FX 5900 SE are an S-Video cable and DVI adapter. We’d really like to see eVGA include a power adapter in the bundle, as some end users may be running short on available power connections, but eVGA’s automated driver management (ADM) utility is a nice tool for less experienced computer users that’s included in the box and is unique to eVGA. ADM checks to make sure you’ve installed your AGP GART and system chipset drivers before installing the graphics driver. If this isn’t in place, ADM installs it for you. These drivers can have a significant impact on your system’s stability and performance if they aren’t in place, so this is an important feature for newbies.

In addition to Call of Duty, eVGA also includes full retail versions of NVDVD 2.0, Ghost Recon, America’s Army (which is a free game downloadable via the Internet), NVIDIA’s 3D technology demos, WindowBlinds, and a demo copy of EarthViewer. This is basically the same bundle eVGA has been offering for quite some time with its cards.