Bit-Tech does an X1900 roundup: AIW vs. XT vs. XTX vs. 512 GTX

[5150Joker]

Bit-tech has a pretty good review up pitting various X1900s (XT/XTX/AIW) against each other and the Geforce 512 GTX as well. Worth checking out, give it a look: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/02/10/radeon_x1900_series_roundup/1.html

I like this websites reviews because it's one of the few out there that actually uses Adaptive AA/TRSSAA and HQ AF for their testing.


Edit: Just caught something interesting when reading the review:

There are often times where the GeForce 7800 GTX 512 can suffer from what is known as 'texture shimmering'. The problem isn't apparent in Call of Duty 2, but the detail in the distance looks appreciably better on the Radeon X1900-series cards when high quality anisotropic filtering is enabled.

Also IQ comments when testing Need For Speed: Most Wanted:

The GeForce 7800 GTX 512 was as fast as the Radeon X1900XTX and we found that we were able to turn on high quality driver settings to disable all filtering optimisations. This gave us a higher filtering quality, but it wasn't quite enough to match the high quality anisotropic filtering that is possible on the Radeon X1900-series cards. It performed well and we were more than happy with the gaming experience if it was singled out, but wasn't quite as good as the image quality delivered by the X1900XTX.

The main negative thing they had to say about the ATi cards was about Crossfire:

The one reason not to get a Radeon X1900XTX at the moment would be ATI's CrossFire technology. It seems a little strange that ATI chose to use the Radeon X1900XT clock speeds on the CrossFire Edition card, as it means that the Radeon X1900XTX will be clocked down to the same 625/1450MHz, rendering the additional cost for an XTX a little pointless if you've got the vision of moving towards CrossFire later down the line.

 

[RobertR1]

It's just an eye trick, joker. No such thing remember????

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: RobertR1
It's just an eye trick, joker. No such thing remember????

Yeah Brent from HardOCP would have us along with these other editors believe we are blind and shimmering doesn't exist.

 

[BFG10K]

It's a damn shame ATi cards are so noisy.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's a damn shame ATi cards are so noisy.

A little noise vs overall better performance, lower price, mass availability and better IQ. Seems like an easy decision to me and yeah, ATi should've used a better/quieter fan for their heatsink.

 

[BFG10K]

A little noise

Nothing "little" about; it's a jet engine.

There's also nothing "little" about CCC's memory footprint either.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

A little noise

Nothing "little" about; it's a jet engine.

There's also nothing "little" about CCC's memory footprint either.

Oh a classic BFG attempt at trolling. Do you have one of these newer cards? Have you personally heard what it sounds like to be calling it a "jet engine"? Oh that's right you haven't, you're just full of it as usual. Jet engine: 140 dB, X1900XT: 68 dB at max levels. So I guess that proves not only are you a simpleton [edit: removed "dumb" due to BFG's request at wanting to be labeled a simpleton instead] (with weak troll attempts) but deaf as well. :thumbsup: BFG, the guy that thinks 17 MB is a huge amount of memory and that 2058 x 1536 resolution no AA/AF is more important than 1600 x 1200 + max AA/AF. Yeah BFG, I know how intelligent and discerning you are. :roll:

 

[Hacp]

Just buy an aftermarket cooler

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Just buy an aftermarket cooler

That isn't the point, he's well aware of that. He's just trying to troll as usual. Give him a few minutes, he'll be back with some out of left field pointless argument and when he realizes how stupid it sounds, he'll resort to calling you a simpleton.

 

[M0RPH]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

A little noise

Nothing "little" about; it's a jet engine.

There's also nothing "little" about CCC's memory footprint either.

Exaggerate much? :roll:

 

[M0RPH]

Back on topic, pretty informative review. It's nice to see a reviewer take a close look at IQ and notice things like shimmering. I've always said that for a fair comparison, Nvidia cards should be benchmarked with the high quality driver setting.

 

[BFG10K]

Do you have one of these newer cards?

Do you have a passively cooled card?

Have you personally heard what it sounds like to be calling it a "jet engine"?

dB readings from the web don't lie. That you're deaf is your problem.

X1900XT: 68 dB at max levels.

Do you have a sound meter? If not using your ridiculous rules you can't even comment on noise levels.

So I guess that proves not only are you dumb (with weak troll attempts) but deaf as well.

Don't forget to edit this sentence before you report me to the mods for launching personal attacks against you. After all, we wouldn't want the mods to actually see any evidence against you, would we?

BFG, the guy that thinks 17 MB is a huge amount of memory..LOL.

Better than being Joker, the deaf ATi fanboi that claims 68dB is a "little" noise and that a system reformat to get CCC to load in "just" 10 seconds makes it a viable solution.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Back on topic, pretty informative review. It's nice to see a reviewer take a close look at IQ and notice things like shimmering. I've always said that for a fair comparison, Nvidia cards should be benchmarked with the high quality driver setting.

Yep bit-tech definitely took a step in the right direction. Its my hope that other reviewers start using higher IQ settings in their reviews as well when testing high end cards. Oh and BFG 10k troll: the dB readings I quoted for the XT/XTX fan were from HardOCP, chump.

 

[Painman]

Well, the fan IS kinda loud... I could hear it throttling up and down while I was gaming with the 1900. At least it's fairly quiet when the card is idle, that matters to me the most. ATi still could have put a better fan on a $500 card w/o increasing the price too much. At least it exhausts all the blistering heat to the outside.

I'll put an aftermarket unit on mine as soon as someone markets a decent one that also exhausts 100% outside. I haven't seen one yet.

 

[BFG10K]

Just buy an aftermarket cooler

Is that covered by a video card warranty? I'd like to know before I tamper with a $600 piece of equipment to install third party equipment.

Exaggerate much?

No more than calling a 5800U a dust-buster or a hoover. Noise is noise, whether it's ATi or nVidia doing it. Unfortunately certain fanbois have trouble understanding this basic fact.

The fact is the X1800/X1900 is much louder compared to current competing nVidia solutions.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Just buy an aftermarket cooler

Is that covered by a video card warranty? I'd like to know before I tamper with a $600 piece of equipment to install third party equipment.

Exaggerate much?

No more than calling a 5800U a dust-buster or a hoover. Noise is noise, whether it's ATi or nVidia doing it. Unfortunately certain fanbois have trouble understanding this basic fact.

The fact is the X1800/X1900 is much louder compared to current competing nVidia solutions.

So what if it's louder? Is that the best you can do at trolling? Now go play with your little GT and troll somewhere else. Don't forget to turn off all your services when you play a game, wouldn't want you to use up what little precious memory you have available.

Don't forget to edit this sentence before you report me to the mods for launching personal attacks against you. After all, we wouldn't want the mods to actually see any evidence against you, would we?

You're right, I should edit it and replace "dumb" with the BFG trademark word "simpleton".

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Is that covered by a video card warranty? I'd like to know before I tamper with a $600 piece of equipment to install third party equipment.

It's been said eVGA covers that (no physical damage), but I haven't seen it stated explicitly.

http://www.evga.com/support/lifetime/default.asp

 

[BFG10K]

So what if it's louder?

That makes the cooling solution inferior. It also makes the card more irritating during gaming.

Is that the best you can do at trolling?

Pointing out flaws in ATi boards is now trolling?

Now go play with your little GT

Thanks, I will. I'll enjoy silent gaming goodness too.

Don't forget to turn off all your services when you play a game.

Don't forget to reinstall Windows when CCC starts taking longer than 10 seconds to load.

I nice quote from Rage3D on the fan noise:

The cooler is still the big heavy dual slot design that ATI originally developed for the X1800XT and, unfortunately, there doesn?t appear to be any improvements made to it for the X1900. It?s relatively loud, certainly louder than the 7800 GTX fan without question, but when the card is in 2D mode it?s fairly quiet and doesn?t annoy all that much. In 3D mode it spins up fairly quickly under the load however, and given the right circumstances can get extremely loud and annoying.

There are also quotes from reviewers that when the fan spins up it can cause an annoying plastic rattling sound as it vibrates against the cooling casing. That must be terrible to hear during gaming. :thumbsdown:

Like I said before, it's a damn shame those cards are so noisy. If they weren't I would've snapped up one immediately.

 

[xtknight]

And I thought my 7800GT was noisy...

Tranquility is a luxury in today's world of 3D gaming.

 

[5150Joker]

BFG, I think the truth is you're just angry that you bought a GT (the shimmering must be getting to you) and regret not waiting for an XT. Don't worry, I can see through your trolling.

 

[BFG10K]

BFG, I think the truth is you're just angry that you bought a GT and regret not waiting for an XT

As long as ATi keeps pushing out those noisy cooling solutions I'll have absolutely no regrets with sticking to passively cooled video cards.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
BFG, I think the truth is you're just angry that you bought a GT (the shimmering must be getting to you) and regret not waiting for an XT. Don't worry, I can see through your trolling.

It sounds more like "you can't stand your favorite card being criticized" than anything else.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

BFG, I think the truth is you're just angry that you bought a GT and regret not waiting for an XT

As long as ATi keeps pushing out those noisy cooling solutions I'll have absolutely no regrets with sticking to passively cooled video cards.

That's nice, enjoy your 7800 GT.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's a damn shame ATi cards are so noisy.

didn't you get rid of your faster 6800Ultra for a slower but quiet x800xl?
:Q

 

[BFG10K]

didn't you get rid of your faster 6800Ultra for a slower but quiet x800xl?

Yes, a passively cooled X800XL.