Conclusions And Summary

Starting with the Radeon X1300 and X1300 Pro, ATI-based cards have supported Pixel Shader 3 effects and HDR rendering with simultaneous anti-aliasing. However, the chip doesn't possess the power to render all of these effects together in current 3D games. The only game in which cards based on these chips were able to sustain playable framerates was Quake 4. Thus, the X1300 is better suited to an office or VDR/HTPC system, especially considering that it is also available with a passive cooling solution. The X1300 Pro costs almost as much as a Radeon X1600, and here potential buyers would be well advised to spend the extra $20.

Performance-wise, the Radeon X1600 XT is just powerful enough for current 3D games. Since it is aimed at gamers on a budget, it offers quite good value for money. Meanwhile, Nvidia is tidying up its product line - the GeForce 6800 GS with 512 MB is superseding the GeForce 6800 Ultra and GT parts. In the same class, we also find ATI's slightly faster X1800 XL, which in turn is also in the process of being phased out in favor of the marginally slower X1800 GTO.

The GeForce 7600 GT is about as fast as the Radeon X1800 GTO. However, the new Nvidia chip is cheaper and also runs cooler than its ATI counterpart. Even with only 256 MB of video memory, the 7600 GT is easily able to replace the entire GeForce 6 line of cards, while costing only slightly more. Things will get really interesting once Nvidia or one of its partners releases an upgraded 7600 with 512 MB of video RAM - this should give the card a very tangible performance boost.

The GeForce 7800 GT and GTX have a very strong and fast competitor in the Radeon X1800 XT; cards based on those two Nvidia chips are starting to become increasingly rare. This shift is easily explained just by looking at the 7900 GT - with only 256 MB, that card is close on the heels of the 7800 GT with 512 MB. Since cards based on the 7900 are available, it is obvious that it will replace the 7800. The 7900 GT's performance would also benefit from an upgrade to 512 MB, but so far, GT models remain limited to 256 MB.

At the high end, we have the flagship cards: the Radeon X1900 XTX and the GeForce 7900 GTX. While the Radeon X1900 XTX performs about 4.5 percent faster, the 7900 GTX has the quieter cooling solution. Only future games will allow us to tell how much of an impact will be made by the large number of pixel shader units on ATI's X1900 XTX. At any rate, Spellforce 2, Oblivion, Tomb Raider : Legends, and F.E.A.R. offer a taste of what visual treats are possible when a game makes massive use of shader effects.

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  1. 1 – Introduction
  2. 2 – Candidates From Part 1
  3. 3 – Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent
  4. 4 – Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent - Accessories
  5. 5 – Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent - Tools And Software
  6. 6 – Tools And Software, Continued
  7. 7 – Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent - Web Support
  8. 8 – Gecube Radeon X1800 GTO
  9. 9 – Gecube Radeon X1800 GTO - Tools And Software
  10. 10 – Tools And Software, Continued
  11. 11 – Gecube Radeon X1800 GTO - Overclocking And Heat
  12. 12 – Overclocking And Heat, Continued
  13. 13 – MSI RX1900 XTX-VT2D512E
  14. 14 – MSI RX1900 XTX-VT2D512E - Tools And Software
  15. 15 – Tools And Software, Continued
  16. 16 – Tools And Software, Continued
  17. 17 – Tools And Software, Continued
  18. 18 – Tools And Software, Continued
  19. 19 – Tools And Software, Continued
  20. 20 – Tools And Software, Continued
  21. 21 – Tools And Software, Continued
  22. 22 – MSI RX1900 XTX-VT2D512E - Web Support
  23. 23 – Overclocking And Heat
  24. 24 – Overclocking And Heat, Continued
  25. 25 – Powercolor Radeon X1300 Hypermemory 2
  26. 26 – Powercolor Radeon X1300 Hypermemory 2 - Web Support
  27. 27 – Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT
  28. 28 – Sapphire X1600 XT - Tools And Software
  29. 29 – Sapphire X1600 XT - Web Support
  30. 30 – Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL
  31. 31 – Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL - Tools And Software
  32. 32 – Tools And Software, Continued
  33. 33 – Tools And Software, Continued
  34. 34 – Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL - Web Support
  35. 35 – Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL - Overclocking And Heat
  36. 36 – Overclocking And Heat, Continued
  37. 37 – Test Setup
  38. 38 – Benchmark Results
  39. 39 – Age Of Empires 3, Continued
  40. 40 – Black & White 2
  41. 41 – Black & White 2, Continued
  42. 42 – Call Of Duty 2
  43. 43 – Call Of Duty 2, Continued
  44. 44 – F.E.A.R
  45. 45 – F.E.A.R., Continued
  46. 46 – Quake 4
  47. 47 – Quake 4, Continued
  48. 48 – Serious Sam 2
  49. 49 – Serious Sam 2, Continued
  50. 50 – 3DMark06
  51. 51 – 3DMark06, Continued
  52. 52 – 3DMark06, Continued
  53. 53 – 3DMark06, Continued
  54. 54 – Power Consumption
  55. 55 – Test Results Of The Individual Cards
  56. 56 – Conclusions And Summary
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