So the X1800XT came and went without a whimper?

[eva2000]

interesting is 5.11b better than 5.11 ?

[AACDIRECT]

I have two X1800 Crossfire systems running now. Both on a 480 Watt PSU. Both are happy.

With 7800 512MB the same PSU would not power them in SLI.

I tend to agree with the feeling that X1800 XT is better for gaming. I cannot figure out why but IQ seems better on the ATI cards. Most screen shots show them the same but in game I can see the difference. Maybe it is in my head.

I am curious about X1800XL CF as well. I have not received confirmation that there will be a specific Master card for them. The X1800 XT master card will work with them but it is a question of cost. (One cool thing is that you could buy the X1800 512MB Master card...run it with the X1800 XL and then upgrade to the X1800 XT 512MB card later.)

[Hicks]

I have two X1800 Crossfire systems running now. Both on a 480 Watt PSU. Both are happy.

With 7800 512MB the same PSU would not power them in SLI.

I tend to agree with the feeling that X1800 XT is better for gaming. I cannot figure out why but IQ seems better on the ATI cards. Most screen shots show them the same but in game I can see the difference. Maybe it is in my head.

I am curious about X1800XL CF as well. I have not received confirmation that there will be a specific Master card for them. The X1800 XT master card will work with them but it is a question of cost. (One cool thing is that you could buy the X1800 512MB Master card...run it with the X1800 XL and then upgrade to the X1800 XT 512MB card later.)

Dam, you are so lucky having X1800XT CF!!!!:p

I agree about the gaming bit, iam much more impressed with this XT, than the GTX.

I wasn't going to get CF, but if it totally owns i might have to, lol. Id only need a new mobo i think, 520Watt OCZ iam told is good enough.

[AACDIRECT]

Dam, you are so lucky having X1800XT CF!!!!:p

I agree about the gaming bit, iam much more impressed with this XT, than the GTX.

I wasn't going to get CF, but if it totally owns i might have to, lol. Id only need a new mobo i think, 520Watt OCZ iam told is good enough.

Real lucky. I love it....1600 by 1200 with 6X AAA and 16 AF in HL2.

Your 520 OCZ should be fine.

[Hicks]

I suppose your not allowed to show some benchies and that?

How does CF XT's handle FEAR and Quake 4?

[AACDIRECT]

I suppose your not allowed to show some benchies and that?

How does CF XT's handle FEAR and Quake 4?

NDA.

Lets just say it does a good job.

[iboomalot]

ATI better get some benches out in the market X-max is coming in 3 weeks and will take a few days for the results to get to the readers so they can save up for $1200.00 worth of video cards.

oh ya and a mobo change too.

[Gnome]

NDA.

Lets just say it does a good job.

when does it expire ?

i have the same thing as far as IQ, and so does all my friends, on simple game like cs 1.6 :
all my 4 buddies have nvidia cards, i had a 9600xt on my passive lan box, and they were all gathered around my screen saying "wow, your cs looks nice".

i thought cs 1.6 was a crap looking game with crap textures, but when i saw their screens

[Bar81]

when does it expire ?

Usually, the expiration of the NDA is under NDA.

[AACDIRECT]

Usually, the expiration of the NDA is under NDA.

HAHA that is the truth. I can't tell you when I can tell you.

[IceMole]

I'm going with a x1800XT because it's $499 vs $699 and they have them in stock. I'm a nvidia guy but ATIs IQ has always impressed me. I hope this card doesn't let me down.

[Dynasty]

Two X1800XT's in CF are really going to impress
alot of people around here.

[elvicco]

Usually, the expiration of the NDA is under NDA.

So when does the NDA on the NDA on the NDA end?

[AACDIRECT]

So when does the NDA on the NDA on the NDA end?

LOL That date is under NDA....

[Hicks]

Two X1800XT's in CF are really going to impress
alot of people around here.

If it's ever out before were all old and grey.....

[perkam]

If it's ever out before were all old and grey.....

Ask aunt ugly, i believe he's already old and grey...maybe he should get an XT

@ NDA gentlemen, but lets stay on topic...or perhaps you'll like to do that when the nda is removed, whenever that is

I'm pretty sure ATI's fixing xf drivers right now so that two XTs in crossfire can get a reasonable 05 score at stock, so that the reviewers dont eat it all up

Perkam

[AACDIRECT]

I'm pretty sure ATI's fixing xf drivers right now so that two XTs in crossfire can get a reasonable 05 score at stock, so that the reviewers dont eat it all up

Perkam

That could be.... I beta test drivers for ATI. I have tested 3 driver sets for X1K CF so far. (One based on Cat 5.11 and two newer ones.) Each one has been an improvement. The Cat 5.12 driver has some cool non CF improvements too. I expect that it will be posted by ATI soon. It should make people happy.

EDIT: Got to love Anand. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2629 They did not run 3dmark but it was a major improvement.

[taurus_sel]

I'll believe that. Wesley Fink @ Anandtech already reported that X1800 Crossfire beat 7800 GTX SLI in all benchmarks that they tried including Quake and FEAR.

NDA.

Lets just say it does a good job.

[Dynasty]

I'll believe that. Wesley Fink @ Anandtech already reported that X1800 Crossfire beat 7800 GTX SLI in all benchmarks that they tried including Quake and FEAR.

Which gtx are we talking about in SLI the 256 or 512mb cards ??

[taurus_sel]

256

Which gtx are we talking about in SLI the 256 or 512mb cards ??

[Hicks]

EDIT: Got to love Anand. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2629 They did not run 3dmark but it was a major improvement.

Not really, who games at those low res's with a X1800?, but then again, it's bound to be like this, as the higher the res, the more empahsison the GPU, Nvidia's drivers are the same.

Iam glad ATI are getting some DC drivers out, thats the only thing i miss from my 7800GTX, knowing i had some nice DC optimized drivers.

The drivers don't offer much increase, but any increase is decent IMO, it's free after all.

[Vassili]

That could be.... I beta test drivers for ATI. I have tested 3 driver sets for X1K CF so far. (One based on Cat 5.11 and two newer ones.) Each one has been an improvement. The Cat 5.12 driver has some cool non CF improvements too. I expect that it will be posted by ATI soon. It should make people happy.

EDIT: Got to love Anand. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2629 They did not run 3dmark but it was a major improvement.

Do you think they will improve the dual-core thing more? Would be very nice though.
And I guess you can't be more detailed about the non CF improvements?

[AACDIRECT]

Do you think they will improve the dual-core thing more? Would be very nice though.
And I guess you can't be more detailed about the non CF improvements?

They are always making imporvements so I would guess that more are to come. I can't really say more on beta drivers. I signed a specific NDA that does not allow me to talk about it. (One improvement is dual-core support....in CF it makes a nice performance increase. Anand did not test that.... )

[dnottis]

I've owned both cards too. I still feel the ATI products have better IQ, better AA and no shimmering AF. The GTX 512 is fast but the IQ just isnt there. Games like Heroes Of The Pacific has nasty shimmering but with AA on disappears on the ATI cards - it does not on the NV.

Also, all the reviews of these two cards are always done with the GTX 512 in "QUALITY" mode, which anyone that has owned an NV card knows shimmers waaay to much to actually use. Everyone uses HIGH QUALITY so the performance in the reviews is not apples to apples - when DriverHeaven.net (http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/...eview/high.htm) tested them both on HQ with aa / af on the X1800XT was faster. Also, my GTX 512 clocks to about 590 on the Core 1.77 on the memory (stock is 550/1.75), the X1800XT does 680 core on stock volts - so when overclocking is taken into account I think we'd see the X1800XT as the faster overall card with AA / AF on and using High Quality settings.

Just my 2 cents - also in COD and COD2 there are still some alpha blending issues with smoke on the NV hardware, and GTA SA looks far better on the ATI cards. Older games like Crimson Skies wont work with AA on the NV cards but are perfect on the ATI cards still. I know these are just observations but overall the ATI card and drivers just seem more compatible with old games and are still more efficient with AA / AF on.

Dean

[Gnome]

that's between high quality and high performance, my ATI card never did that... i could actually put my catalyst sliders onto "performance" and not even see any difference. in high performance the textures are a bit fluffier but nothing to shake a stick at. (in performance mode the textures shimmer way too much on the nvidia cards to be even playable...)

EDIT : rendered on an x700pro in all "high performance"