ATI's Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition GPU @ HEXUS

[Platinum]

but when the 6900 comes out wont ATI have a speed bump ready??

[3dcandy]

Let's be honest...both are DAMN quick and would make an upgrade worthwhile from any card!

[schaef]

Maybe abit to noobish post, discussing with that guy and will get back to all.

[SilentDeath]

While I'm certainly saving my dough so I can purchase this beast, I'm left scratching my head- isn't the X800 XT PE supposed to compete with the 6900 or 6950 Ultra? If you look at the performance numbers, the 6800 and X800 Pro are darn close. I suppose this little Nvidia fanboy has his fingers crossed for the 6900....

ATI now does not have the clock speed advantage - the nv40 is faster per mhz. So yes the next nv cards could be quite a bit faster in mhz. However ATI is getting the chips made at tscm @ 13nm with low-k. Nv chips are made at IBM with 13nm, but not low-k. The low-k ati uses should mean higher yeilds on the faster cards, giving the advantage back to ati. Yeilds dictate what speeds the cards can be sold at, if its a low yeild then it costs ATI more per card...

Now, onto overclocking. The x800 out puts MUCH less heat, Im guessing it could be upto HALF the amount as the nv40 does.
Firstly this shows that the nv card is maybe overvolted over what one would expect, to give higher yeilds at the stock clock speeds, this could easly double the heat output and would make it more stable. NV has had problems with 13nm process before so it wouldnt be suprising.
More importantly it gives the x800 a lot more room for overclocking. Looking at the hexus review and the stock cooler, I would definatly assume the card was overheating in that it stopped the card overclocking more. There being two limits in overclocking - heat and voltage. I would expect them to get to 650-700mhz atleast using voltmods and proper air/watercooling. That would be fast

They both use the same mem though, hopefully it overclocks well...

[LayZeh]

ATi are moving to 0.11 low-k shortly.

[Platinum]

Where can I pre order one?!?!?

[Korky]

You cant start mentioning things like 6900 because by the time that comes out we'll see the r500 which i doubt the 6900 will be able to compete with.

[Zak33]

Either way guys......Hexus has one of the finest batch of reviews in the last few days IN THE WORLD cos David got the hardware for the guys to torture

Proud? Yup

[blockers]

Dead proud

[Zak33]

/\ good man..me too.

There are few things in life you can say to people with certainty and conviction....but one thing you CAN SAY is....
"Go log onto www.hexus.net cos they don't pull punches and you get REAL UP TO DATE NEWS...and its damn fine "

and its totally the finest advice you can give. No doubt. People like Kez and TiG and Agent stand out as prime examples too...of people who know SO MUCH it makes my head hurt...and then Ryz and Tarinder do the most awesome reviews......

Its just fanatastic

[Rys]

um, he never commented on the new 3Dc compression techniques?

3Dc is just a bastardised version of DXT5 texture compression. As such (since it's a simple compression method and normal map compression can be done in a bunch of different ways), it was one of those things that I would have talked about had I had time.

I left out quite a bit to focus on performance, like the video engine and other stuff.

I promise to talk about 3Dc when I get my hands on the PRO in a few days Sorry for the inital ommision.

Rys

[Korky]

haha love it Rys, there ya go jimmy a bastardised version of DXT5 rich

[chaoticone]

does the x8xx run a advanced version of yesterdays tech ? , me confused alittle

[cm_uk]

looks very promising...how much will they be in england?

[Rys]

does the x8xx run a advanced version of yesterdays tech ? , me confused alittle

If you're talking about 3Dc, then yes, it's simply modified DXT5 texture compression designed to compress normals. Effective though and it looks like NVIDIA hardware will support it at some point in the driver using a pixel shader.

Rys

[Stewart]

looks very promising...how much will they be in england?

Well, the X800pro which goes for $399 across the pond, can be pre-ordered from Komplett for £300 (£292 the lowest one I've seen), so the X800XT Platinum, which will sell for £499 should be £400ish. Maybe a bit more with a bundle of games, slightly less for the bare card.