ATI Radeon X800 XL - A $299 6800GT Competitor

Final Words

As a side note, before we talk about the comparison at hand, at $199, the Radeon X800 does a good job of competing with NVIDIA's GeForce 6600GT. However, it lacks SLI support and isn't available today, so our mid-range recommendation is still firmly planted on the 6600GT if you're buying a card before the end of the year.

Once it was launched, we knew that the X800 XL would be an interesting competitor to NVIDIA's GeForce 6800GT, and indeed it is. As we mentioned earlier in the review, ignoring Doom 3, the X800 XL is quite competitive with the 6800GT and should be $100 cheaper when it hits the streets. At a high level, the X800 XL is a more affordable alternative to the 6800GT that offers similar performance in most areas. Unfortunately for ATI, Doom 3 is a big deal and it somewhat complicates our recommendation.

If you are looking for an AGP card, your only option at this price point is really the 6800GT. There are cheaper alternatives, but not better performing AGP alternatives at $400 or less.

ATI informed us at the X850 launch that the X800 XL would be available sometime in January. If this is indeed true, then in January, we'd be foolish not to recommend the X800 XL, not because it offers a huge performance advantage over the 6800GT (which it does not), but because it holds a $100 price advantage over the 6800GT.

If ATI is able to bring out the X800 XL at its suggested street price of $299, then most users won't have a problem glancing over the lower Doom 3 performance, given that the X800 XL is quite competitive in other titles. If ATI can ensure that their only blemish is Doom 3, and should they continue to work hard to reduce that blemish through further driver optimizations, then the X800 XL won't only be the more affordable solution, but it would become the clear solution.

For now, ATI wins because of price, which is something that we're able to live with. Now, if this thing is actually available when it's suppose to be, then we'll be happy. However, if it's not, then ATI will have succeeded in delaying holiday sales of NVIDIA's GeForce 6800GT. If you are at all worried about ATI bringing out the X800 XL on time, then the 6800GT is still a good option, just a potentially more costly one. We can't predict the future, but for the sake of keeping competition cleaner, we're hoping that come January, we won't regret recommending the X800 XL today.