Post by Yoon on Jan 24, 2006 12:02:49 GMT -5
Another major graphic card has been launched today, this time by ATi, who's been pretty much dominated by nVIDIA for all of 2005, in terms of availability and performance. However, with the lanuch of the Radeon X1900, the former no longer exists, as ATi actually (surprisingly) hard-launched the X1900, meaning that units are available to buy upon launch.
It's nice to see that ATi's top of the line card isn't a Phantom Edition card.
The bad part is that because these graphic cards are becoming way too complex every year, the price on these cards just keep going up. The Radeon X1900 XTX is supposed to debut with an MSRP of $649 (ouch!). 
Anyhow, here are some major reviews of the X1900 XTX on the net:
Anandtech: www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2679
OCWorkbench:
www.ocworkbench.com/2006/ati/x1900xt/g1.htm
Hardware Zone: www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&id=1808
Hexus: www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=4477
Hot Hardware: www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=777&cid=2
Hard OCP: www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTUz
The Guru of 3D: www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/315/
TweakTown: www.tweaktown.com/articles/865/1/page_1_introduction/index.html
Techreport: www.techreport.com/onearticle.x/9310
Beyond 3D: www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/r580/
Driverheaven: www.driverheaven.net/reviews/X1900XTXCF/x1900/index.htm
The GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB (single card) does beat the Radeon X1900 XTX in some games, but most of these games are older games, which are not shader heavy. Basically, all these reviews show that the X1900 XTX literally dominates in shader-heavy games, probably due to it having 48 pixel processors (X1800 only had 16 and GF7800 GTX had 24).
The only thing bad is that while the X1900 XTX is now in the lead, there are some rumors that nVIDIA will be launching a 32-pipe 700 MHz monster in March, code-named G71 (GF7900?); if launched, this thing potentially has the ability to stop the X1900 XTX dead in it's tracks. We'll have to wait and see.
EDIT: For those that are unfamilar with graphic cards, let's just say that this card is capable of producing even more kick-@$$ graphics than previously available cards, which you'll be able to see in upcoming games coming out in 2006-2007. I bet the Radeon X1900 XTX will handle The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion easily.
It's nice to see that ATi's top of the line card isn't a Phantom Edition card.
The bad part is that because these graphic cards are becoming way too complex every year, the price on these cards just keep going up. The Radeon X1900 XTX is supposed to debut with an MSRP of $649 (ouch!). 
Anyhow, here are some major reviews of the X1900 XTX on the net:Anandtech: www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2679
OCWorkbench:
www.ocworkbench.com/2006/ati/x1900xt/g1.htm
Hardware Zone: www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&id=1808
Hexus: www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=4477
Hot Hardware: www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=777&cid=2
Hard OCP: www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTUz
The Guru of 3D: www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/315/
TweakTown: www.tweaktown.com/articles/865/1/page_1_introduction/index.html
Techreport: www.techreport.com/onearticle.x/9310
Beyond 3D: www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/r580/
Driverheaven: www.driverheaven.net/reviews/X1900XTXCF/x1900/index.htm
The GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB (single card) does beat the Radeon X1900 XTX in some games, but most of these games are older games, which are not shader heavy. Basically, all these reviews show that the X1900 XTX literally dominates in shader-heavy games, probably due to it having 48 pixel processors (X1800 only had 16 and GF7800 GTX had 24).
The only thing bad is that while the X1900 XTX is now in the lead, there are some rumors that nVIDIA will be launching a 32-pipe 700 MHz monster in March, code-named G71 (GF7900?); if launched, this thing potentially has the ability to stop the X1900 XTX dead in it's tracks. We'll have to wait and see.
EDIT: For those that are unfamilar with graphic cards, let's just say that this card is capable of producing even more kick-@$$ graphics than previously available cards, which you'll be able to see in upcoming games coming out in 2006-2007. I bet the Radeon X1900 XTX will handle The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion easily.