ATI's DirectX 10 card benched, bests NVIDIA's 8800
by Christopher Grant 
{ Apr 24th 2007 at 1:08PM }
Just like the console wars, the graphics card wars can get really ugly, really fast ... and they're all about fast. NVIDIA's been trumpeting their GeForce 8800 (and now the more affordable 8-series cards as well) as the only DirectX 10 cards available. While true, without any DirectX 10 games to exploit those new features, it's a particularly hollow victory. DailyTech has gotten their delicate hands on a real life Radeon HD 2900 XT which they (of course) put in a head to head race to the death with NVIDIA's 640MB GeForce 8800 GTS. The blood-thirsty crowd screamed as the the newcomer proceeded to beat down the reigning champ -- the Radeon scored more eff-pee-esses in every single test they threw at it, including games like Call of Duty 2, Company of Heroes, F.E.A.R., Half Life 2: Episode 1, and Oblivion.
AMD is scheduled to release their DirectX 10 cards in mid-May in a range of models for every budget (except you, college students!). The ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, tested here, has a suggested retailer price of $449.
[Via Engadget]
AMD is scheduled to release their DirectX 10 cards in mid-May in a range of models for every budget (except you, college students!). The ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, tested here, has a suggested retailer price of $449.
[Via Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Crono @ Apr 24th 2007 1:19PM
Threw, not Through.
C. Grant @ Apr 24th 2007 1:21PM
/shoots face off.
Thanks, Crono. Fixed.
High Price @ Apr 24th 2007 1:22PM
Don't buy any of these cards, its not worth it. Just buy a console.
Ken @ Apr 24th 2007 1:22PM
Ah, that's the ATI I miss. Looks like I'll be picking this card up (in the future of course, waste of money right now).
I've always been a big fan of ATI over NVIDIA. I don't know why.
(Had a 7900GT have overheating problems, swapped it out for a X1950GT Pro... and the X1950 runs amazing!)
Moe @ Apr 24th 2007 1:22PM
/me highfives Crono
Vince @ Apr 24th 2007 1:26PM
Why would they bench it against a GTS and not a GTX OC? that makes no sense. it's skewing the results towards ATI.
Zertoss @ Apr 24th 2007 1:26PM
Looks like the AMD acquisition wasn't such a bad thing for ATI (or us) after all.
BlessedBullet @ Apr 24th 2007 1:28PM
Newer computer tech beats older tech? Who would have thought
Aex @ Apr 24th 2007 1:28PM
They may be better than the Nvidia cards, but there is one glaring flaw on the ATI cards... They are ATI.
Geo @ Apr 24th 2007 1:37PM
I have more information and detail about the ATI R600 secret weapon revealed for you guys;
R600 HAS A secret weapon, an internal sound card. This is the one thing that Nvidia's G8x can't match, other than HDCP on dual-link HDMI.
The ATI sound implementation is not GPGPU code. It is dedicated silicon, probably brought on by the Vista DRM infection and MS twisting arms to force it on people.
In any case, R600 will be compliant with the Vista requirements and can send sound directly over a HDCP/HDMI link. We are told this is a full HD sound setup, not a cheesy 2.1 channel thing.
In contrast, NV G8x parts can't do this. They have to run an external cable from the sound chip to the GPU. This may not sound like much but it blows out several kinds of auto configuration and worse yet violates Vista logo requirements. One has to wonder if this is why NV can't seem to make a functional Vista driver six months in.
The problem with Vista is that the DRM infection mandates that you do not share S/PDIF output over unencrypted links. R600 does this by combining audio and video streams, then pumping them out over HDCP infected links. This is user antagonistic DRM, but it complies with MS logo requirements, and they don't care about user experiences any more than the content mafiaa.
Add in that the R600 can do dual-link HDCP and you are going to be swimming in bandwidth, more than enough to pipe sound down.
Nvidia's G8x on the other hand can't do dual link HDCP at all, so if you have a 30-inch monitor, you will get a black screen. At that point, sound is the least of your problems.
Basically it looks like the sound card in R600 is going to be the killer app for home theatre type apps. G8x simply can not do what is needed here, buggy drivers or not. While the DRM infection stinks, at least R600 will be able to comply.
Dracard @ Apr 24th 2007 1:40PM
"Why would they bench it against a GTS and not a GTX OC? that makes no sense. it's skewing the results towards ATI."
This isn't the higher end ATI card. This one is supposed to be the equivalent of the GTS for Nvidia. The one more closely associated to the GTX would be the XTX.
dave @ Apr 24th 2007 1:41PM
@6
XT is not ATI's flagship card. The XTX is. So the equal comparison would be XTX to GTX and XT to GTS.
John Doe @ Apr 24th 2007 1:39PM
Do these cards work with XFire. Supposedly most of the budget NVidia cards can be put in an SLI system. Which makes the idea of a budget SLI setup...tasty.
machrc @ Apr 24th 2007 1:42PM
ofcourse until nvG9xxx comes out.. D:
SeriousKriss @ Apr 24th 2007 1:44PM
#4 High Price : no problem, but can you just tell me which console gets Crysis and Spore?
Vince @ Apr 24th 2007 1:51PM
Wouldn't the comparison be from XT to GT?
Buckshot @ Apr 24th 2007 1:47PM
But it still puts money on AMDs table so I refuse to buy one. One day they will finally die and go away. For the money vs. performance MSI nx8800gts OC is the better deal 620MB @ $399.99. Getting a pair of those come Monday.
machrc @ Apr 24th 2007 3:51PM
speaking of crisis,I think even a 6800gt(which I have) and have a another cheap 90$ msi nv6800gt OTW for a SLI setup is still on par with most direct x9 games out now.
By the time crysis hits, I think your going to need 2 8800gtx in sli to run the game properly like it was meant to be shown.
so don't waste money getting these highend cards now so you can play your same directx9 games you DL 'd from torrent.
wait for crysis..and all the benchmarks thrown at it.
MasterInsan0 @ Apr 24th 2007 2:05PM
Yeah...ATI's cards might perform better than nvidia's stuff, but ATI can't write drivers or make a stable card for shit. I have personally owned two defective ATI cards and two of my friends have had their cards literally melt. My nVidia cards, on the other hand, have never had a problem, and I've owned more of them than ATI cards.
Seriously, if ATI/AMD would stop trying to one-up nVidia for a second, just long enough to fix their buggy, unstable drivers and clean up their chipsets, they might have a chance at beating the competition.
Geo @ Apr 24th 2007 2:15PM
Graphic war has begun......
big z @ Apr 24th 2007 2:33PM
ati tested the 640mb 8800 gts against the 2900 hd-xt(weak)not the much larger 760mb gtx-oc or gtx-xxt radeon is wack,late releases and always one step behind. when they finally get a chance to relase their card nvidia will have a levithion on the shelves. c'mon joystiq if yer gonna report on graphics harware do it right! beat the gts gimme a break. all your reader who see this story should go to EVGA's site or BFG's to seee for them selves.
"you bitches make me sick"
Dan @ Apr 24th 2007 2:27PM
"Yeah...ATI's cards might perform better than nvidia's stuff, but ATI can't write drivers or make a stable card for shit. I have personally owned two defective ATI cards and two of my friends have had their cards literally melt. My nVidia cards, on the other hand, have never had a problem, and I've owned more of them than ATI cards.
Seriously, if ATI/AMD would stop trying to one-up nVidia for a second, just long enough to fix their buggy, unstable drivers and clean up their chipsets, they might have a chance at beating the competition."
Have you not been awake these past few months?
Vista? Nvidia drivers? Has all this passed you by?
Ken @ Apr 24th 2007 2:28PM
@big z
Riiight, go to an NVIDIA website for "un-biased" opinion of their graphics cards? Okay sure.
I go to www.hardocp.com for all my video card information. They usually lean towards ATI, but they're about as unbiased as you can get nowadays.
big z @ Apr 24th 2007 2:42PM
i diddent say got to an nvidia site, i said to go to a second or third party manufacture's site. dipshit.and i have a gts and 2 gtx-oc's ive done my homework before purchasing nvidia is simply the best right now, tits, the shit, and a no brainer if you know how to read.
big z 3d devoloper, artist, and hardware wizard
"sic"
Trio @ Apr 24th 2007 2:46PM
@ 23 big z
HD 2900XT is not the top of the line video card if you want to compare 8800 GTX then ATI HD 2900XTX is the one you need to put together in a figth.....
Shawn D @ Apr 24th 2007 2:46PM
Wow, the war has officially started. Especially when the NVIDIA fans start coming out of the woodwork. Good for ATI, and more importantly, us consumers.
Trio @ Apr 24th 2007 2:55PM
@24 big z take it easy dont get mad because Nvidia has a very hard competitor with DX10 video cards now......
Zertoss @ Apr 24th 2007 2:57PM
"Wow, the war has officially started."
I wasn't aware it had ever stopped.
Geo @ Apr 24th 2007 3:01PM
AMD/ATI R600 SIMPLY can't be called a GPU anymore. GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit, while R600 can be shortly described as GSPPU - Graphics, Sound and Physics Processing Unit.
It seems now that the System-on-a-Chip concept implemented in R600 was far beyond anything Graphzilla's rider Jen-Hsun ever talked about, and the roar of angry beast will be heard in city of Satan Clara.
We hear that Sound Physics has been buzzed for quite some time, and we are massaging our contacts to bring you as much detail as possible. It seems that R600 GPU will be less CPU-bound than it has been in the past, since a lot more parts of the scene will be calculated and rendered on the GPU itself.
R600 combines graphics with audio and physics process in a whole another way, and those 64 vect5D shader pipelines yield in 320 scalar units total, directly comparable to Nvidia's 128 scalar ones. Now, 128 scalar units at 1.35 GHz is still a tad more efficient that ATi's own 320 at 740 MHz, but ATi's pipeline is more complex than it was previously thought.
Who'd have thought that ATI would overtake Nvidia in a race to multi-purpose GPU and make consoles of today with their PowerPC CPUs look so 1990s? Perhaps R600 was really worth the wait after all.
Aex @ Apr 24th 2007 3:00PM
@Dan
2 Months of Driver Trobule > Lifetime of Driver Trouble
POOLSCLOSED @ Apr 24th 2007 3:05PM
ATI loses 1,000,000 points for driver software.
daniel @ Apr 24th 2007 3:12PM
not completely linked to this article but 7600gt or x1650 pro these cards in particular http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=564716
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=530761
and does anyone know what psu i would need for the x1650?
thanks
NekoMode @ Apr 24th 2007 3:12PM
Its a freaking arms race. I wonder when AMD will be firing on all cilinders and get a competative CPU out as well.
tbeisel @ Apr 30th 2007 3:26AM
"ATI loses 1,000,000 points for driver software."
QFT lawl seriously learn to make drivers.
Kizzle @ Apr 24th 2007 3:22PM
I like how ATI rolled their numbers way back with this new generation of cards. Weren't they up to like Radeon 9999 XTFKA++ or something before?
Now they've got a nice window of almost 7000 to work with.
I've usually preferred Nvidia to ATI, they were just more stable for me. I've owned two Nvidia cards (Geforce 4 Ti4400, current Geforce 7900 GT OC) and one ATI (9700 Pro All-In-Wonder)
Rootbeer @ Apr 24th 2007 3:25PM
And I thought it was ostentatious when Advanced Gravis used red solder mask for the UltraSound's printed circuit board instead of the standard green.
What the hell is up with that plastic-encased, flame-painted monster???
Naota @ Apr 24th 2007 5:02PM
I'm an ATI fan myself, but i got an nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX for xmas. Still though, GTS
Ken @ Apr 24th 2007 3:28PM
@big z
So does BFG or EVGA make ATI cards? No?
They only make Nvidia cards... meaning they'd be a little biased against their competition.
Ah. I see. Your logical thinking may have JUST kicked in after reading that statement. Welcome to the real world... dipshit.
Orza @ Apr 24th 2007 3:37PM
@15:
Sure. It's called the XBox 360.
syco @ Apr 24th 2007 3:52PM
Oh boy AMD needs this sort of success REALLY badly. They're having a bit of a rough time lately.
Buckshot @ Apr 24th 2007 3:55PM
Geo sounds like a paid amd/ati employee.
Geo @ Apr 24th 2007 4:02PM
ATI HD 2900XTX + Crysis = best gaming experience ever
Geo @ Apr 24th 2007 4:05PM
@ 39 Buckshot HA,ha,ha,ha.......
Geo @ Apr 24th 2007 4:26PM
ATi AVIVO also makes a return in a form of Universal Video Decoder (UVD), scoring 128 on HQV test, and HD2900XT will of course, support high-resolution HDMI (1.2 spec), featuring AC3 5.1 output. When it comes to regular resolutions, Radeon HD2900XT supports both 2560x1560 and 2560x2048.
The board communicates with the computer using a PCIe x16 slot and processing data through internal ring bus and 512-bit external controller (8-channel memory interface). Clocks are set at 742 MHz for the GPU and 1.65 GHz for 512MB of GDDR-3 memory.
AMD promised extremely competitive pricing, and in many cases the HD2900XT will beat the 8800GTX, yet alone the 8800GTS. To boot, the company decided to team up with Valve and offer a free bundle featuring a couple of upcoming hit titles. It is up to the partners to decide how the game will be bundled, but this will be marked as Return of The Coupon, if you remember the Radeon 9800XT launch and the alleged code-leak in Half Life 2 development, which was marked by a year delay.
As Henri Richard said during the last quarterly conference call, AMD will not do a soft launch and HD2900XT boards will be massively available.
Modeps @ Apr 24th 2007 4:24PM
This is exactly why I stopped gaming on my PC. $500 for a video card? Give me my Powerbook and a 360, I'm happy.
Vidikron @ Apr 24th 2007 4:54PM
@40
You're just talking out your ass here. It might be end up being the temporary king of graphics, but games go much deeper than that. Everytime I see talk about Crysis you come off as nothing more than a graphics whore. What gives? Are you, as others have suggested, an ATI employee?
WiiPC @ Apr 25th 2007 12:47PM
shut the fuck up geo. i don't care about you sharing your opinion but the problem is you were paid to write it AND it was written by the PR people who work a floor above you asshat.
listereo @ Apr 24th 2007 5:12PM
@Geo: your posts do read like press releases. At least you've got a clear career path open to you, if your not already working in PR or marketing.
I've never had a problem with my ATI card, and this old X800 Pro has run undisturbed for a couple years. I use Omega drivers, though, so everyone's bad times could be a result of sticking with the stock drivers.
Man... the graphics card war is the strangest thing to see. With the console war, one sees dramatic shifts thanks to killer apps and disparate feature sets, but until this GPSP development it seemed to be a lot of hooting and hollering over a few frames per second. I'm so impressed by how far things have come since VooDoo cards, however, so I don't care who's going to give me a extra frame or two each second.
Brandon Elkins @ Apr 24th 2007 5:46PM
I'm rolling with the Nvidia 8800GTX ATM...it cranked out 150 FPS easily on the CoH stress test the other day. Couple that with my Physx card and I'll be too busy actually PLAYING fucking games instead of arguing over vidya cards. Seriously, brand loyalty is for suckers. I bought the the 8800 for the reason that is is the best on the market, RIGHT NOW, not 6-mos down the road.
Autocrawler @ Apr 24th 2007 6:10PM
"42. This is exactly why I stopped gaming on my PC. $500 for a video card? Give me my Powerbook and a 360, I'm happy."
You get what you pay for.
Unlike my PC I built for $1200 a year ago, no console can pull C&C3 at 1080p at near max detail.
On topic: I am interested in what will the benchmarks for the highest-end model of Radeon 2900 be. Have to get ready for Crysis on max you know. :)