Conclusion
The ATI Rage Fury MAXX will be shipping in limited quantities by the time you read this and selling for $299 (USD) with a $30 mail-in rebate or $269. The card is offering solid fill-rate only matched by a few of their competitors, a solid driver that shows promise, quality DVD playback and a name that many have grown to trust over the years. The MAXX has a few factors that will keep it from selling like hot cakes however.
A this point in time, ATI must deal with some incredible competition especially at the price they're selling the MAXX for. Not only are they deep into the SDR GeForce price range, but also nestled right before the DDR GeForce based boards. This means that the MAXX better offer high fill-rates, T&L or something compelling to make the consumer want to go with the ATI Rage Fury MAXX over the GeForce. ATI has many faithful customers and I'm sure the initial shipment will sell well due to that fact but to continue selling boards I feel that they must decrease the price of the board and pump up those drivers to match if not beat that of the SDR based GeForce.
My final verdict on this card is that there are better choices at and below the price of which you'll pay to have this product. If you want something a tad bit expensive, you can go with one of a few boards based on the GeForce DDR solution and you'll be very happy. If you are a starving student who cares about the price, then you're better off saving your lunch money for purchasing a TNT2 Ultra or SDR GeForce card. The MAXX comes up a little too short at a little too much money for me to give it my blessing.
