Official HD 2900 Discussion Thread

**bingo13** · 05-13-2007, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by deathman20

So the "good offical" drivers will be released about 10 days after launch?

Yes, there was another point release to the 8.37s today to address 3DMark issues under Vista but no real changes for the drivers you can download tomorrow. The 8.38s are scheduled for 5/23, should see some very nice improvements in games and benchmarks, along with Vista compatibility improvements.

**Ubermann** · 05-13-2007, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by fornowagain

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39578

Nvidia's anti ATi presentation

Looking at that makes you think the GTX is at least twice as fast in everything.

**jas420221** · 05-13-2007, 11:56 AM

It seems that it beats the 320gts in most tests, the 640gts in not as many but still more, and loses in most to the gtx.

Not bad for a card around the 640gts range...

Part of its problem against teh gtx is the amount of memory since it doesnt appear to scale too well at high res and aa/af

**XS2K** · 05-13-2007, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by Ubermann

Looking at that makes you think the GTX is at least twice as fast in everything.

Yeah

but it does have some sense to it....

**XeRo** · 05-13-2007, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by bingo13

Yes, there was another point release to the 8.37s today to address 3DMark issues under Vista but no real changes for the drivers you can download tomorrow. The 8.38s are scheduled for 5/23, should see some very nice improvements in games and benchmarks, along with Vista compatibility improvements.

Is anandtech going to redo the review next week with the new drivers?

**Eastcoasthandle** · 05-13-2007, 12:08 PM

I want this tit for tat resolved. Lets see which card performs best OC using stock coolers only. That will put the nail on the coffin, I bet muhahahahaahahahahah

**red** · 05-13-2007, 12:09 PM

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gerald.marley/index.htm
Mirror of VR-Zone review.

**Noobie** · 05-13-2007, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by Eastcoasthandle

I want this tit for tat resolved. Lets see which card performs best OC using stock coolers only. That will put the nail on the coffin, I bet muhahahahaahahahahah

Let's all camp out in front of the building where the Crysis development staff is and beg them to give us a room filled with hardware to test Crysis on instead.

**Timmay** · 05-13-2007, 12:19 PM

The price for a 2900XT looks set for around $735 NZD, with a 8800GTX less then 100 bucks more I'm sure you alllllll know what I'm going to buy

**fornowagain** · 05-13-2007, 12:24 PM

PNG lossless versions.

8800GTX vs 2900XT

All four frames in a zip file here.

http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/168282/pics-zip.html

**Noobie** · 05-13-2007, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by Timmay

The price for a 2900XT looks set for around $735 NZD, with a 8800GTX less then 100 bucks more I'm sure you alllllll know what I'm going to buy

Pre-orders for the 2900XT are only 20 euro above that of the 8800 GTS 640 MB here.

Originally Posted by fornowagain

PNG lossless versions.

8800GTX vs 2900XT

All four frames in a zip file here.

http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/168282/pics-zip.html

The me the 2900 wins. The very slight blur in the lines on the balloon is acceptable, the overall jaggie-removal is better, but what really sets it apart from the nVidia is that the nVidia totally screws up on the front-end of the balloon where the spike is sticking out. AntiAliasing should never remove lines.

**CPLB** · 05-13-2007, 12:32 PM

I think it looks pretty good, but I want to see performance tests in Rainbow6 Vegas (Unreal Engine 3). I'm also disappointed to hear that the shim is taller than the core, the main reason I was waiting for R600 is cause I don't like the G80's huge IHS and prefer the traditional approach. Not to mention I'd probably need a new PSU if I wanted to OC the R600.

**theteamaqua** · 05-13-2007, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Timmay

The price for a 2900XT looks set for around $735 NZD, with a 8800GTX less then 100 bucks more I'm sure you alllllll know what I'm going to buy

what?? XT?

**theteamaqua** · 05-13-2007, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by fornowagain

PNG lossless versions.

8800GTX vs 2900XT

All four frames in a zip file here.

http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/168282/pics-zip.html

so who won ? XT?

**fornowagain** · 05-13-2007, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by theteamaqua

so who won ? XT?

That's up to you. I think the difference now is tiny. Congrats to ATi.

**aMp** · 05-13-2007, 02:24 PM

The OC results show that the architecture itself has a lot of headroom when you can supply it with enough power and remove the heat. Think the 65nm die-shrink will show what the card can actually do?

Also, can somebody point me towards some info explaining what the fill-rate/pixel shader/vertex shader results mean in practical terms? (I mean performance in games, not the definition of each metric.) It seems odd to me that the results in each test swing so wildly, especially with unified shaders.

**safan80** · 05-13-2007, 02:55 PM

the Power Consumption is disappointing!

Power Consumption of Total System Idle Load
PowerColor HD X2900XT 245 watts 365 watts
Inno3D 8800GTX 575/900MHz 250 watts 348 watts
ASUS EN8800GTS 640MB 513/792MHz 240 watts 300 watts
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB Superclocked 576/850MHz 235 watts 276 watts
ASUS EN1950XTX 195 watts 325 watts

**fornowagain** · 05-13-2007, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by safan80

the Power Consumption is disappointing!

You know thats system power, right? Its 17w more than a GTX at stock. Its not great, but it ain't that bad.

**Baron** · 05-13-2007, 03:04 PM

http://www.scan.co.uk/search/search.asp?criteria=hd2900

**safan80** · 05-13-2007, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by fornowagain

You know thats system power, right? Its 17w more than a GTX at stock. Its not great, but it ain't that bad.

yes i do. however, the 8800GTX uses a lot of power already since the 2900XT uses more power and performs at the level of 8800GTS I'd say that's really bad.

**XeRo** · 05-13-2007, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by fornowagain

You know thats system power, right? Its 17w more than a GTX at stock. Its not great, but it ain't that bad.

I guess the disappointment for me was that I was expecting the power consumption to be around the GTS(90nm), but then again it will perform better than the GTS.