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ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT test

ATI finally introduces their new DirectX 10 cards

Review:
3D chips

05/15/2007

In November 2006 nVidia introduced the world's first DirectX10 compatible graphics card; the GeForce 8800GTX. We have had to wait for 6 months, but now there is an answer from ATI in the form of the Radeon HD 2000 series. Surprisingly the top model in the series is not faster than the top model from nVidia, something you would expect when it has taken this long to develop the card. However the new range of ATI cards does have a lot of new technologies on board which do make this card a very interesting counterpart to nVidia's flagship.

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nVidia GeForce 8600 GT / GTS test

New additions to the nVidia range makes DirectX 10 affordable

Review:
3D chips

04/17/2007

Ever since the intoduction of the GeForce 8800 range in November 2006 these cards have been very popular amongst hardware enthousiasts. The cards were the fastest you could buy and as a matter of fact at this point in time still are the fastest you can get off the shelves. However the most important reason for purchasing a card like this is usualy the compatibility with DirectX 10, teh new API used in Microsofts WIndows Vista. Users that want to be prepared for the next generation 3D games have got no other choice than to go for the GeForce 8800 cards, but the only set back untill now was the price of these cards. With them being the absolute top end of the market it automatically means that they are very, very expensive, Even the recently introduced 320MB GTS can not be called cheap with an average proce of around £ 200. Die hard gamers will not have a problem forking out money like that, but if 3D gaming is not your main priority you would have to wait for a cheaper alternative or buy a mid range DirectX 9 card. rom today onwards however it is possible to enjoy cheaper DirectX 10 graphics, as nVidia is introducing the mid range and budget models of the GeForce 8 series. This article describes the GeForce 8600 GT and GTS, DirectX 10 compatible cards that can be had for around £ 100 to £ 160.

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ATI R600: the rumours so far

A look at all available information about ATI's first DirectX 10 card

Background

02/27/2007

Ever since nVidia introduced its GeForce 8800 GTX last November, which made it the first manufacturer to offer a DirectX 10 compatible videocard, all eyes have been on its rival, ATI. Initially, it was expected that ATI would also introduce a DirectX 10 successor to the Radeon X1950 series by the end of 2006, but its coming has been delayed to this very day. There are several reasons why ATI's newest GPU, codenamed R600, has been hit with setback after setback. For a while, it seemed that the new cards would come out half way through March. A launch event was planned (in Amsterdam, no less!), and many journalists from around the world had their hands on invitations. However, several days ago AMD/ATI had made it clear that the event had been cancelled, and that the launch had been put back to "somewhere in the second quarter" due to "strategic reasons". We can only speculate as to what the real reason for the delay is; perhaps some major faults were foundin the chip at the last minute, maybe it turned out to be more difficult to outperform the GeForce 8800 GTX by a significant margin, or maybe there could be problems with the apparently enormous power consumption of the R600. Meanwhile, no-one's any wiser as to when we will finally find ATI's new flagship product in stores. However, in the past few weeks, more R600-related information has come to light through the underground rumour mill. In this article, we will summarise all the rumours that we have been able to verify.

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GeForce 8800 GTS stripped: DirectX 10 for less!

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB tested

Review:
3D chips

02/12/2007

nVidia's GeForce 8800 cards only seem to have one disadvantage at the moment: their price, which tends to be too high for anyone par die hard gamers. Dispite its price card the GeForce 8800 has proven to be quite a success: the card is the only one that fully supports Direct X 10 and therefore is a good investment for the near future. However, nVidia will be releasing a card for the masses with the new 8800 GTS variety, sporting 320 instead of 640 MB GDDR memory. This obviously will make the price of this card a lot more attractive.

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nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX Test

Every die-hard gamers wet dream!

Review:
3D chips

11/08/2006

Windows Vista is still on the books to be released early next year, and one of the new features of the operating system will be DirectX 10. Up till now there were no graphics cards on the market that were DirectX compliant, but tody brings a change to that statement. nVidia is releasing a new card based on the G80 chip that is fully compliant with DirectX 10 and is the fastest card we ever came across: The nVidia GeForce 8800. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a sample of Point-of-View and ran it through our extensive test suite.

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Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering demystified

Why should you use AF and AA in modern 3D games?

Background

09/20/2006

When we test graphics cards, we run our benchmarks with and without full scene anti-aliasing and anistropische filtering. These techniques are very demanding on the GU's processing power, but the image that is produced on the screen does look a lot better with these two techniques enabled. Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) is responsible for smoothing over the jagged edges on 3D images, and Anisotropic Filtering (AF) sharpens the overal image. Enabling AF and FSAA enhance the gaming experience by making the 3D images look more realistic, but there is a negative effect on the performance of the card. When you wish to make full use of AA and AF a low-end or mid-range graphics card will not suffice for the latest 3D games.

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nVidia GeForce 7950 GT Test

A new GeForce 7900 clone for $ 300

Review:
3D chips

09/14/2006

About a week ago we reported on the release of the GeForce 7900GS, the latest addition to the GeForce family, and we could not do anything else than conclude that the card had a very attractive price/performance ratio. The card was only a fraction slower than the much more expensive 7900GT cards, and performed on par with similar priced cards by the main competitor ATI. However last week it also became apparent that the 7900GT cards were to be replaced as well, nVidia announced the 7950GT, the card that should replace the now slightly obsolete 7900GT. The pricepoint of the new card will be between €300 and €350, similar to that of its predecessor, but we found out that the performance is a lot better.

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nVidia GeForce 7900 GS Test

High-end 3D performance for a mid-range price...

Review:
3D chips

09/09/2006

The fun in 3D-chip land never stops, when we check the most recent market shares nVidia is still slightly on top of their main rival, ATI. ATI will not give up though, and with their newest card, the Radeon X1950XTX, they have shown that they can price their products as agressive as nVidia can. As this game will not stop anytime soon, both companies can only do one thing; offer better performance than the competitor at a lower price. Today it is nVidia's turn, and they introduce the GeForce 7900GS to the public. This card was already availble for OEM system builders, like Dell, but was not available in shops. The new card is meant to offer high end performance for a mid-range price, something that it seems to do very well. The card is a member of the 7900 family, but the price in stores will most likely not exceed $200.

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ATI and nVidia crush high-end DVD players

HQV benchmark shows the overwhelming quality of current graphics cards

Review:
3D chips

09/01/2006

Until recently the most important reasons for purchasing a certain graphics card was either image quality or speed in 3D games. Nowadays the PC finds its way to the lounge and is used more and more as a multimedia centre. Because of this change in usage the quality of playing movies and video files is becoming an important factor in choosing a graphics card to power your system. Both ATI and nVidia have invested a lot of time and money in developing their video technology, and both claim to be able to produce the best quality. We found this a perfect reason to compare not only ATIs Avivo and nVidias PureVideo, but also 12 stand alone DVD players, varying in price between £150 and £ 1500. We try to answer the question which is best for your new LCD television, a top of the range DVD player or a PC?

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ATI Radeon X1950 Crossfire Test

... for users seeking the ultimate in graphic performance.

Review:
3D chips

08/31/2006

Some time ago we published an extensive test of ATI's newest high-end graphics card, the Radeon X1950 XTX . We could not be anything else than enthusiastic about these cards, as it is without question the fastest single GPU solution on the market today. Not only is the card very fast, it has some unique rendering features that can not be found on competetive solutions from nVidia, for instance the possibility to use HDR and FSAA (Full-Scene Anti Aliaasing) together. The best feature about teh X1950XTX however has to be its price, as ATI promised to release the card at a retail price of 299 pounds. This promise has not been completely met, but cards are available and in the shops for around £ 325, which still offers a very good price/performance ratio.

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ATI Radeon X1950 XTX review

GDDR4 memory makes ATI's flag ship card even faster

Review:
3D chips

08/23/2006

When nVidia introduced the 7950GX2 this was quite a blow to their arch rival ATI. The card, while thought to be a "paper product", is currently widely available, faster than ATI's top range card, the X1900XTX, and to top it all off the price/performance ratio of the 7950GX2 is better than that of the ATI card. The two GPU's on the 7950GX2 do require a bit more power than a single chip card, but the fact remains that this card is cheaper and performs better than the X1900XTX. As always in this business, a suitable answer never takes long to come from either manufacturer. ATI today announces the X1950XTX, a new version of the X1900XTX with better performance and, most important, a lower price tag.

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