ATI 2400 XT, 2600 Pro and 2600 XT(GDDR4) Review

[geokilla]

Link

I did a quick search and I didn't find a review, so I figured I'd make a contribution.

Results are disappointing. Both ATI and Nvidia's mid range offerings are so disappointing. Unless I spend like $300CAD, I can't get a decent gaming video card. These cards aren't a big improvement from my X850XT except that it's DX 10. But then I game at 1280X1024 max, so a $300 video card would be a waste...

Anyways, enjoy the review.

 

[Auric]

1950 Pro is more like $200. Try mail-order if your local monger's pricing is too high.

 

[geokilla]

I meant a decent DX 10 video card. 1950 Pro is about $170 in Canada Computers so I can always get that....

 

[Piuc2020]

The $300 card for 1280x1024 thing is not as dumb as you think, in fact, a 8800GTS 320MB would be PERFECT for that resolution especially considering the onslaught of demanding games coming out in a few months.

And even if its overkill, eventually it won't be, thats the beauty of computer hardware.

 

[SunAngel]

A friend of mine knows somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody and says the card is an absolute dream. He said the person was using an hd2600xt with 256mb gddr3 and a q6600 and hddvd playback was at 2-5% processor load. absolutely no studdering or playback problems.

A 2-5% processor load opens of multiple possibilty for background multitasking that would not be possible if the load was on the processor only. You could be watching a blu-ray/hddvd movie being solely decoded by the gpu and be encoding several netflix rips to divx in the background.

AMD-ATI hit it right on nailhead this generation with UVD. So, I suspect adding gddr4 only shows a dramatic improvement in 3d games. Yet, current Vista problems is keeping both Nvidia and AMD-ATI from having great DX10 experiences. But, SP1 with take care of all that.

 

[Auric]

Ah so, I arsily assumed AGP and not PCIe. Don't worry about DX10 so much. 2600XT looks to be a side-grade at best from an X850XT unless the UVD is required. It does shine at shader ops but takes a dump at pixel fill rate (and less so texture) so performs relatively poorly at older games like BF2142 and indeed whenever AA is enabled which is virtually a necessity if you axe me.

So, if you want better game performance then why not just grab a 1950 Pro 512MB? Some might opt for an XT but 256MB is increasingly limiting (even more so with 1GB system). No point in suffering low frame-rates just for the nebulous idea that DX10 is "all that and a packet of pork flavoured crisps". Enjoy a good bang for the yuan card now and see if either camp comes up with better midrange offerings in six months or whatever.