FIRST LOOK: NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Performance
by Wesley Fink on September 22, 2005 1:29 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Just two days ago, NVIDIA launched the GeForce 6100 Family of Integrated Graphics solutions with the promise that shipping boards would be available in early October. We can now say that early October is a very reasonable estimate, since we just received the Biostar TForce 6100-939, based on the 6100 chipset.
We've been burning the midnight oil to bring you a First Look at the real performance of the new NVIDIA integrated chipset, as we do a head-to-head comparison with the best integrated graphics solution on the current market - the ATI RS480.
There are several combinations of 6100 North bridges with nForce South bridges. The retail Tforce 6100-939 is the GeForce 6100/nForce 410.
This Biostar TForce 6100 combination is one of the more mainstream solutions, and it does not feature the High-Definition Azalia audio. In the graphics arena, the difference between the top 6150 and the 6100 appears to be just clock speed and features. The 6150 is clocked at 475MHZ, while the 6100 is clocked at 425MHz. This means that the 6100 will perform a bit slower than the 6150, with the performance difference being solely the difference in the 425 to 475 clock speed. The 6150 also uniquely features WMV9 High Definition playback with the TV encoder, but this will not affect graphics performance benchmarking.
While it would have been even nicer to be testing the top-of-the-line 6150/430, we should be able to glean some very nice comparisons to the ATI RS480 chipset. Our sincere thanks to Biostar for getting a 6100 board in our hands so quickly!
We've been burning the midnight oil to bring you a First Look at the real performance of the new NVIDIA integrated chipset, as we do a head-to-head comparison with the best integrated graphics solution on the current market - the ATI RS480.
There are several combinations of 6100 North bridges with nForce South bridges. The retail Tforce 6100-939 is the GeForce 6100/nForce 410.
| Specifications: | NVIDIA GeForce 6150 NVIDIA nForce 430 |
NVIDIA GeForce 6100 NVIDIA nForce 430 |
NVIDIA GeForce 6100 NVIDIA nForce 410 |
| CPU | Athlon 64 or Sempron | Athlon 64 or Sempron | Athlon 64 or Sempron |
| PureVideo (High Definition) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 Support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TV Encoder | Yes | No | No |
| TMDS/DVI | Yes | No | No |
| Graphics Clock | 475 MHz | 425 MHz | 425 MHz |
| PCI-Express | 1x16 2x1 |
1x16 1x1 |
1x16 1x1 |
| MPEG-2/WMV9 Playback | HD(1080p/1080i) | SD | SD |
| Video Scaling | High Quality(5x4) | Basic (2x2) | Basic (2x2) |
| SATA/PATA drives | 4/4 | 4/4 | 2/4 |
| SATA speed | 3Gb/s | 3Gb/s | 3Gb/s |
| RAID | 0,1,0+1,5 | 0,1,0+1,5 | 0,1 |
| NVIDIA MediaShield | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NVIDIA ActiveArmorTM Firewall | Yes | Yes | - |
| Ethernet | 10/100/1000 | 10/100/1000 | 10/100 |
| USB ports | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| NVIDIA nTuneTM Utility | Yes | Yes | Yes |
This Biostar TForce 6100 combination is one of the more mainstream solutions, and it does not feature the High-Definition Azalia audio. In the graphics arena, the difference between the top 6150 and the 6100 appears to be just clock speed and features. The 6150 is clocked at 475MHZ, while the 6100 is clocked at 425MHz. This means that the 6100 will perform a bit slower than the 6150, with the performance difference being solely the difference in the 425 to 475 clock speed. The 6150 also uniquely features WMV9 High Definition playback with the TV encoder, but this will not affect graphics performance benchmarking.
While it would have been even nicer to be testing the top-of-the-line 6150/430, we should be able to glean some very nice comparisons to the ATI RS480 chipset. Our sincere thanks to Biostar for getting a 6100 board in our hands so quickly!
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sprockkets - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
It has already been shown that the local FB has no effect on performacne here. But it does allow for not taking away from the main memory.Vol2005 - Monday, September 26, 2005 - link
ATi Xpress 200G @ 450MHz ---- 3DMark 2001SE = 6,396, 3DMark 03 = 1724, 3DMark 05 = 815. (687 05's @300MHz-default)http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/c51-firstlook-test.htm">http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/c51-firstlook-test.htm
sprockkets - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
$80 at newegg.comBtw, can you use the VGA out for HDTV output? Because they do not show any way of hooking up this model to a tv.
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
No - not unless your HDTV has a VGA input. (Some do, but they tend to cost $3000+.)HarryAsse - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
Would the 6100 be faster than a 9700pro?Brunnis - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
Most certainly not. It is very far from the 9700 Pro.linkgoron - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
Budget PCs don't have AMD 4000+, but 3000+, and won't have 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 RAM... They'll get 30% lower fps (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) in most games...Wesley Fink - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
The comparison was between the nVidia GeForce 6100 and the current best ATI RS480. As long as we used the same CPU and memory for testing both boards it really didn't matter what CPU we used. The 4000+ is now $368 at New Egg, a little less than the 3800+ x2, and more mid-range than value. The 3000+ costs around $150. We have used the 4000+ in all recent motherboard reviews, so we thought the 4000+ would be easier to compare to other boards we've tested.jediknight - Saturday, September 24, 2005 - link
It would still be nice to see reviews where budget components (like mobos with integrated graphics) are paired with other budget components (CPU, RAM, etc.) such that the performance numbers more accurately resemble real-world performance.Using top-end processors and memory present an unrealistically optimistic picture of real-world performance.. because these combinations are really not likely to be seen.
Furen - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - link
Framerate shouldnt bee much lower since these systems are insanely graphics-bound. They could be a bit lower but I wouldnt expect more than a frame or two (per seccond) lower.