Leadtek 7950 €521 card kicks ATI's X1900XTX butt

LEADTEK has made graphics cards for ages. It has its well established Winfast brand that Foxconn wanted to take away at one point but now it is clear that Leadtek is here to stay and that Foxconn actually wants to make its own brand.

The company is the only one to sell Quadro cards in Asia and apart from its strong graphic business it sells some GPS devices, VoIP phones and some other interesting marchitectures.

Leadtek 7950 GX2 comes with a quite long commercial name Leadtek WinFast PX7950 GX2 TDH and at press time in Germany it only costs €521.00. This is possibly the fastest card you can buy for the money but let's wait for that conclusion till we get to benchmarks. You can find the card here. The card has two G71M cores working at 500 MHz each, it has two times 512 MB GDDR 3 memory working at 1200 MHz. it also supports two DVI slots, TV out and it is of course PCIe 16X card. You can also overclock it but this is the stock speed.

The retail box package includes quick guide manual, the proper thick manual, PCIe six pin power connector, DVI to VGA adaptor, HDTV cable, a good old Serious Sam II game, some kind of Trackmania racing game, driver CD and a bonus software CD that includes Power DVD 6, Muvee 3 and Adobe reader.

It is interesting to hear that the card supports Quad SLI configuration but at press time there is still no driver that can make it stabile. Nvidia promised the driver till the end of the summer and we are getting there.

We wanted to show how this card performs against the fastest available ATI card as the last time we compared Gainward card with two Nvidia 7900 GTX cards and we learned that the Geforce 7950 GX2 clearly wins. You can read that review here.

Benchmarketing
We used :
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/1200 MHz
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 FX62 2800 MHz 90 nanometre Windsor core
2x1024 MB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C3 memory
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB SATA NCQ hard drive
Stock Athlon 64 cooler
Silverstone Strider ST60F, 600W ATX 2.0 SATA
Driver 91.31_winxp2kmce_english_whql
Driver 6-6_xp-2k_dd_ccc_wdm_enu_33678

Doom 3	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	123.5	123.2	122.9	114.5
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	126.0	117.3	100.3	66.8
?	?	?	?	?
Doom 3 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	123.2	117.1	102.2	71.4
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	111.3	88.6	68.7	44.6
?	?	?	?	?
Far Cry High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	97.28	96.51	96.36	76.82
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	98.36	96.64	84.59	62.59
?	?	?	?	?
Quake 4	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	169.6	168.3	163.6	151.5
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	146.4	141.3	134.9	121.9
?	?	?	?	?
Quake 4 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	165.0	156.6	146.5	119.4
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	139.4	130.9	118.0	90.4
?	?	?	?	?
FEAR	1024x768	1280x960	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	141	130	108	77
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	132	106	79	53
?	?	?	?	?
FEAR High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 16X	1024x768	1280x960	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	124	94	69	45
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	99	75	53	35
?	?	?	?	?
Battlefield 2 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	114.29	110.73	102.17	79.98
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	110.41	108.16	101.01	75.41
?	?	?	?	?
Serious Sam	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	153.4	150.5	150.1	127.3
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	160.4	157.0	141.1	103.7
?	?	?	?	?
Serious Sam High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 16X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	152.0	140.5	123.0	91.3
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	139.2	113.3	91.3	65.0
?	?	?	?	?
Composite Figures 3Dmark 03	3DMark 03	Game2	Game3	Game3
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	30020	261.3	212.7	181.7
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	19288	155.6	114.9	123.5
?	?	?	?	?
Composite Figures 3Dmark 03	Single Texturinng	Multi Textur.	Vertex Shader	Pixel Shader 2.0
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	8241.0	22440.6	88.7	410.1
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	4338.6	9856.0	67.7	213.5
?	?	?	?	?
Composite Figures 3Dmark 05	3DMark 05	Game1	Game2	Game2
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	13585	52.2	41.7	73.7
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	12038	52.4	34.5	61.7
?	?	?	?	?
Composite Figures 3Dmark 05	Single Texturinng	Multi Textur.	Pixel Shader	VS/VS complex
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	9493.1	22760.0	637.5	129.9/95.2
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	5121.1	10257.5	439.4	141.8/61.9
?	?	?	?	?
Composite Figures 3Dmark 06	3DMark 06	?	?
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	8094	?	?	?
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	6083	?	?	?
?	?	?	?	?
SM2.0 Test	Score	GT1	GT2
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	3646	29.095	31.672
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	2343	18.042	21.006
?	?	?	?	?
HDR/SM3.0 Test	Score	HDR1	HDR2
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	3494	30.949	38.923
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	2635	25.479	27.227
?	?	?	?	?
CPU Test	Score	CPU1	CPU2
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH 500/600 MHz	2120	0.668	1.076
ATI X1900XTX 650/1550 MHz	2158	0.679	1.096

We run our usual set of tests and discovered that Leadtek 7950 GX2 can run significantly faster than ATI's Radeon X1900 XTX card. The both cards are the fastest offerings from the companies so we think it's fair to compare the two.

In Doom 3 Leadtek will lose at 10x7 to ATI by three frames but it will be faster in every other resolution. Leadtek 7950 GX2 starts with six frames advantage at 12x10, continues with 22 frames and at the last 20x15 it is almost 50 frames faster. Leadtek 7950 GX 2 is more than seventy percent faster than ATI. Now that is something.

Once you turn the FSAA 4X and 8X Aniso, Leadtek 7950GX 2 takes the lead in all resolutions. It starts with a twelve frames advantage at 10x7, twenty nine frames advantage at 12x10, thirty three frames faster at 16x12 and it ends up with a massive 27 frames or almost sixty percent advantage over X1900 XTX.

Far Cry 4X AA and 8X Aniso shows a tight score at first two resolutions. Leadtek runs twelve frames faster in 16x12 and ends with fourteen frames advantage in 20x15.

Quake 4 runs significantly faster on Geforce 7950 GX2. In 10x7 Leadtek already runs twenty three frames faster, in 12x10 its twenty seven frames faster, in 16x12 its twenty nine frames faster and at 20x15 its exactly thirty frames faster. Leadtek runs up to 20 percent faster in this test. Quake 4 with 4X FSAA and 8X Aniso shows even greater difference. It starts with twenty five frames advantage at 10x7, continues with twenty six frames difference at 12x10, continues with twenty eight frames at 16x12 and ends with twenty nine fames difference at 20x15. Leadtek 7950GX2 is up to 25 percent faster.

FEAR really likes Nvidia's 7950 GX2. It is instantly nine frames faster at 10x7, twenty four frames faster at 12x10, twenty nine frames faster at 16x12 and finally twenty four frames faster at 20x15. Leadtek is up to forty percent faster in FEAR.

FEAR with 4X FSAA and 8X Aniso again shows the Leadtek dominance. It starts with twenty five fames advantage at 10x7, twenty nine frames at 12x10, sixteen at 16x12 and ten at 20x15. Leadtek is up to twenty two percent faster.

Battlefield 2 4X FSAA and 8X Aniso scores are tight with a slight Nvidia dominance but not more than four frames. We call it a tight.

Serious Sam 2 runs faster on ATI's card but only at first two resolutions. On both 10x7 and 12x10 ATI X1900 XTX is seven frames faster at 10x7 but Leadtek 7950GX2 takes the lead at 16x12 and runs nine frames faster and at 20x15 it runs respectable twenty four frames faster. It is up to nineteen percent faster.

Serious Sam 2 with 4X FSAA and 8X Aniso really likes 7950GX2. Already at 10x7 it is thirteen percent faster, at 12x10 it jumps to twenty seven frames advantage, at 16x12 it jumps thirty one frames and at 20x15 it twenty six frames faster. Leadtek runs Serious Sam 2 up to 29 percent faster.

Leadtek 7950 GX2 dominates all 3Dmarks. In 3Dmark03 it is 10700 makes faster than ATI X1900 XTX, in 3Dmark05 it is 1500 marks faster while in latest greatest 3Dmark06 it scores 2000 marks faster. It dominates every single graphic score and manages to run 1300 marks more in Shader model 2.0 test, 800 marks in HDR and Shader model 3.0 test but it loses by a few percent as it needs more CPU power, but it is not the significant difference anyhow.

In Short
Usually conclusions are very hard. When you compared top end ATI and top end Nvidia you usually end up in scenario where the both cards are very close in performance and one wins some benchmarks while the other one wins the other ones.

This time it's not the case. I can clearly say Geforce 7950 GX2 based Leadtek WinFast PX7950GX2 TDH kits ATI's X1900 XTX but in every single scenario. If you want to turn the FSAA on and to play at higher resolution this is the card for you. At 521 it is reasonable expensive and will definitely be the fastest card the money can buy for at least a few more moths, till sometimes in September anyhow.

It runs at least twenty percent faster than ATI, it rises to forty percent advantage and in Doom 3 it runs even seventy percent faster. Performance wise Leadtek 7950 GX2 is the fastest non overclocked card around. The only disadvantage is lack of HDR and FSAA capability which is a shame but if you want the performance this is the card for you.

Nvidia caught ATI sleeping and its dual chip single card is the winning combination for this summer. ATI don't have the horces to fight it properly until end of September while we expect to see the new R580+ based Radeon X1950 XTX card out. But beware G80 should be out at the same time.

Until then Geforce 7950 GX2 cards are the fastest one that money can buy. ?

Reviewed and tested by Sanjin Rados and Fuad Abazovic