Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/195

Diamond Viper V550

by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 22, 1998 7:57 PM EST


Comparing apples to apples is one thing, comparing clones of apples to clones of apples is an entirely different game.  Recently, in the PC Hardware Industry, we became acquainted with the "rules" of this game with the wave of 3Dfx Voodoo2 based accelerators that hit the gaming industry like a storm.

Diamond Viper V550

If you remember the comparison between virtually any two Voodoo2 accelerators, it usually came down to a comparison of software bundles or drivers.  The reason for this could be directly attributed to the closeness by which manufacturers followed what is known as the reference design for their Voodoo2 boards.  With little room for expansion in terms of performance, manufacturers had to resort to the bare essentials and basics to get their products to sell over the competition....and you thought the end to a blurry competitive 3D gaming scene was here with the release of the nVidia Riva TNT Chipset.  

Virtually a repeat of the release of the 3Dfx Voodoo2 chipset, nVidia's Riva TNT is quickly spawning batch after batch of cloned apples, meaning separating a single TNT card from another is a very difficult task.  For this reason, AnandTech will not concentrate on benchmarks alone to resolve the question of which TNT based card is the absolute best for your needs.

Introducing the nVidia Riva TNT Chipset
as taken from the AnandTech Spectra 2500 Review

128 Reasons not to buy nVidia

After the initial release of the Riva 128 chipset it seemed as if the chipset itself was reason enough to leave nVidia out of the competition when it came to overall quality.  Suffering from poor image quality, poor implementation of the AGP specification, an annoying 800 x 600 Z-Buffered resolution limitation, not to mention poor performance on slower systems.  In a cheap attempt to correct some of those problems nVidia went ahead with the release of an intermediate chipset, the Riva 128ZX, which boasted an AGP 2X compliant interface as well as support for up to 8MB of on-board RAM.  However the improvements weren't enough to justify ditching your Voodoo or Riva 128 for a card based on a chipset that sounds like it was a discontinued Camaro.  Luckily nVidia realized that the market needed much more than a Riva 128 with a new name, so it was back to the drawing boards for the nVidia engineers and back to the hyping spree for the Public Relations directors as nVidia gave the world of 2D/3D combo chipsets another try...the result?  The nVidia Riva TNT, a chipset whose description on paper could have been the best graphics accelerator of 1998.

 

What you see isn't always what you get

According to the first press releases directly from nVidia, the Riva TNT chipset was supposed to be manufactured using a 0.25 micron process, clocked at 125MHz, and was supposed to be powerful enough to be a Voodoo2-killer because of its 250 Million Pixels per Second fill rate.  According to the Canopus Spectra 2500 sitting on the test bench AnandTech reviewed, the Riva TNT chipset was manufactured using a 0.35 micron process, is clocked at 90MHz (although there is a chance of Canopus shipping their boards at 100MHz), and has a fill rate in the range of 180MP/s.   Two statements that are almost as different as night and day, and two statements which will end up ruining nVidia's credibility in the future.

Directly from the source, nVidia claims to have a 0.25 micron shrink in the works for the TNT, however that conversion won't take place until sometime in 1999, meaning that the TNT will stay clocked at the 90 - 100MHz range for at least a few more months, when it will most likely switch off to the 125MHz clock setting it was supposed to be shipped at after receiving its 0.25 micron core.   In spite of the fact that the public was blatantly lied to by nVidia about the potential of the TNT, technically nVidia never said when their TNT would be a Voodoo2-killer, so we can't really blame them now can we?  You better believe we can.

Cramming a total of 7million transistors into the 0.35 micron package of the Riva TNT, nVidia managed to create an extremely hot chip that would require significant amounts of cooling to get it to operate at the original 125MHz setting nVidia was claiming.  While a TNT chip manufactured using a 0.25 micron process could easily be clocked at 125MHz without too much added cooling necessary (a heatsink would most likely do just fine), a 0.35 micron TNT is another question, which is why nVidia reduced the recommended clock speed to 90MHz.  As you can tell, this definitely decreases the performance of the TNT, but we'll talk about performance figures a little later. 

If you're looking for a $200 card that can beat a Dual Voodoo2 SLI setup then you are better off dreaming for a little while longer, as the TNT isn't the chipset that will do that.  While it may provide as a decent Voodoo2 alternative, it is definitely not something you'll want to consider a Voodoo2-killer, simply because of its current price/performance level. 

What do you get with the Riva TNT?

What the TNT does bring to the table is fairly impressive considering that in relative comparison, their last 2D/3D chipset was a total bomb in terms of overall quality.  The TNT chipset supports 3D, Z-Buffered, resolutions of up to 1600 x 1200 and, like the Matrox G200, does support 32-bit rendering giving it a slight visual advantage over 3Dfx's Voodoo2 chipset.  The image quality on the TNT is vastly superior to that of the original Riva 128, but better yet, it is virtually on par with that of the Matrox G200.  Telling a G200 screen shot from a TNT would require a considerable amount of thought and such a comparison would definitely be reserved for those with an eye for the smallest differences among images, for the rest of us, the TNT's image quality can be considered to be virtually on-par with that of the G200.  So is the TNT a G200?  Absolutely not, the similarities between the two chipsets ends here as the TNT shifts into high gear leaving Matrox's precious 2D/3D wonder in a cloud of dust.

The 128-bit graphics engine of the Riva TNT chipset is intended to be a direct competitor to the best of the best when it comes to 3D accelerators, bringing a 250MHz RAMDAC for crisp 2D output keeps the TNT on top of 3Dfx's Voodoo2 making the chipset a true high-end 2D/3D combination solution.  Featuring dual internal texture pipelines, the TNT has been claimed to be able to process multi-textured objects in a single pass, picking up where 3Dfx left off, nVidia managed to accomplish this using a single chip instead of using the two separate texelfx processors the Voodoo2 uses.  The effectiveness of this approach is another question, however all numbers aside, on paper, the TNT took its time shaping itself to be a true winner.

All of this power is harnessed on a short reference board designed to fit into an AGP slot in order to take full advantage of the AGP 2X specification, transferring data on the sidebands of the AGP signal as well as during the peaks.

We've already seen what Canopus can do with nVidia's Riva TNT Chipset, so let's see where Diamond draws the line and let's see if they accomplish their goal in convincing some of you to purchase the Viper V550 over the competition.

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Controller:
  • NVIDIA RIVA TNT
  • True 128-bit

Bus Type:

  • PCI 2.1 compliant
  • AGP 2X compliant

Memory:

  • 16MB 125MHz SDRAM*

Integrated RAMDAC

  • 250MHz

Horizontal Sync Signals:

  • 31.5KHz-108.5KHz

Vertical Refresh:

  • 60Hz-200Hz

Maximum Dot (Pixel) Rate:

  • 250MHz RAMDAC

Monitors Supported:

  • Standard and Multi-frequency Analog Monitors
  • DDC2B Plug and Play

Video Playback:

  • MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AGP only, U.S. and Canada only), Indeo & Cinepak
  • Multi-tap X and Y scaling and filtering
  • Color space conversion

Connectors:

  • DB-15 analog monitor connector (VESA DDC2B)
  • Video port connector
  • Composite & S-video connector
Complete 3D Feature Set:
  • Alpha-Blending
  • Anisotropic Filtering
  • Anti-Aliasing
  • Bilinear Filtering
  • Bump Mapping
  • Environment Mapping
  • Fogging
  • Gouraud Shading
  • Hardware Triangle Setup
  • MIP Mapping
  • Perspective Correction
  • Specular Highlights
  • Subpixel Precision
  • 10GFLOP Floating Point Geometry
  • Texture Mapping
  • Transparency
  • Trilinear Filtering
  • TwiN Texel Engine
  • Z-Buffering

Drivers

  • Windows. 95/98, including DirectX 6 and OpenGL. ICD
  • Windows NT 4.0, including OpenGL ICD
  • Microsoft WHQL Certified

Minimum System Configuration (PCI Version)

  • Intel Pentium. 90 or compatible CPU
  • One available PCI 2.1 compliant slot
  • Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3
  • 16 MB Memory
  • CD-Rom drive

Minimum System Configuration (AGP Version)

  • Intel Pentium II or compatible CPU
  • One available AGP 1.0 compliant slot
  • Windows 95 OSR 2.1, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3
  • 16 MB Memory
  • CD-Rom drive

*Keep this Specification in mind as we explore the Viper

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Just about as unique as a cloned sheep, the Diamond Viper V550 brings very little to the table that hasn't already been provided by the competition.  It may be that Canopus ruined the competition for everyone else by releasing a truly spectacular TNT product for the same price (see Spectra 2500 Review), however for most people, it will end up being a war of drivers, software bundles, and RAM, yes, RAM.  Looking for an explanation?  Look no further as we attempt to "Uniquify" the Viper V550.

Installation

One thing that is obvious with all TNT cards, you definitely want to do some priming on your system before making the upgrade.  If you happen to be building a new system from scratch using a clean install of Windows 9x/NT then this won't apply to you, however if you are one of the many computer users out there who lives in a constant state of upgrading then you will want to remember these key steps to installing the Viper V550 properly. 

Out of the box, you have the normal goods packaged with any Diamond Video product: a dinky Installation Guide, a few CD's comprising the card's "software bundle," a driver's CD, and a warranty registration card.   Tossing all of that into the corner of the AnandTech testing lab and focusing on the well-wrapped Viper V550 wasn't a problem as the test bed for the video tests was being prepared for its installation tests. 

The AnandTech compatibility test system consisted of an installation of Windows 98, previously installed graphics drivers for a Matrox Millennium G200 AGP video card, on an ABIT BX6 with a Pentium II 450 (no point in running compatibility tests at a slower clock speed, right?).  Simply replacing the G200 with the Viper V550 produced instant problems as the card's drivers attempted to replace those of the G200.  Before installing the Viper V550, or any TNT card for that matter, be sure to remove all previous installations of graphics drivers before even installing the card.  Once that was completed, a simple reboot and reinstall of the Diamond drivers provided for on a CD, resulted in a number of new desktop resolutions and color depths. 

 

The initial reboot of your system after the drivers have been installed will give you a welcome warning to will out your Viper V550's warranty registration information.  This annoying little screen can be a bit startling at first, personally, its absence wouldn't have been a major downer, however after ALT-F4ing away from that the test system was ready and waiting at the good ol' 640 x 480 x 8bpp color resolution. 

A quick trip to the Display Properties Control Panel revealed that very little was modified, actually, there are no visible modifications to that control panel.  Only after entering the Advanced Display Settings window can the Diamond-specific modifications be accessed.  Diamond allows for the normal settings to be manipulated, V-SYNC can be disabled from within the control panel, unfortunately the drivers don't provide for any overclocking capabilities which can be a bit of a downside if you don't want to use any third party utilities.  Diamond also included a benchmark program with the Viper V550 which resides in one of the new control panel tabs, unfortunately this 3D benchmark just adds to the load time of the panel window and can get a bit annoying if you accidentally give it a click.  If you're in to showing off your new system then by all means, give it a try, however replacing that with at least a memory overclocking slider tool would've been a better idea in this editor's mind.

Being Picky

If a manufacturer isn't going to make a bold statement that separates them from the competition, as consumers, we are given the right to be picky, so let's get to the nit-picking. 

The Viper V550 is based on the reference Riva TNT design provided by none other than nVidia themselves.  While the design was modified to support TV-Output, the quality of the TV-Output on the Viper V550 isn't even remotely in the same league as the TV-Output on the Canopus Spectra 2500, so if you're looking for good quality TV-Output, grab a Canopus.    

The SDRAM used on the Viper V550, although officially stated as being 125MHz SDRAM, doesn't work at 125MHz to a reliable enough degree for that to be considered a viable option.  The default setting for the SDRAM speed on all TNT cards is 110MHz, and although the Hyundai SDRAM used on the Diamond cards does seem to work better at 115MHz than the Hyundai SDRAM used on the Spectra 2500, it is still no match for the overclocking monsters from Fujitsu which can be found on the Creative Labs and STB boards.  If you're looking to overclock your TNT, then the Diamond Viper V550 may not be the one you're looking for.

Update: According to Diamond Multimedia, the Viper V550 does feature a socketed Flash BIOS chip on the board.

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The Slot-1 Pentium II Test System AnandTech used was configured as follows:

  • An Intel Celeron 300A, an Intel Pentium II 400, & an Intel Pentium II 450 on an ABIT BX6 Motherboard

  • 64MB Mushkin SEC PC100 SDRAM

  • Western Digital 5.1GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive

  • AOpen 32X IDE CD-ROM Drive

  • Windows 98 with all of the latest patches/drivers installed

The benchmark suite consisted of the following full version game titles

  • Forsaken - Running the Nuke Demo

Ziff Davis' Winbench 98 was used to test 2D performance at 1024 x 768 x 16-bit color.

VSYNC was disabled during AnandTech's tests (VSYNC is the synchronization of all buffer swaps to the refresh rate of your monitor, theoretically limiting the attainable frame rate by the refresh rate your monitor is set at.  Disabling it will improve performance but may degrade visual quality by introducing "tearing")  

For the in-depth gaming performance tests Brett "3 Fingers" Jacobs Crusher.dm2 demo was used to simulate the worst case scenario in terms of Quake 2 performance, the point at which your frame rate will rarely drop any further.  In contrast, the demo1.dm2 demo was used to simulate the ideal situation in terms of Quake 2 performance, the average high point for your frame rate in normal play.  The range covered by the two benchmarks can be interpreted as the range in which you can expect average frame rates during gameplay. 

Note: Performance between two TNT based cards is virtually identical, to see a more complete comparison of how your system will perform using a TNT based video card, visit the AnandTech Canopus Spectra 2500 Review.

Ziff Davis Winbench 98 - 2D Performance

- Business High End
- Windows 98 - P2 400 Windows 98 - P2 400
Diamond Viper V550 16MB 207 274
Canopus Spectra 2500 16MB 207 274
Diamond G460 i740 8MB 206 274
Matrox G200 8MB 207 269
Savage3D 8MB 190 269

 

16bpp vs 32bpp Color Comparison - Quake 2 - Open GL Performance

Pentium II 450

Timedemo - 800 x 600
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) - 16bpp Color 60.0 39.9
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) - 32bpp Color 44.2 29.7
- Timedemo - 1024 x 768
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) - 16bpp Color 38.5 27.0
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) - 32bpp Color 31.2 20.9

The difference in performance doesn't justify the difference in image quality between 16bpp and 32bpp color modes with the TNT and current games, as can be seen from the Unreal screen shots below.  Keep in mind that some quality was lost due to the JPEG compression.

Unreal - 16bpp Unreal - 32bpp
16bpp 32bpp

Video Accelerator Comparison - Quake 2 - Open GL Performance

Pentium II - 233

Timedemo - 640 x 480
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 47.0 22.3
Canopus Spectra 2500 (TNT) 47.4 22.4
Canopus Pure 3D-2 (Voodoo2) 56.7 24.9
Matrox Mystique G200 (G200)* 32.3 17.9
- Timedemo - 800 x 600
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 45.9 22.3
Canopus Spectra 2500 (TNT) 45.9 22.3
Canopus Pure 3D-2 (Voodoo2) 51.5 25.2
Matrox Mystique G200 (G200)* 26.4 17.2
- Timedemo - 1024 x 768
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 37.1 22.3
Canopus Spectra 2500 (TNT) 37.3 22.3
Canopus Pure 3D-2 (Voodoo2) N/S N/S
Matrox Mystique G200 (G200)* 17.4 14.1

* The Matrox G200 was using a Direct3D Wrapper for the Quake 2 tests, performance should improve once a Full OpenGL ICD is released

Video Accelerator Comparison - Quake 2 - Open GL Performance

Pentium II - 333

Timedemo - 640 x 480
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 69.0 31.4
Canopus Spectra 2500 (TNT) 69.3 31.5
Canopus Pure 3D-2 (Voodoo2) 75.1 34.7
Matrox Mystique G200 (G200)* 39.2 24.3
- Timedemo - 800 x 600
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 57.0 31.4
Canopus Spectra 2500 (TNT) 57.2 31.4
Canopus Pure 3D-2 (Voodoo2) 58.1 32.4
Matrox Mystique G200 (G200)* 28.4 21.6
- Timedemo - 1024 x 768
- demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 38.2 28.6
Canopus Spectra 2500 (TNT) 38.5 28.6
Canopus Pure 3D-2 (Voodoo2) N/S N/S
Matrox Mystique G200 (G200)* 17.9 15.4

* The Matrox G200 was using a Direct3D Wrapper for the Quake 2 tests, performance should improve once a Full OpenGL ICD is released

Pentium II Test System - Forsaken - Direct3D Performance

Pentium II 400

Frame Rate - 800 x 600
- Nuke Demo
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 133.76
Canopus Spectra 2500 16MB 130.88
Canopus Pure 3D-2 Voodoo2 12MB 96.26
Diamond G460 i740 8MB 39.92
Matrox G200 8MB 74.60
Savage3D 8MB 116.32
- Frame Rate - 1024 x 768
Nuke Demo
Diamond Viper V550 (TNT) 79.60
Canopus Spectra 2500 16MB 78.85
Diamond G460 i740 8MB 26.30
Matrox G200 8MB 46.37
Savage3D 8MB Failed

Any real differences between the two TNT cards?  Not really, leave performance out of your decision and concentrate on features.

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Not a bad contender from Diamond, although for the same price one could pick up the superior Canopus Spectra 2500, the Viper V550 will be more readily available in retail stores in comparison to Canopus' internet-only Spectra. 

Once again, you have to keep in mind that the TNT chipset scales quite well with processor speed.  If you have, or plan to purchase, anything above a Pentium II 333 (including overclocked Celeron A's) then the TNT is the ideal choice for you. 

Original Celeron users, even those running overclocked Celeron processors, will find that the Voodoo2 offers better overall performance, however if you absolutely must have a 2D/3D combo card or can't spend over $200 for your video needs then the TNT is a wonderful runner-up. 

Super7 users will want to stay away from the TNT, you'll get basically equivalent performance out of a G200 on a Super7 platform unless nVidia chooses to release 3DNow! enhanced drivers for the many K6-2 users out there today.   In any case, if you don't plan on upgrading your Super7 system anytime soon then you're better off with a lower cost Video card, as the power of a TNT cannot be fully harnessed by a Super7 processor. 

Overall, Diamond has another quality product on their hands, unfortunately it isn't enough to win a recommendation over Canopus for the price, or over Creative Labs because of the low cost ($169) of their Graphics Blaster TNT.   If the Viper V550 is all that is available, then it isn't a bad card, although there are competitors out there that can offer you a bit more.


Diamond Viper V550 AGP Accelerator
Price - $199.95
Website - http://www.diamondmm.com

Overall Rating - 7/10

Pros: High availability in local stores; Good performance; Stable Drivers;

Cons: Very little value in comparison to other cards of its class; Poor TV-Output;

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