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ATI Radeon X800 GTO Mini Roundup: Sapphire, Connect3D, and PowerColor

 by Josh Venning on December 26, 2005 12:05 AM EST
27 Comments | Add A Comment
27 Comments
Sapphire X800 GTO2

The X800 GTO2 (pronounced GTO “squared”) is a bit different. Considering the looks, the GTO2 looks a lot like an X800 GT except with a slightly different fan sink and a 6-pin power connector on the corner. The GTO2 is also slightly heavier than the GT.

The GTO2's box looks very similar to the GTO Ultimates, except that the weird looking girl has different skin and is making a “Charlie's Angels”-style gun with her hands. There's also the GTO2 logo in the corner with the words “Limited Edition”, which stands out somewhat.


Click to enlarge.

As far as the card architecture goes, the core for the X800 GTO is the same as the X800 GT, which makes sense given the similarity in name. The core is clocked lower on the GTO than the GT (400MHz as opposed to 475MHz), but the GTO has 4 more pixel pipelines than the GT (12 vs 8). The extra pipes will obviously give it an advantage, but there are other things here that make the GTO so special. Cards like these are made from parts that were originally going to be more powerful cards, but for some reason or other, it didn't quite pass the grade. These could have been intended for cards like the X800 XT or X850 for instance. The cores are then clocked down and sold to manufacturers like Sapphire who then produce their own variation at a much lower cost to the consumer. What’s interesting is that because these cores were intended for higher end cards, there is a lot of potential for user-overclocking, which we'll talk more about later.

Sapphire X800 GTO Ultimate Connect3D Radeon X800 GTO
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  • classy - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    This review is really lacking.I agree with Avalon and others, without breaking down the differences and unlocking the cards that can be unlocked the review is really lacking in info. The reviews have to to get back to what made Anandtech tops, which is uncovering the true potential of the hardware.

  • BenSkywalker - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    I would agree the review is quite lacking. In the $200 range there are two serious competitors- unlocked 16 pipe GTOs and the 6800GS neither of which were shown in this test. Why exclude the only two configurations really worth considering?

  • Avalon - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    This review is useless without attempting to unlock the cards and identify the cores and memory used on them. Why even mention how these cards unlock if you aren't even going to do it?

  • Spacecomber - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    It would really be helpful to lay out where these cards are situated in the ATI line-up. For alot of people, including me, its getting difficult to know the differences between all these X800 cards (X800 Pro, X800 XL, X800 GT, X800 GTO), not to mention how the X850 fits in.

    Probably Jarred updating his cheatsheet would be the best place for this info, but Anandtech needs a place where you can go to see which cores are being used, what the basic specifications for these cores are, and a rough estimate of the price for these different models. Doing the same for Nvidia would also be good, though they seem to have a less confusing lineup, with really only the 6800 GS to be added to the 6800 lineup.

    Of course, with the GPU cheatsheet being over a year old, there's no mention of the 7800s or the 1800s, either.

    Space

  • Spoelie - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    Never knew anandtech was so out of touch with the community, since the GTO² has been making waves in it for the past 4 months. And with that I don't mean the timing of the review, but the content of it.

    What you get is essentially a X850XT for a price a little higher than a standard GTO. The chip is the R480 GUARANTEED to unlock the remaining pipes (yes, that's a 100% succes rate), the cooler is the reference X850Pro cooler, the PCB is the one used for the X850 line and you get the same memory as on the XT PE, as well as the power connector necessary for all of it. I don't see much of it mentioned in the review.

    Actually it's quite pointless buying it if you're not going to do any unlocking. The other GTO's can be had a bit cheaper and with quieter cooling solutions. Regardless, it's a limited edition and finding it 4 months after introduction with such a reputation will be troublesome at best. You are obliged to leave it on the shelf if you're not gonna do unlocking, as you are quite possibly taking away one of the precious remaining cards from someone who is actually wanting one, when you can get another for less money that is gonna service you just as well. Even though the 6800GS took away some of the appeal of buying a SM2.0 type card.

  • Cruise51 - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    I'm not sure why they left out the Fireblade GTO, It overclocks FAR higher than any of the cards in the review.

  • WhipperSnapper - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link


    I know that the newer Connect3D x800 GTO's have been sabotaged so that they no longer unlock, but shouldn't the article have contained a mention, somewhere, about the possibility a few lucky recipients might be able to unlock them to 16 pipes in addition to their great overclocking? These cards were all the rage back in late October and early November and had an unlocking success rate of about 95% before the new batches were ruined.

  • skunkbuster - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    how were the new ones sabotaged? i havent read anything about that

  • Zoomer - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    They are not sabotaged; they just use a core that isn't unlockable anymore.

    Unlocking is only possible if the right fuses aren't laser cut.

  • bamacre - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    I would have liked to see the Sapphire X800 GTO Fireblade Edition reviewed and benched as well. It's louder with the huge fan, but I bet it overclocks more than the Ultimate Edition.
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