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x700XT Preview / Review

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Sentential

Contributing Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2003
Location
Knoxville, TN
Anandtech
[H]ard|OCP
Xbit

1095705079Qf6Gw6eSXt_9_2_l.gif

(stock = 472 | 526)
Overclocking the core higher produced artifacts in DOOM 3, and overclocking the memory higher also produced artifacts in DOOM 3. It seems the Radeon X700XT being clocked at 475MHz is very near to the maximum frequency for stability with this revision of the RV410 VPU.
....Ouch well now we know why they backed off the stock frequencies. Apparentally they have some *serious* yeild issues.:-/ To top it all off ATi is adding an AI feature for their IQ logorithms. (aka cheats):mad: Looks like no one is safe from "optimizations"

Concerning CATALYST A.I. image quality our initial impressions are that there are not any in-game quality differences by using the default setting at Low. While at the High setting we do start to notice texture aliasing/crawling. We will be doing more investigation into game image quality with CATALYST A.I.

One thing is for sure, the GeForce 6600GT and the Radeon X700XT are very competitive products when it comes to overall gaming performance. If we had to edge out a card that offers up the better value we would have to lean towards the GeForce 6600GT at this point in time. In our two days of X700XT experience we saw it get held out of the top spot in terms of both framerate and image quality by the GeForce 6600GT. Keep in mind that the GeForce 6600 series also packs the performance potential of Shader Model 3.0 once games start using it.
 
nvidia has been cheating for a while, dont forget this. also ati has the option to turn off cheats. I am not impressed with the x700, I think ill go winchester then grab a 6600gt when or if the agp verson ever comes out and with my winchester, ill own in games
 
Sentential ........... I have no problem with stuff like ATI's AI or even Nvidia's brilinear or shader replacements , once everything is done above board and when it affects visual quality negatively , can be turned off .
 
Cowboy X said:
Sentential ........... I have no problem with stuff like ATI's AI or even Nvidia's brilinear or shader replacements , once everything is done above board and when it affects visual quality negatively , can be turned off .
I agree totally. However people sneer and hiss when "optimizations" are mentoned. It gets back to the whole fanboyism agruement of "my card is faster than your card". Finally for once the playing field is leveled.

I hope ATi resolves this yeild issue, I think its on account of a rushed product. Im sure they will get things in order.

besides compitition is what drives prices down. We dont want nV to have supremacy in all areas, otherwise we would end up paying alot more.
 
Wierd but the so called HL2 Benchmarks and CS:Source Benchies were all handled by the 6600GT, Nv clearly had all the Source,HL2 benchmarks down. Even with that Catalyst AI optimization bs it made no difference. In some cases the optimizations even lowered the FPS by 1-4. :( Overall its looking up for Nv. Besides the fact that the x700xt doesn't even oc decently on .11nm and doesnt support the rich 3.0 shaders, which suck!. Looks like IMHO Nv has this round, nothing is for certain yet but it is clear the the 6600Ultra will come out as well.
 
IiviIoFoZ said:
Wierd but the so called HL2 Benchmarks and CS:Source Benchies were all handled by the 6600GT, Nv clearly had all the Source,HL2 benchmarks down. Even with that optimization bs it made no difference. In some cases the optimizations even lowered the FPS by 1-4. :(
Not to mention the fact that the source engine doesnt have Pixel-Shader3.0 yet either. That should be a heafty boost by itself
 
seems to me ATI got it backwards with the x700. very impressive vertex shader power but lackluster pixel shader power. for todays and the not too distance future pixel shader power will be what is needed most of all, not vertex shaders.
 
Well ya never know Maybe the x700xt 256mb might step up the plate for ATi's mainsteam cards. However at that price you might as well get a 6800nu..Nothing is for certain yet so many drivers and bios to come which will change all those scores around. Seriously maybe with a good set of bios and editing the XT might oc very well. However at raw power the 6600GT has got it hands down. your right Sent valve for sure will implent 3.0shaders to there engine and all the popular mods like CS2 and etc will inherit it as well. Hate to think what Nv will do once HL2 is officaly out! :clap: What im really dissapointed is that it dont even oc to the standards we put today 'lol'. All the reviews I read which are like 8 never got 80+mhz on core or 1200 on memory. The 6600GT has done what was it again, I think it was 680/1230 last I recall.
 
yea I am an ati fanboy but dont waste your time getting anything other than the 6600gt for $200 if you cant afford $200 then get a 9500np and softmod it to a 9700 or just get a real 9700(pro) get a 9800 pro only if its a real good overclocker. heres the breakdown

$50 get a nice ti4200
$100 get a 9500np or 9700
$150 get a 9800 pro, but beware, 99% oc like crap
$200 get a 6600gt
$300 dont think anything in that price range
$400 get 6800gt
dont bother with anything over that. dont spend alot on a card if your cpu sucks
 
Sentential said:
I agree totally. However people sneer and hiss when "optimizations" are mentoned. It gets back to the whole fanboyism agruement of "my card is faster than your card". Finally for once the playing field is leveled.

I hope ATi resolves this yeild issue, I think its on account of a rushed product. Im sure they will get things in order.

besides compitition is what drives prices down. We dont want nV to have supremacy in all areas, otherwise we would end up paying alot more.

The real problem as I see it is firstly one of transparency , that is being very clear about what is going on in the optimisations .Then to give the public the choice of on or off . Both of which I commend ATI for doing so far .

Where I see problems is in the evaluation of various reviews and benchmarks, as settings and which tweaks for any given game are available in each driver etc will make significant differences in the outcome . So for me that means more time spent trying to digest reviews , while people who don't take the time to check the benchmark settings properly will be misled ..
 
Overclocker550 said:
$150 get a 9800 pro, but beware, 99% oc like crap
sucks

they are still the best for the money imo and i have had 2 which both clocked really high with and without watercooling. I remember when these were leading the pack so to speak and cat remember that many ppl reporting crap clock speeds...unless of course you have evidence to back up your bold statement??

and getting a 9500np and attempting a softmod is hit or miss too both times i tried it worked but with alot of artifacting, maybe you should weight your posts a bit more evenly :sn:
 
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