Matrox G400 Revisited

TurboGL Performance

The following test were run using a G400 MAX with a Pentium III 600 to illustrate the performance increase the G400 has seen as drivers have matured.

It is clear from the data above that Matrox has been hard at work on the TurboGL. Performance is significantly higher across the board. At 640x480, performance is up over 50%. We always knew the G400 had plenty of raw power, which allowed it to be pretty fast at high resolutions, but a poor ICD held it back at lower resolutions where fill rate is not limiting. The full power of the G400 is finally unleashed with the TurboGL.

The 5.13 drivers are the original drivers that came with the card upon its release to the public. The 5.25 beta ICD is the latest ICD available from Matrox's site at the time of this writing.. It is interesting to note that by optimizing the full ICD, Matrox has only been able to gain about 10% at low resolution and even less at high resolution. The TurboGL, which is optimized specifically for games, gives a huge performance increase.