Radeon X800XL 512Mb Roundup
Performance analysis and conclusions
As regards the expedience of buying 512 MB boards for now, their major task is to target the future demands when such a high onboard memory capacity is in demand by games. Currently, only DOOM3 in the Ultrahigh mode can boast that. On the other hand, the 4 FPS difference (at 1600õ1200) between doesn't seem to be worth the price difference which we see between the 256Mb and 512Mb modifications.
Moreover, fitting RX800XL with 512Mb onboard almost levels one of the major advantages of the latter versus GeForce 6800GT - i.e. the price difference, because these days GeForce 6800GT costs about $400 (on the average, depending on the sales outlets).
To date, RX800XL equipped with 256Mb of video memory costs $300 and higher (but it's impossible to make it available at such a price, because more realistic offerings start with $340). The 512Mb version will cost you about $425.
It goes without saying, such a price difference is a surprise since the 512 Mb version uses twice as much memory, which costs a lot. Nevertheless, the need for such spending for cards like these nowadays is questionable. Those who are all for buying the 512Mb solution as a "margin for the future" should better wait a bit because as applications where this capacity may be advantageous emerge, more advanced and powerful cards equipped with 512Mb memory may appear.
As regards ATI's plans on releasing other solutions equipped with 512Mb memory, nothing is known for certainty yet. Hopefully, manufacturers will not bring the idea to the point of absurdity and equip low-end and middle-end cards with too much memory capacity. As to the High-end solutions, it is highly probable that 512Mb and their modifications will emerge - those similar to GeForce 6800Ultra 512Mb. But since the announcement of the new R520 chips is just around the corner, it would be sensible to assume that experiments with increasing the memory capacity will be done just in the top-end solutions of the future product line.
Now we move on the pros and cons for each of the cards tested today.
The only shortcoming of Sapphire RX800XL 512Mb is the cooling system taken from RX850XT which does not stand out with either attractive look or operating convenience. The plus is that the card is already on sale - today in the Moscow price lists only RX800XL 512Mb by Sapphire are presented (actually, this is not a rare situation). The overclocking of the specimen amounted to 425/1070MHz.
The major advantage of GeCube RX800XL 512Mb is the cooling system, quiet and effective enough. Also, the board showed the best overclocking of the core among all of the cards tested - 440 MHz.
PowerColor RX800XL 512Mb also stood out with the cooling system. Its smart structure using heat pipes is effective enough,plus the noise level low enough. Therefore, we decided to award our PowerColor RX800XL 512Mb with our "Innovation Design" medal.
Among the shortcomings which will most likely affect the price is the installation of 1.6ns memory. That didn't bring any overclocking advantages to our board specimen at all (1090MHz was the maximum we were able to achieve, whereas the nominal for 1.6ns memory is 1250MHz DDR).
In one of our forthcoming materials, we'll again try a solution based on R430, that time equipped with 256Mb memory and offering a few competitive features which do make difference from competitor solutions.
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