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ATI X800 XL Shootout
[Abstract]
High End Value for the DollarWhen ATI upgraded their RADEON X800 series of graphics card last December with the introduction of the RADEON X850 series, most of the attention was focused on the ...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
After going through all the RADEON X800 XL cards here, we have judged them on several aspects as illustrated in our subcategories. The usual caveat applies. Each subcategory carries different weights and may not necessarily add up to the final rating given for that card. Also, the pricing information shown is the standard retail price quoted by the vendors, which means that the actual selling price that you may find could be slightly different.
Final Report Card for the ATI RADEON X800 XL Shootout
| Elsa | GeCube | Gigabyte | HIS | MSI | PowerColor | Sapphire | | Performance | 4 | 4.5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | | Overclocking | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | | Features | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4 | | ImageQuality | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | | Temperature | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 | | Noise | 4 | 4.5 | 5 | 4.5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | | SoftwareBundle | 4 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.5 | | Cables/ Accessories | 5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | | USPricing (SRP) | US$379 | US$349 | US$350 | US$425 | US$390 | US$340 | US$409 |
Here are brief explanations to some of the subcategories we used:
Features: This is rated based on the features of the graphics cards such as video capturing, hardware monitoring or other exclusive highlights.
Image Quality: This was judged based on the display output on our test CRT monitor (Philips Brilliance 202P4). Attributes such as text clarity, sharpness and color vividness were some of the aspects we used to judge the output quality.
Software Bundle: Rated in accordance to our evaluation of relevance, quality, quantity, version, inclusion of games and quality/quantity of game selection.
Before we get to the awards and ratings, we would like to highlight the entries that stood out from the rest and the accolades they have deservedly received from us.
For overclocking, we saw a close fight between two cards using third party coolers, HIS and Sapphire, which is as much a testament to the cooler as to the VPU and memory. In the end, Sapphire's Ultimate Edition RADEON X800 XL, with its Zalman cooler just about shaded it to earn our Most Overclockable Product award.
For our shootout winner, we narrowed our choices easily to two outstanding cards. They also happened to be the more 'daring' ones that used innovative (albeit third party) coolers to deliver their cool and competent performances. HIS and Sapphire were the final contenders and both were equally capable cards that more than justified their relatively higher price tags. HIS' RADEON X800 XL IceQ II Turbo cemented the reputation of their IceQ II Turbo line of graphics card with yet another excellent showing, consistently doing well for all aspects. Yet, this was more than matched by Sapphire's RADEON X800 XL Ultimate Edition. In the end, we felt that the more reasonably priced Sapphire, coupled with its narrow edge in overclocking is the more deserving Winner of the ATI RADEON X800 XL Shootout.
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