Official HD 2900 Discussion Thread

[Caparroz]

I had a HIS 1900xt and currently I'm using a HIS 1950pro Iceq3 on my internet rig. I've always used official ATI drivers or Omegas without a single problem. Their bundles are great, too.

[zbogorgon]

does anybody know were could I get latest drivers ?

[mascaras]

does anybody know were could I get latest drivers ?

I think they should be in ATi FTP (link its not public , only for the Press)

regards

[bloodbanger]

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/media...iew.php?pid=80

Lol,Sapphire could foresee the future,look at the date

[mascaras]

Mascaras--great feedback, thanks! So your friend scored ~12,500 on 3dM06 with his E6600 at stock speeds? Was the 2900XT overclocked?

Nice to see the 15fps jump in Dark Messiah w/ the new drivers as well! It looks as if they are making progress.

my friend is testing X2900 with E6400


that 3dmark 2006 scores and Dark Messiah FPS with E6600 its from a guy of other forum , the source is there (in the end of the post)

Source >> http://chiphell.com/viewthread.php?t...&extra=&page=3

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/media...iew.php?pid=80

Lol,Sapphire could foresee the future,look at the date

link doesnt work


regards

[deathman20]

Think this is what he was linking.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/media...iew.php?pid=78

But the link to the press release doesn't work on the site.

[Mad Max]

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/media...iew.php?pid=80

This is what he meant.

[deathman20]

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/media...iew.php?pid=80

This is what he meant.

Oops well either works lol. They both have the same links to the same exact file that doesn't exist either.

[Eastcoasthandle]

I had a HIS 1900xt and currently I'm using a HIS 1950pro Iceq3 on my internet rig. I've always used official ATI drivers or Omegas without a single problem. Their bundles are great, too.

Thanks for the heads up

[ahmad]

does anybody know were could I get latest drivers ?

PM the guys who have them! Sampsa, Macci, Dynasty, w0mbat, Denny..

[dragonhunter]

The power requirements for this card is 225W so that means: 75W from the PCI-E slot + 75W from the 6 pin connector + 75W from another 6 pin connector = total of 225W
That means there is NO need for 8 pin PCI-E connector?

If overclock then:
If there is a 2x 6 pin to 8 pin in the package? that would be 150W combined + 75W another 6 pin connector + 75W from the PCI-E slot = 300W . Then O/C should be a breeze

Someone correct me if I am wrong, thanks

[deathman20]

The power requirements for this card is 225W so that means: 75W from the PCI-E slot + 75W from the 6 pin connector + 75W from another 6 pin connector = total of 225W
That means there is NO need for 8 pin PCI-E connector?

If overclock then:
If there is a 2x 6 pin to 8 pin in the package? that would be 150W combined + 75W another 6 pin connector + 75W from the PCI-E slot = 300W . Then O/C should be a breeze

Someone correct me if I am wrong, thanks

It would add PLENTY of room to the OC capibilites without overdrawing power from the connectors. In other words even though the card runs warm, it opens a world of opertunities for power to the card.

[theteamaqua]

512MB is jsut too small ... i am waiting for HD2950XTX ... AMD better put up a good fight or better yet destroy nvidia so i can have HD2950 CF + X38

also from what i heard 8pin has 100W rating ... so 100W 8pin + 75W 6pin + 75W PCI-E = 250W total ... 2 x 6p will give u 225W ... should be enough to run at stock , but for ocing .... especially if ATI tool allows VGPU adjust

btw Denny over at 3d section has the card ... and did a wonderfull testing ... unbias

[Mad Max]

my friend is testting and in VISTA +10% in HL2 and 3dmark 2006

Did your friend say anything about how loud the fan on this card was? (much louder than 8800?) Because I heard that the card produces a lot of noise .

[Tim]

Has this already been posted?

Second R600 peview of it-review.

http://it-review.net/index.php?optio...1325&Itemid=91

[ahmad]

Let us hope those numbers are not accurate.

IQ is better on ATI, at least they said something good!

[Tim]

Let us hope those numbers are not accurate.

IQ is better on ATI, at least they said something good!

Well at this point in time, it most likely is, 2 days before the official reviews, the drivers used in this review are probably used in quite a lot of the official reviews too, hopefully some reviews will use the latest driver, the 8.38. That should make things more interesting. But mind you, if the new driver offers 15% performance, judging from these benches it will still be on par with the GTS in quite a few benches, so that's not really too great either.

Yea, IQ part is nice, 8800 IQ is very nice already, so IMO that's quite a feat!

I'm interested how the official reviews will be on Crossfire, and Vista drivers.

[Noobie]

Well at this point in time, it most likely is, 2 days before the official reviews, the drivers used in this review are probably used in quite a lot of the official reviews too, hopefully some reviews will use the latest driver, the 8.38. That should make things more interesting. But mind you, if the new driver offers 15% performance, judging from these benches it will still be on par with the GTS in quite a few benches, so that's not really too great either.

Yea, IQ part is nice, 8800 IQ is very nice already, so IMO that's quite a feat!

I'm interested how the official reviews will be on Crossfire, and Vista drivers.

I can't find anything on regular IQ. Just on AA IQ, which is setting dependent..... The AF & regular IQ of nVidia is fantastic, far superior to ATI x1900, which is very impressive considering that x1900 AF & regular IQ is far superior to 7900 IQ.

[ahmad]

But you are missing the point, I don't trust this source. I have a few I do trust to some extent, techreport, beyond3d, or behardware. Those sites are the best. Just go read one of their GPU reviews.

Anyways, if an overclocked x2900 can't hold a candle to the 8800gtx, I ain't wasting my money. Sure I know the hardware is more impressive in red land, but I am really not looking for a fancy architecture that gets destroyed by a far more inferior and basic design. Nvidia's moto has always been raw power over design, and they have pushed through. Of course they are always bound to get into trouble as hardware matures, but it pays their bills and more. We have already seen 3 generations of this.

Well at this point in time, it most likely is, 2 days before the official reviews, the drivers used in this review are probably used in quite a lot of the official reviews too, hopefully some reviews will use the latest driver, the 8.38. That should make things more interesting. But mind you, if the new driver offers 15% performance, judging from these benches it will still be on par with the GTS in quite a few benches, so that's not really too great either.

Yea, IQ part is nice, 8800 IQ is very nice already, so IMO that's quite a feat!

I'm interested how the official reviews will be on Crossfire, and Vista drivers.

[Tim]

But you are missing the point, I don't trust this source. I have a few I do trust to some extent, techreport, beyond3d, or behardware. Those sites are the best. Just go read one of their GPU reviews.

Yea that is true, there are some weird numbers there for sure, but atleast some of it can be trusted, we do know for certain that it will be +/- GTS peformance in games, and these reviews do add up in that regard.

As far as the features go, I'd love to see that on nVidia hardware, but will it make me choose ATi on those grounds? Definitely not, for me 3D Performance is the most important thing there is. I don't have an HDMI monitor, and I am not going to hook my PC up to my 32" HDTV. Maybe if I would build an HTPC, then yea I will get a 2600XT or something along those lines, that would be nice.

If the 2900XT beats the GTS considerably in DX9 and DX10, then I will get it. But if I can't run 2900XT Crossfire with my PSU, I will have to go with GTS's in SLI. 225w is a lot of power. (Even though I will start with a single card, and upgrade in the future)

[Iconyu]

But you are missing the point, I don't trust this source. I have a few I do trust to some extent, techreport, beyond3d, or behardware. Those sites are the best. Just go read one of their GPU reviews.

Anyways, if an overclocked x2900 can't hold a candle to the 8800gtx, I ain't wasting my money. Sure I know the hardware is more impressive in red land, but I am really not looking for a fancy architecture that gets destroyed by a far more inferior and basic design. Nvidia's moto has always been raw power over design, and they have pushed through. Of course they are always bound to get into trouble as hardware matures, but it pays their bills and more. We have already seen 3 generations of this.

These results are from 8.37 drivers, but the 8.38 are supposed to be launch drivers so even if the reviews are done with the 8.37 expect a update soon afterwards with the new drivers putting the results a little closer to GTX.

If the results so far are to be considered seriously, it seems that ATI are no where near done with optimizing and are just fixing bugs it might take another three months until the card is singing, a bit like the 8500 back ages ago.

[Tim]

These results are from 8.37 drivers, but the 8.38 are supposed to be launch drivers so even if the reviews are done with the 8.37 expect a update soon afterwards with the new drivers putting the results a little closer to GTX.

If the results so far are to be considered seriously, it seems that ATI are no where near done with optimizing and are just fixing bugs it might take another three months until the card is singing, a bit like the 8500 back ages ago.

Well, in that review, the XT is in quite a few benches 15% behind the GTS, now...if the new driver adds 15% performance, then your still left with GTS like performance. GTX is all alone at the top, no doubt a bout it. There's a considerable gap between the GTS and GTX, average game fps is about 20-25fps more then the GTS, and minimal fps in a game is a bout 10-15fps better on the GTX. That is a lot.

[96redformula]

On sale now at Zipzoomfly.com

Three separate ones up now .

Sapphire
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10005202
Diamond
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10005082
His
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10005096

[Tim]

Good prices, same as the 640mb GTS. Good stuff....hopefully this will get a price war going where they will both drop about $50.

[Baron]

Not sure if this has been posted.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/i...m?reviewid=834

Overall, though, the Sapphire Radeon HD 2900 XT is an excellent card with strong performance – and it's cheaper than the 640MB 8800 GTS. With an enticing software bundle chucked in (including some decent games titles), this is a winner.