ATI's Late Response to G70 - Radeon X1800, X1600 and X1300
by Derek Wilson on October 5, 2005 11:05 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Test Setup and Power Performance
Our testing methodology was to try and cover a lot of ground with top to bottom hardware. Including the X1300 through the X1800 line required quite a few different cards and tests to be run. In order to make it easier to look at the data, rather than put everything for each game in one place as we normally do, we have broken up our data into three separate groups: Budget, Midrange, and High End.
We used the latest drivers we had available which are both beta drivers. From NVIDIA, the 81.82 drivers were tested rather than the current release as we expect the rel 80 drivers to be in the end users hands before the X1000 series is easy to purchase.
All of our tests were done on this system:
ATI Radeon Express 200 based system
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55
1GB DDR400 2:2:2:8
120 GB Seagate 7200.7 HD
600 W OCZ PowerStreams PSU
The resolutions we tested range from 800x600 on the low end to 2048x1536 on the high end. The games we tested include:
Before we take a look at the performance numbers, here's a look at the power draw of various hardware.
As we can see, this generation draws about as much power as previous generatation products under load at the high end and midrange. The X1300 Pro seems to draw a little more power than we would like to see in a budget part. The card also sports a fan that is just as loud as the X1600 XT. Considering that some of the cards we tested against the X1300 Pro were passively cooled, this is something to note.
Our testing methodology was to try and cover a lot of ground with top to bottom hardware. Including the X1300 through the X1800 line required quite a few different cards and tests to be run. In order to make it easier to look at the data, rather than put everything for each game in one place as we normally do, we have broken up our data into three separate groups: Budget, Midrange, and High End.
We used the latest drivers we had available which are both beta drivers. From NVIDIA, the 81.82 drivers were tested rather than the current release as we expect the rel 80 drivers to be in the end users hands before the X1000 series is easy to purchase.
All of our tests were done on this system:
ATI Radeon Express 200 based system
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55
1GB DDR400 2:2:2:8
120 GB Seagate 7200.7 HD
600 W OCZ PowerStreams PSU
The resolutions we tested range from 800x600 on the low end to 2048x1536 on the high end. The games we tested include:
- Day of Defeat: Source
- Doom 3
- EverQuest 2
- Far Cry
- Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
- The Chronicles of Riddick
Before we take a look at the performance numbers, here's a look at the power draw of various hardware.
As we can see, this generation draws about as much power as previous generatation products under load at the high end and midrange. The X1300 Pro seems to draw a little more power than we would like to see in a budget part. The card also sports a fan that is just as loud as the X1600 XT. Considering that some of the cards we tested against the X1300 Pro were passively cooled, this is something to note.
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GoatMonkey - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
What?!?! But it's **EXTREME**kilkennycat - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
...there is an old saying. "Wait to see the whites of their eyes before shooting". Pre-orders mean nothing and delivery dates can change. Never ever order from a vendor that has a pre-order queue, unless you really don't care when you get the item. Who knows where you are in this queue? Few, if any of such vendors ever give you this information - for the obvious reason that thery don't want to risk losing the order. The first shipment might be 5 pieces and you are 20th on the list. Order product from vendors like Newegg or ZipZoomFly that sell only from available stock, but also have immediate auto e-mail notification when a sold-out item is back in stock... first come, first serve then of course, but at least the customer is never ever 'left hung out to dry'.I personally view vendors with pre-order queues as somewhat sleazy, but maybe my view is extreme. A pre-order queue is entirely to the benefit of the vendor and not the customer.
southpawuni - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
Bad results from ATI.Look at the midrange.. I'm guessing most people around here buy that hardware (6800GT/7800GT)..
disappointing day for ATI.
Since the NV cards have been out, and are priced right.. I dont see much hope for ATI now.
bob661 - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
I was expecting the new ATI cards to be a bit more competitive especially given that they'll be more expensive. Wow, what a shocker! The X1600 isn't even worth buying at less than or equal to 6600GT performance at 6800GT prices. What a bargain!!!segagenesis - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
They are simply arriving late to the game. I curious see how anyone will really want the X1800 XL over the 7800 GT, consideing the price.And why no show all the cards on each graph? Why is the 7800 GT missing on the Day of Defeat graph? Are we not trying to compare cards?
Questar - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
Simple - Image quality.It's been reported just about everywhere else that Nvidia lowered the image quality on the 7800 to gain speed. The image quality comparison in this review proves it.
Questar - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
Heh, modded down by the Nvidia fanboys already!How about this guys, enable HDR and AA in any game you would like on a 7800. Oops, can't do it!
Open your eyes and look at the AF charts in this review. ATI has better AF, period.
segagenesis - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
They looked like crap to me honestly. And where are you getting this crap about no AA/HDR on nVidia cards? Are you trying to troll? No wonder you got modded down.Questar - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
It's not crap. A 7800 can't do HDR and AA at the same time. Read the HOCP review where they explain this.JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
It was mentioned in this article as well. However, HDR already kills performance, and HDR + AA is going to be unplayable on anything short of Crossfired X1800 XT cards. Then again, HDR at 1600x1200 really isn't dying for 4xAA support, and I think many people looking at HDR are running very high-end displays and GPUs.