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Sapphire's Radeon X800XT: Blazing Performance You Can Actually Buy |
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Written by Phyro
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Thursday, 21 October 2004 |
Sudhian has published a review on the Sapphire Radeon X800XT. Ever since ATI launched the X800 series back in May, the X800 XT has been the crème de la crème of the product line, but its high performance has been matched by corresponding low availability. AGP versions of the high-end product are finally available in volume, but its only now (five months after release) that we're beginning to see high-end PCI-Express cards actually available in the retail market.
 Sapphire's Radeon X800XT: Blazing Performance You Can Actually Buy
How good is the Sapphire X800 XT PCI-Express? It honestly depends on what you compare it too, and I’ve got a strong feeling, what platform you use.
On a Prescott-based platform, it may tend to look weaker, curtailed in certain areas by the CPU. Against nVidia, in theory, its competitive-but-not-a-standout leader across the board—except, of course, that you can't actually buy a comparable nVidia solution on the open market. That simple fact gives the X800 XT a significant nudge upwards in terms of its rating.
The truth is, I'm damn tired of companies launching products with no intention of bringing them to market within six months. If you go looking for a PCI-Express based video card, you'll quickly find that while both ATI and
nVidia have plenty of low-end options, the high-end market is an ATI playground with nary an nVidia product in sight.
If you want a high-end PCI-Express solution, the Sapphire X800XT is the card
to buy. Hopefully retail packaging will be available soon; but at this point we're happy to see even OEM cards given the dearth of available solutions. If these shortages keep up, "Actually Available" may cease to become an
expectation and become a product feature.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 October 2004 )
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EVGA 9600GT (SC) PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
