ATI releases five new Radeons

[Filip Norrgard]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2004/4803.html' target='_blank'>http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2004/4803.html</a><br /><br /></div>" ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT), the global leader in PC graphics, today broadened its offerings for PC gamers and extended its performance lead with the introduction of a family of powerful new graphics processors. The new additions to the RADEON® X800-series satisfy gamers who want high-quality and high-performance graphics at a wide range of price points.<br /><br />“Whether playing one of today’s blockbuster titles like Half-Life 2, or any of the hundreds of other games currently available, gaming on a system powered by ATI’s RADEON X800-series cards delivers the ultimate high definition gaming experience,” said Rick Bergman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, PC Business Unit, ATI Technologies. “The new RADEON X800-series cards reach new heights in performance and new lows in price – an unbeatable combination.” "<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/AtiRX850.jpg" /><br /><br />So, the ATI Radeon X800, X800 XL, X850 XT, X850 Pro, and X850 XT Platinum Edition are the GPUs to get now for all gamers of Half-Life 2 and Doom 3. ;) But, hey don't you think the new Radeons look very much like their competitor Nvidia's cards now? The extra vent there surely means more heat production and (maybe) more noise, the latter of which I'm not a friend of. :x

[Pat Logsdon]

The extra vent there surely means more heat production and (maybe) more noise, the latter of which I'm not a friend of.
That's what waterblocks (http://www.mashie.org/casemods/d3_03.html)are for! 8O

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

X850? Geez...

Rant time!

Back in the old days (pre-2003), buying 3D cards wasn't a very hard choice. You picked a model out of 2 or 3 from a manufacturer you liked (first 3dfx, then came nvidia, and ATI joined nvidia after 3dfx was bought over by nvidia), see what manufacturer and bundle you like, bought it, installed it, and went on to play all your 3D games with a big smile on your face.

Ever since the new DirectX 9 cards have come out, and the segmentation of 3D cards has gone nuts. Anyone knows the difference at a glance between a GeForce FX5700 Ultra and a FX5900XT? (not much, but the 5900XT has better overclocking potential and with the right card can reach 5900 speeds) How about the difference between a Radeon 9700 Pro and a 9800? (essentially the same in benchmarks)

Buying a video card has never been more annoying and confusing, and now there's X800 and X850 lineup, ATI replacing the X600 with the X700, and top it off now has introduced this new XL monikor on top of the SE, Pro and XT suffixes. Talk about confusing and unnecessary.

[James Fee]

No video card in this day and age should take "two slots". There has to be a better way than this. :x

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

In case you didn't know, many ATX motherboards nowadays do not have a PCI slot below the AGP one. I assume it's to accomodate for nonsense like this. =P

[James Fee]

I assume it's to accomodate for nonsense like this. =PGood call on the "nonsense"! :wink:

[Fitch]

Reading that, it just struck me that 'high definition' is a buzzword now. I mean, sure, there's great anti-aliasing and higher resolutions now, but really, high definition video games have been around on your computer for years! I'm not saying they don't look great, but unfortunately, 'high definition' means 'looks great' and that's what it does!