High End and Future Ultra High End Performance

On the high end, the X1800 XL is a solid competitor to the 7800 GT. In some cases, the X1800 XL is able to compete with the 7800 GTX, but not enough to warrant pricing on the same level. The X1800 XT will not be out for at least a month, and while it does offer good competition to the 7800 GTX, we do want to caution everyone to wait until the part is shipping before embracing it.

Once again, Doom 3 shows NVIDIA to lead the way in performance, this time even with 4xAA and 8xAF enabled. Even the 6800 GT is able to best ATI's new flagship, the X1800 XT.

High-End Card Comparison - Doom 3


The X1800 XT falls just short of the NVIDIA 7800 GTX at 1600x1200 4xAA/8xAF with a score of 59.5 fps. The X1800 XL and XT are good competitors to the 7800 GTX and 7800 GT parts at this resolution under Day of Defeat. We run with all the quality options on the highest setting (including reflect all).

High-End Card Comparison - Day of Defeat


The X1000 line tend to do very well in Far Cry, and the high end parts are no exception. This time around, the defeat isn't that staggering, as the 7800 series seems to keep up well.

High-End Card Comparison - Far Cry


With Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the X1800 XT dominates. The X1800 XL is competive with the 7800 GTX in this benchmark, which is appropriate based on expected pricing.

High-End Card Comparison - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory


Looking at the ultra high end, Doom 3 once again favors the NVIDIA line of parts.

High-End Card Comparison - Doom 3


High-End Card Comparison - Day of Defeat


High-End Card Comparison - Far Cry


High-End Card Comparison - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory


High-End Card Comparison - Everquest II


Mid-Range Performance Final Words
Comments Locked

103 Comments

View All Comments

  • ChanningM - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    Where is the AA info and AF info on each test?

    You list 4x AA for the High End cards at 1600x1200. What about other levels of AA, and various levels of AF?

    What about other resolutions? and varying levels of AA and AF at different resolutions and how they compare image quality wise? Okay, so the X1600XT loses at 1280x960 with no aa or af. What about at 1028x764 with AA and AF on? And how does that compare image wise?

    Where is the discussion of the results? You just throw out graphs at me, and don't do a real disucssion of them.

    In otherwords, where is the rest of the review?
  • Peldor - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    At this point, a fairly weak review from Anandtech, especially compared to the 7800GTX review when it appeared. Hot Hardware and Tech Report have a bit better coverage IMO.

    Looking at other reviews around the web, my conclusion is the X1800 cards are viable competitors in performance to the 7800 cards, but the street prices will have to come down near the 7800 cards to be a good value.

    The X1600 cards look dead in the water when the 6600GT is under $150 and available in AGP and PCIe, while the 6800GT is far beyond it in the ~$250 segment.

    The X1300 cards will only survive in the ~$100 and under market.

    ATI is going to need that R580 sooner rather than later.
  • ChanningM - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    The format of the hardocp articles has grown on me, especially after reading there review + the anandtech + another.

    There are all kinds of AA and AF options for a reason. They look different. How do the affect peformance though? What works best?

    That obviously varies by game, card and resolution. But anandtech and others just don't do the comparisons and I think that makes it difficult to compare. Especially when image quality differences between nvidia and ATI come into play with there various settings.
  • DerekWilson - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    We will have tables of all the data with all the numbers we ran across all the resolutions with 4xAA and 8xAF up shortly.

    Quite a bit of data was collected and it has taken some time to organize. You are absolutely right to want more, and we are working on getting it out the door as soon as possible.

    Thanks,
    Derek Wilson
  • jeffrey - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    Derek,

    You really need to evaluate your situation at this website. You are listed as "author" of the "NVIDIA's GeForce 7800 GTX Hits The Ground Running" and "ATI's Late Response to G70 - Radeon X1800, X1600 and X1300" articles. Both of these articles are not up to Anandtech standards and have prompted numerous posts for readers to visit other websites.

    I am a long-time reader of the site and am only posting this because I don't want to go anywhere else. I just don't believe that your articles have been up to snuff. The posts for proofreading, wrong labels, incomplete data, etc keep appearing and back up my opinion.

    If Anand did not finish your mentoring, please let him know. I know that you put a lot of time and effort into this site, but the two biggest articles of the year for GPU's have left me shaking my head in dissapointment. Please work more with Anand, or do your own homework and read some of his old reviews. If you need another person, or co-author to help you ...please swallow your pride and ask for it.

    Respectfully,
    Jeffrey
  • drifter106 - Thursday, October 6, 2005 - link

    What credentials do you have to make such an accusation? What indicators do you use to support such a statement? On the contrary, considering the time frame and the rush to provide us with information it is obvious for the coherent, that he has done a good job. Glad to see information provided that will futher support my next video card selection.
  • erinlegault - Thursday, October 6, 2005 - link

    That is exactly the point! He shouldn't be rushing. The Techreport and Xbit Labs and many others offer much more informative reviews.

    Do you want my credentials? It shouldn't matter a report is a report is a report. You don't have to have a PhD or be a CEO to have an opinion. Any person with a University or College degree knows how to write a report that is complete and accurate.

    The fact of the matter is Anand's graphics reviews have been not up to par. Period.
  • Tamale - Saturday, October 8, 2005 - link

    lol.. the 'fact' is that this 'opinion' isn't up to 'my standards'

    sounds like a real fact, folks.. this guy is serios business
  • Madellga - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1800_Serie...">http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1800_Serie...
  • AdamK47 3DS - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    I absolutly hate obvious marketing fluff!

    "16 ultra efficient extreme pipelines"

    Those pipelines are about as extreme as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is extreme. Try harder next time Ati!

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now