Overclocking
Many of our readers probably know that Radeon 64 MB DDR can be overclocked from 183 to 200 MHz. Unfortunately, we had to realize that 32 MB SDR board practically offers no headroom at all. When we increased the clock only 5 MHz above its default setting the card became unstable.
Conclusion
The benchmarks show that the GeForce2 MX is still the performance leader at high color (16-bit). The Radeon 32 SDR flexes its muscles at 32-bit true color, where it is practically on par with the GeForce2 MX in many 3D applications. As many gamers prefer 32-bit color now, ATi offers indeed a competitive product for the mainstream market as far as performance is concerned. However, Radeon SDR is e.g. missing nifty features such as NVIDIA's 'Twin-View. It should also be noted that neither the GeForce2 MX nor the Radeon SDR are suitable for 3D-games at resolutions of higher than 1024x768 pixels. This still remains the playground for high-end graphics cards such as the GeForce2 GTS.
Even if we can confirm that ATi can now provide the counterpart to the GeForce2 MX, the manufacturer has a problem - the price. $150 for the SDR board and $200 for Radeon 32 MB DDR is too much for a card of that caliber from our point of view. As we mentioned above, many vendors already offer GeForce2 MX cards at $100.
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This little roundup reveals another issue. All results of our initial tests are now overruled by the new NVIDIA Detonator3 drivers. These boost the performance of GeForce2 GTS chips to levels where the Radeon 64 MB DDR is left in the dust. We can only hope that ATi reconsiders its pricing towards a more favorable point for all of its Radeon cards.
