Matrox G400 Revisited

by Mike Andrawes on September 22, 1999 11:59 PM EST

Matrox Tweak Utility

Like most vertically integrated companies (those that make both the chips and the cards), Matrox has never officially supported too many tweaking options, such as vsync toggles or overclocking. This wasn't much of a problem as a number of utilities were released around the web. Recently, Matrox decided to go ahead and release their own utility, creatively named "Matrox Tweak Utility." It's only for the G400 and allows overclocking and toggling of vsync. Since Matrox never discloses clock speeds for any of their cards, the overclocking utility works on a percentage basis. Core and memory clock of the G400 series are always locked relative to each other, so there is only one slider to control both clocks.

A unique advantage of the Matrox Tweak Utility is its ability to remember different overclocked settings for each resolution. This allows you to push your card when you need it the most (resolutions you use in games) while allowing the card to remain at default clock while your sitting at your desktop (assuming your gaming and desktop resolutions are different).

Test Setup

Windows 98 SE Test System

Hardware

CPU(s)

Intel Pentium III 600
Intel Pentium III 450

Motherboard ABIT BH6
Memory

128MB PC133 Corsair SDRAM

Hard Drive

Western Digital 8.4GB AC28400 UDMA/33

CDROM

Kenwood 40X TrueX

Video Cards

Matrox Millenium G400 16MB (default clock - 125/166)
Matrox Millenium G400 MAX 32MB (default clock - 166/200)
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 32MB (default clock - 125/150)
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Ultra 32MB (default clock - 150/183)
3dfx Voodoo3 2000 16MB (default clock - 143/143)
3dfx Voodoo3 3000 16MB (default clock - 166/166)

Software

Operating System

Windows 98 SE

Video Drivers

Matrox Millenium G400 5.25 with Beta TurboGL
NVIDIA 2.08 Reference
3dfx Voodoo3 1.02.18

Benchmarking Applications

Gaming

id Software Quake 3 Test 1.08 (OpenGL)
Rage Expendable (Direct3D)

Vsync was disabled for all cards using Powerstrip 2.51.08. The beta TurboGL for the G400 was not installed while running Direct3D tests. The Matrox G400 5.25 drivers also incorporated the

Once again, AMD Athlon testing was not performed because it is not currently supprorted by the Beta TurboGL, but should be at the time of launch.

TurboGL Performance Pentium III 600 OpenGL Performance
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