ATI's New Leader in Graphics Performance: The Radeon X1900 Series
by Derek Wilson & Josh Venning on January 24, 2006 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Details of the Cards
There are actually 4 products being launched today, three of which we were able to get our hands on for this article. We have actually spotted all three of these cards we tested around the internet today, so availability is immediate, and we couldn't be happier. As for pricing, ATI's MSRPs are as follows:
Radeon X1900 XTX -- $650
Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition -- $600
Radeon X1900 XT -- $550
The CrossFire Edition version of the X1900 is clocked the same as the X1900 XT except for its I/O connectors and compositing engine. The X1900 XT weighs in with some very high clock speeds, especially for the number of pixel pipelines it supports. If you are worried about the CrossFire card bringing down the XTX, don't be. The XTX only sees about a 4% increase in core clock speed and a 7% increase in memory clock speed over the stock X1900 XT.
So, while the price gap between the XTX, XT, and CrossFire versions of the card would seem to indicate sizeable performance differences, we can definitively say that this is not the general case. The XTX is only marginally faster even on paper, and, as we will see, in the real world, real performance is what matters. Our advice is to save your money and go with the cheaper XT. 18% more cost for at best 7% more performance is all that the XTX gives.
There are actually 4 products being launched today, three of which we were able to get our hands on for this article. We have actually spotted all three of these cards we tested around the internet today, so availability is immediate, and we couldn't be happier. As for pricing, ATI's MSRPs are as follows:
Radeon X1900 XTX -- $650
Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition -- $600
Radeon X1900 XT -- $550
The CrossFire Edition version of the X1900 is clocked the same as the X1900 XT except for its I/O connectors and compositing engine. The X1900 XT weighs in with some very high clock speeds, especially for the number of pixel pipelines it supports. If you are worried about the CrossFire card bringing down the XTX, don't be. The XTX only sees about a 4% increase in core clock speed and a 7% increase in memory clock speed over the stock X1900 XT.
| ATI X1000 Series Features | ||||
Radeon X1900 XT(X) |
Radeon X1600 |
Radeon X1800 XL |
Radeon X1800 XT |
|
| Vertex Pipelines | 8 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
| Pixel Pipelines | 48 |
12 |
16 |
16 |
| Core Clock | 625(650) |
590 |
500 |
625 |
| Memory Size | 512MB |
256MB |
256MB |
512MB |
| Memory Data Rate | 1.45GHz (1.55GHz) |
1.38GHz |
1GHz |
1.5GHz |
| Texture Units | 16 |
4 |
16 |
16 |
| Render Backends | 16 |
4 |
16 |
16 |
| Z Compare Units | 16 |
8 |
16 |
16 |
| Maximum Threads | 512 |
128 |
512 |
512 |
So, while the price gap between the XTX, XT, and CrossFire versions of the card would seem to indicate sizeable performance differences, we can definitively say that this is not the general case. The XTX is only marginally faster even on paper, and, as we will see, in the real world, real performance is what matters. Our advice is to save your money and go with the cheaper XT. 18% more cost for at best 7% more performance is all that the XTX gives.
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Orbs - Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - link
I didn't see any comparisons between X1900 XT CrossFire and X1900 XTX CrossFire, except for the comments at the end of the article saying diminishing returns resulting in even smaller a gap in CrossFire than the XTX had over the XT to begin with.With the exception of 1 B&W2 test (which I suspect is a typo), the graphs all show the X1800 XT vs. the X1900 XTX. Those are two different generations, not just clock speeds.
poohbear - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
I LOVE competition.:)poohbear - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
especially GOOD competition.:0Aquila76 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
Nice. Maybe we'll start seeing some real developments in GPU's again. Right now, it's more of a 'do what we've been doing but faster', maybe we'll start seeing some new innovations in video tech in the coming year (adding physics processing, wider encoding capabilities, etc.).Spoelie - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link
The x.00 line was more of the same yeah, but the x1.00 line is architecturally a pretty large step forward, finally on par with nvidia where it really needed to and a few steps ahead in other areas. If only they gave it more ROPs/Texture engines.Phantronius - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
And the shitty cycle of upgrading continues.Capt Caveman - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
And available at a good price. Way to go ATI.gimpsoft - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
nice scores on ATI but i still have my 6800GT ill wait until next 2 gen i see we can now play respectable 40 frames + @ 19200X1400 nice to know when 1080p tv are outdon't know either that or get a PS3 will see =) it's getting way to expensive.
bamacre - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
WTF is your idea of "good price?" I see X1900 XT starting at $550 to $605 per card.Capt Caveman - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
Digitally Unique has the X1900XT for $525 and Actbuy had them for $504. Based on performance, these cards offer a great bang for your buck. And this is coming from a GTX 512 owner.