ok so 512Mb X800XL.....why?

[otispunkmeyer]

why are ati offering 512 version of the XL,

this is their first card (512mb version) they are actually selling, the x850XT didnt make it that far....yet.

but why? its not top flight, its a mid-high end part.

i dont see why any card from this gen needs 512mb memory, but i wouldnt pick out the XL as a candidate, surely the more powerful cards (X850) would get the vote first

i seems like a strange move to me, its vaguely like putting 256 mb on a 5200, (obviously not that bad) but jus seems rather pointless. and not worht the price premium for the 1 or 2 extra FPS gained in most things

ok so HL2 and FC and some others....on max settings with the AA whacked up etc, it shows a decent boost, but then shoots itself in the foot by being slower elsewhere

 

[ronnn]

Sales is why. Will appeal to those that are unaware and think 512mb makes for a better card. I did read somewhere that nvidia is making a 512mb 6200, which has probably no reason outside of fleecing the gullable.

 

[biostud]

to confuse the customers

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: ronnn
Sales is why. Will appeal to those that are unaware and think 512mb makes for a better card. I did read somewhere that nvidia is making a 512mb 6200, which has probably no reason outside of fleecing the gullable.

lol a 256mb 6200 has no reason to exist either.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Where is the 512MB X300SE when we need em'?

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: StrangerGuy
Where is the 512MB X300SE when we need em'?

Yeah, ATi suck, they only used 512MB with their top end-ish GPU and not the low end.
Think of all the poor customers who want 512MB RAM on their graphics card to go with their 256MB RAM XP systems and their X300SE's.

 

[heedoyiu]

any 512 graphics card would make no sense right now, it just raises the price and you get no performance gains, unless may be you are running dual monitors, yet how much of a market is there for that?

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: heedoyiu
any 512 graphics card would make no sense right now, it just raises the price and you get no performance gains, unless may be you are running dual monitors, yet how much of a market is there for that?

Well, you do, in some games (HL2)

 

[Phew]

I'll bet it has more to do with the OEM computer market than direct sales. Joe Schmoe is configuring his new Dell and see 'Double Video RAM: Only $150', and it seems like a good idea to him.

 

[heedoyiu]

alot of people have said that, seems like plan

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: Phew
I'll bet it has more to do with the OEM computer market than direct sales. Joe Schmoe is configuring his new Dell and see 'Double Video RAM: Only $150', and it seems like a good idea to him.

Right... because a lot of Joe Schmoe's are buying top end Dells. It's very rare that I ever see a Dell that doesn't use integrated graphics.

They put it on because they can, and they can say "Look, we have a 512meg video card." This is a different year, but the same debate. 128meg graphics cards... 256meg graphics cards... 512meg graphics cards...

But I do agree, why put it on the x800xl and not the x850 xt? Probably because ATi knows the x800xl kicks the crap out of the x850 xt in sales, ATi's probably betting they can sell many more 512meg x800xl's than 512meg x850 xts.

 

[Pete]

If ATI will announce a 512MB next-gen card in a month, they're wise not to piss off users by offering a $650 X850XT right now. At least the 512MB XL doesn't cost more than a $500 X850XT, so you won't feel as suckered if ATI turns out a 50% faster card at the same price in a few weeks.

Which is more than I can say about a $900 6800U, though maybe nV's next gen is further away in terms of real availability.

 

[thegimp03]

It's like what ATI did with a 256 mb version of the 9600XT...not worth it under any circumstances.

 

[Shamrock]

Why would ATI do this?

Because they got too drunk off their Molson and got hit in the head with a hockey puck while playing hockey in the hallways!?

just kiddin' fellas

Now, IMO they should have at least put them on the 850 series cards (XT and PE)

 

[kazeakuma]

Confusion = more sales

For some reason, all the non techy types I know simply believe more RAM = faster video card. I've seen people with perfectly good GF4MXs (ok this was a while ago) go in and buy 128mb versions because they believed it would be faster. And then spent ages convincing themselves that it did. I'm a little annoyed at ATI at this tactic because it IS going to trick a lot of consumers but then it's no worse than anyone else has done before. Buyer Beware after all.

Funny story with the upgrading video cards. One of the main offenders bought some 128mb ati card, and I have no clue what it was because I don't listen to the words that come out of this guy's mouth. But he was trying to show me how much performance had improved with his new video card, so he fires up C&C generals. And shows me..... the intro! He was going on excitedly about how smooth it was so I didn't want to burst his bubble and tell him it was a movie. Not to mention I was dumbfounded at the fact the intro movie used to be choppy on his machine.

 

[PerfeK]

*walks into best buy* "Hay, this one has 512mb. Let's buying it1!!"

 

[fierydemise]

ATI is a company, worried about the bottom line, slaves to the might dollar, whatever you want to call it the point is they are doing like any company would do trying to squeeze a little more money out of their best selling product.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: Shamrock
Why would ATI do this?

Because they got too drunk off their Molson and got hit in the head with a hockey puck while playing hockey in the hallways!?

lol...that could be one explanation to this hopeless release!! and also because....

Originally posted by: PerfeK
*walks into best buy* "Hay, this one has 512mb. Let's buying it1!!"

exactly!! their trying to target dumasses who feel that more memory means better performance.

 

[staffy05]

I think the results shown for the card are utter crap. I think this because the said games barely even used the system memory (for the textures etc.) in the benchmarks.
Just say you had a p4 3ghz with 256mb of ram. Then used the 512mb card you would get very nice as well as smooth performance because of the fact you are not using system ram (as you would with a card with lower memory). Also the x800xl is one of the best cards to tweak, you can boost it to x850 speeds with a half decent cooler on it.

(hope that makes sense)

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: Shamrock
Why would ATI do this?

Because they got too drunk off their Molson and got hit in the head with a hockey puck while playing hockey in the hallways!?

lol...that could be one explanation to this hopeless release!! and also because....

Originally posted by: PerfeK
*walks into best buy* "Hay, this one has 512mb. Let's buying it1!!"

exactly!! their trying to target dumasses who feel that more memory means better performance.

i fel bad when i see that happen and i didnt intervene....more system ram? yeah fine go for it.....but buying a 256mb 5200 over a 128mb 9600pro on the basis that more memory = bettar! performance makes me sad

 

[ddogg]

it might have made more sense releasing 512mb with their x850XT/PE cards rather than the XL line like what nvidia has done. however, $900 for a 512mb card is an utter waste of money!!

 

[Munky]

Comon, you all know Ati sells a lot more x800xl's than x850xt's so that's why they put it on the xl. It's all about the money. And you know, there will be a bunch of dumb ppl buying them, the kind of ppl that when the gf4200ti was new, they bought a gf4 mx and thought it was the sh!t.

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: staffy05
I think the results shown for the card are utter crap. I think this because the said games barely even used the system memory (for the textures etc.) in the benchmarks.
Just say you had a p4 3ghz with 256mb of ram. Then used the 512mb card you would get very nice as well as smooth performance because of the fact you are not using system ram (as you would with a card with lower memory). Also the x800xl is one of the best cards to tweak, you can boost it to x850 speeds with a half decent cooler on it.

(hope that makes sense)

It's intelligible, but even a TB on the video card won't make modern games smooth on a PC with just 256MB RAM.

The XL is also not a very good OCer from what I've read, usually only hitting something like 430MHz, not exactly X850XT speeds (500MHz).

I am surprised AT didn't even bother to use 6xAA, though. Seems more a case of laziness than oversight, but it's surprising, when the whole point of a 512MB video card is to excel when lesser cards are choked by hitting system memory.