Which 800 XL ?

[Trash Man]

Just about to upgrade my PC and I have picked a 800XL for the gfx. Although I can't decide on which card to get.

Does it mater? are all 800XL's the same? Some are £50 more than others. I quite like the look of the HIS one, mainly due to the cooling. I'm not interested in overclocking at all.

Thanks for any advice.

[nichomach]

If I were not OC'ing AT ALL, I'd be tempted by the Gigabyte silent version with heatpipe cooling.

[YorkieBen]

apparently the gigabyte version can handle being overclocked pretty well just so long as you have good case cooling - the HIS ones are supposed to be though, and the cooling on them is useful. Plus they come pre-overclocked anyway I think

[Octavean]

Some X800XL cards are VIVO (video-in video-out) capable and this functionality is provided via the ATI Theater 200 chip. The VIVO cards tend to be more expensive and from what I have seen so far,… require a power connection from the system’s PSU. AGP versions of the X800XL require an external power connection as well.

The non-VIVO variation of the X800XL (PCIe) doesn’t require an external power connection and tends to be less expensive.

Everything that I have read about the X800XL seems to indicate that it isn’t the best overclocker,…...extreme cooling might change that though,….

Overclockability may have improved some since its introduction,….I don’t know.

[StormPC]

They'll never overclock like the PRO, XT or XT PE but they're all pretty fast for the money. The X800 XL is my favorite card if I'm not benching. Plenty of horsepower for gaming and runs all the X800 and X850 demos just fine.

[Trash Man]

Thanks for the help guys I think I'll go for the standard sapphire one.

[exAndrzej]

If you are based in the UK - then this month's PC Pro has a MONSTER graphics card group test that includes all of your options (red and green !) for less than £200

They test around 25 cards in HL2, FC and D3 at 1024, 1280 and 1600x1200

The cards looked at include active and passive cooled versions + buy links

There is also a good 'what graphics is all about' section within the 21 page test

Hope this helps !