HardOCP reviews X1800XT

[nRollo]

Noise issues of cooler

However, the second fan speed level was very noticeable; as the GPU?s temperature rose, this second level kicked in and we noticed a constant whine coming from the fan. In fact, it got pretty distracting after a long while of gaming since our test system sits right beside us as we play.

It is easy to tell from all of this which video card was easier on our ears.

Wins only 2 of 8 benches


Conclusions and bugs encountered

It looks to me like this card is basically competing with the 256MB 7800GTX, but has an annoying "5800U-esque" HSF. Buy a Silencer.

 

[Snakexor]

1) if you look at the db ratings, the x1800 is only 2db higher at the "2nd stage" w/ an n/a on the third for nvidia, so i dont thikn it is as bad as you make it out to be....

2) the x1800xt won more than 2 benchies....for some reason hardocp doesnt do same quality setting compairsons, w/ the x1800 running at a high graphical setting....

 

[bjc112]

Why are somegames run at higher settings on the XT, than the GTX?

Why not run the exact same settings?


Serious Sam @ 16x12

AA and AF on the XT, just AF on the GTX?

What is the point in benchmarking @ different settings?

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: bjc112
Why are somegames run at higher settings on the XT, than the GTX?

Why not run the exact same settings?


Serious Sam @ 16x12

AA and AF on the XT, just AF on the GTX?

What is the point in benchmarking @ different settings?

they use highest playable settings

as for the noise, i dont think anyone is going to use this in a HTPC. most people who will buy this card will game with it. presumably, gamers use headphones or nice speakers in which case i dont think the noise will matter much

 

[Madellga]

Easy: HardOCP is a Nvidia fan.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: bjc112
Why are somegames run at higher settings on the XT, than the GTX?

Why not run the exact same settings?


Serious Sam @ 16x12

AA and AF on the XT, just AF on the GTX?

What is the point in benchmarking @ different settings?

they use highest playable settings

as for the noise, i dont think anyone is going to use this in a HTPC. most people who will buy this card will game with it. presumably, gamers use headphones or nice speakers in which case i dont think the noise will matter much

I see.. If that is the case, Rollo you should switch up the thread, highest playable, and Wins 2 out 8 benchmarks don't really match up..

 

[bjc112]

I don't know if Driver Heaven is considered BIAS, but it was a nice looking review overall..

And out of 8 tests, the XT wins 7 out of 8 based on AVG fps..

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/r520reviewxvxv/COD2.htm

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: Madellga
Easy: HardOCP is a Nvidia fan.

the Radeon X1800 XT keeps a steady pace with GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB video card; furthermore, in some cases, it offers a faster gaming experience than NVIDIA?s current top-of-the-line card.

wow, they sure are biased.

 

[sisq0kidd]

Originally posted by: Madellga
Easy: HardOCP is a Nvidia fan.

I think someone forgot to read Kyle's rant about this.

Anywho, what I found interesting was the IQ comparisons. The 7800GTX did a great job with aliasing (e.g. FEAR).

 

[Cookie Monster]

Thats what the guys at B3D was talking about.
A discussion that 7 series cards to better AA than the X1 series.


Off Topic: Why is that the minium fps for the X1800XT so low against the GTX? Look at xbits review, hardocp's review and such. The X1800XT has much lower minimun fps. Wonder why though?

 

[Matt2]

AA IQ comparison.

This is from Rage3D's review of BFG 7800GT SLI. It was nice because it compares all the AA settings possible for both 7800GT and X1800XT.

I don't know about you guys, but based on this comparison I would sya that Nvidia's AA looks better than ATI's across the board.

EDIT: That was supposed to be "X1800XT" not "X800XT"

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: Snakexor
1) if you look at the db ratings, the x1800 is only 2db higher at the "2nd stage" w/ an n/a on the third for nvidia, so i dont thikn it is as bad as you make it out to be....

2) the x1800xt won more than 2 benchies....for some reason hardocp doesnt do same quality setting compairsons, w/ the x1800 running at a high graphical setting....

At high enough levels, 2 dbs can make a big difference.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Notice the 3rd lvl? 68db... :Q

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

This review did not strike me nearly as favorable for the X1800XT as the Anandtech review did (which, although I am a fan of NV, I find a bit disappointing since I was hoping ATI would have something that would require NV to lower prices a good bit).

The noise is surprising, since the AT review made the XT sound decently quiet. I would have thought the dual slot cooler would allow better airflow and therefore quieter performance.

Also, I'm a bit surprised that the high level AA tests weren't more in favor of ATI (as they seemed to be in the AT review). After the AT review, I had the distinct impression that not only did ATI offer better high rez AA performance, but better IQ as well. In this review, it seems that the only time ATI offers better IQ is when you can use the adaptive antialiasing (or whatever it was called - the one that does the alpha textures).

Anyway, perhaps the difference was that this review used a faster clocked GTX than the AT review, and that made an impact. In any case, this review has definitely made the X1800XT seem very similar to the GTX (as Rollo said), and I was hoping that it would have offered a very noticeable improvement.

Oh well, looks like I'll be using the X800XL for at least one more year (which is good in some respects I guess).

-D'oh!

 

[sbuckler]

I suggest Rollo with his "wins 2 out of 8 benchmarks" quote, and Madella with his "Easy:Hardocp is an nvidia fan" read the review as you are both wrong.

I read the review and don't understand your "Wins only 2 of 8 benchmarks" link? It only lost 2 (the sims, and serious sam 2). Overall the X1800XT was consistently able to play at slightly higher quality settings then the BGF OC 7800GTX (which has faster core and memory then a standard GTX) although every time it was close. To it's credit the X1800XT is the first radeon card in a very long time that doesn't loose out to the geforce in ogl either (quake 4).

Noise does seem a slight issue as in hardocp as it only may be 2db louder but the percived noise is worse because the fan whines.

Also interesting to note was this:
We know that some other ?benchmarks? on other sites are showing that -- with a recorded timedemo -- the Radeon X1800 XT is providing faster frame rates than a GeForce 7800 GTX with this new OpenGL fix driver. This just shows that there are more differences starting to crop up now in games where a recorded timedemo is not accurately reflecting the actual, real-world game play experience. Remember, timedemos are recorded events that may not play back AI and Physics in the same way as when you actually get inside the game and play it like a gamer. Our results fully reflect playing the game.

i.e. the ogl fixes do improve performance, but a lot less when you actually play the game then the time demo suggests.

I am not a fanboy for either company and I would prob. buy a 7800GTX today because it's cheaper and quieter. However if they get the X1800XT down to 7800GTX prices and sort out the fan whine it is the better card. I would also expect more driver improvements for further performance gains for the X1800XT because it's a much newer architecture.

 

[tuteja1986]

Originally posted by: Madellga
Easy: HardOCP is a Nvidia fan.

and rollo ...

 

[Hacp]

Misleading info again? Sure, a x800XL with a FX-57 at 800x600 no AA/AF/HDR will DEFENETLY beat a 7800GT at 1600/1200 max AA/AF running with a 1GHZ PIII.

I can't beleive that ATI's last generation card can beat Nvidia's current generation card! Whats with that? ANd the X800XL is WAYYYYY CHEAPER too.

 

[Overgloc]

Rollo only see what he want to see LMAO, 2 out of 8 now i've seen it all

 

[malG]

The X1800XT cost 20% more ($100) than 7800GTX but the X1800XT cannot match the cheaper 7800GTX?

In that case, why would somebody be dumb enough to buy X1800XT?

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: malG
The X1800XT cost 20% more ($100) than 7800GTX but the X1800XT cannot match the cheaper 7800GTX?

In that case, why would somebody be dumb enough to buy X1800XT?

Looks like someone is brainwashed

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: malG
The X1800XT cost 20% more ($100) than 7800GTX but the X1800XT cannot match the cheaper 7800GTX?

In that case, why would somebody be dumb enough to buy X1800XT?

Looks like someone is brainwashed

Both cards perform similarly to one another. So why pay 100 to 150 bucks more for the XT is what I think malG was trying to say. So how is that being brainwashed if someone can obviously see the better deal? Cant you? There are at least 5 models of GTX on newegg for about 460.00.

 

[lavaheadache]

It's not like you could get a GTX at $460 the week they came out. YOu guys are unbelievable.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Snakexor
1) if you look at the db ratings, the x1800 is only 2db higher at the "2nd stage" w/ an n/a on the third for nvidia, so i dont thikn it is as bad as you make it out to be....

59-56=3db, not 2db.

I'm not "making it out" to be anything, I posted a link to a review with quotes? Wasn't me saying

as the GPU?s temperature rose, this second level kicked in and we noticed a constant whine coming from the fan. In fact, it got pretty distracting after a long while of gaming

and

It is easy to tell from all of this which video card was easier on our ears.

You said you want to help your customers at Best Buy, why wouldn't you want them to be aware of what many have said is an annoying whine from the high RPM little fan on this card? Don't you think that would raise your returns, and make more work for you re-stocking the shelves, and less profit for your employer?

2) the x1800xt won more than 2 benchies....for some reason hardocp doesnt do same quality setting compairsons, w/ the x1800 running at a high graphical setting....

Hmmmm

Q4- the difference is the XT is at Ultra, GTX at High in game setting. Most people say you can't notice a visual difference?

FEAR- same settings

SS2- XT wins, 4X vs 0X AA

HL2- XT wins, 4X vs 2X AA

BF2- same

EQ2- HiQ AF vs AF difference is trivial. In Brent and Kyles thread about the supposed "shimmer" of regular AF, both said they've never noticed it and feel the issue is overblown. I'll start a thread on that, as it is newsworthy given all the hype about shimmer of late.

NFSSU2- HQ AF for XT, MSAA for GTX- tie

SIMS2 - HiQ AF for XT, MS AA for the GTX- tie

So how do you get out of that

the x1800xt won more than 2 benchies

?

If I came into your Best Buy today and said, "Dude, I'm building my box and have been offline. I like H's approach of benching by actual gameplay- do you know what their results on the XT were?" would you say "They love it! Only 2db louder than a GTX, wins most of the benches!"?

 

[Gamingphreek]

1) if you look at the db ratings, the x1800 is only 2db higher at the "2nd stage" w/ an n/a on the third for nvidia, so i dont thikn it is as bad as you make it out to be....

Guys remember that when comparing db (Decibels) they increase exponentially, not linearly. I believe for every 2db higher it doubles percieved noise.

-Kevin

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Rollo
Hmmmm

Q4- the difference is the XT is at Ultra, GTX at High in game setting. Most people say you can't notice a visual difference?

Just because you can't notice a visual difference doesn't detract from the fact that Ultra is probably more demanding than High, and consequently the test is not on an even field.
Sure, visually they may be the same, but if stress wise they are not (making Ultra a redundant feature), then the comparison is not fair, and if the cards get the same results, the X1800XT would win due to being at higher settings (assuming the higher settings do caused increased load/lower performance even if they don't affect visual quality).
Of course, that also means it's pointless of HOCP to use Ultra settings if they don't chnage visual quality and they might as well have used the same settings for both cards to give an even comparison in that test.