I thought I?d do AnandTechiers a service by doing a quick Radeon 8500 Review.
The Dell 8500 did arrive fully a month ahead than they promised?it helps when you?re polite.
Downloaded the latest drive from ATI?s website, completely ignored the bundled CD.
Equipment:
Windows 2000 (SP2/All updates)
Radeon 8500 of course!
PIII @ 763Mhz
Sony GDM-F520 1280x1024 @ 100Mhz (clearest and sharpest image ever)
Silver Serpent RGB Cable with Silver Mash (I don?t play around)
(for comparison ? old video card is Matrox G400TV)
General 2D Image:
Due to the fact Matrox will NOT go over 85Mhz (without Powerstrip), the ATI showed a noticeable improvement, some people claim above 85hz is pointless, I, for one, can see ?tiny? flicks on the edges of monitors on 85hz ? @100hz, those tiny flicks disappear completely. All texts and images clean and crisp ? stared 8 hours straight and my eyes weren?t tired a bit. Very, very satisfied.
IMPORTANT! You must use ATI?S monitor setting to make them work. The windows will default to 60hz! No matter what ? took me some times to realize this.
DVD Play:
Stunning.
ATI lives up the reputation for their DVD playback superiority.
Maybe it?s the combination of F520 or RGB cable, or all of them, but when I pop in Alien 2, SUDDENLY, everything looks different. Picture is SO CLEAR you can now see actor/actress facial imperfections, makeup is CLEARLY seen applied. Backup props look VERY FAKE now ? it?s just a painting, MANY OF THEM. Where I didn?t notice on my TV before. Not necessary a good thing, but they took my breath away.
Software:
More Bugs than Indian Jones!
Where to begin? File player would not retain size (INUYASHA!); now Outlook AUTOMATICALLY executes Word when start??? Unbelievable, smooth vision is no where to be seen, of course.
Okay, that?s for now?for $203?I cannot complain. I hope ATI will get their act together on software support. TRULY< Why spent $$$ on R&D only to be crippled by incredibly incompetent written software is beyond me.
Yours truly,
LAIN
The Dell 8500 did arrive fully a month ahead than they promised?it helps when you?re polite.
Downloaded the latest drive from ATI?s website, completely ignored the bundled CD.
Equipment:
Windows 2000 (SP2/All updates)
Radeon 8500 of course!
PIII @ 763Mhz
Sony GDM-F520 1280x1024 @ 100Mhz (clearest and sharpest image ever)
Silver Serpent RGB Cable with Silver Mash (I don?t play around)
(for comparison ? old video card is Matrox G400TV)
General 2D Image:
Due to the fact Matrox will NOT go over 85Mhz (without Powerstrip), the ATI showed a noticeable improvement, some people claim above 85hz is pointless, I, for one, can see ?tiny? flicks on the edges of monitors on 85hz ? @100hz, those tiny flicks disappear completely. All texts and images clean and crisp ? stared 8 hours straight and my eyes weren?t tired a bit. Very, very satisfied.
IMPORTANT! You must use ATI?S monitor setting to make them work. The windows will default to 60hz! No matter what ? took me some times to realize this.
DVD Play:
Stunning.
ATI lives up the reputation for their DVD playback superiority.
Maybe it?s the combination of F520 or RGB cable, or all of them, but when I pop in Alien 2, SUDDENLY, everything looks different. Picture is SO CLEAR you can now see actor/actress facial imperfections, makeup is CLEARLY seen applied. Backup props look VERY FAKE now ? it?s just a painting, MANY OF THEM. Where I didn?t notice on my TV before. Not necessary a good thing, but they took my breath away.
Software:
More Bugs than Indian Jones!
Where to begin? File player would not retain size (INUYASHA!); now Outlook AUTOMATICALLY executes Word when start??? Unbelievable, smooth vision is no where to be seen, of course.
Okay, that?s for now?for $203?I cannot complain. I hope ATI will get their act together on software support. TRULY< Why spent $$$ on R&D only to be crippled by incredibly incompetent written software is beyond me.
Yours truly,
LAIN
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