ATI Radeon 32MB SDR

Final Words

At lower resolutions the Radeon SDR falls behind the GeForce2 MX, however at the higher resolutions (around 1024 x 768 x 32 and above), the Radeon SDR begins to perform more along the lines of a Voodoo5 5500 or a GeForce DDR. In terms of FSAA quality and performance, not much has changed since we did our FSAA Comparison, so for more information on how the Radeon stacks up there take a look at the comparison.

The Radeon SDR marks ATI's first entry into the low-cost market with a Radeon based product, and because of their powerful HyperZ features, the Radeon SDR does not flop as a performance product either. The Radeon SDR will give some hefty competition to the GeForce2 MX, but not as the solution currently stands.

First of all, the Radeon SDR's estimated $150 price tag is entirely too expensive for a card that does not have the TwinView features of the GeForce2 MX or the DualHead features of the Matrox G450. The Radeon SDR needs to be much closer to the $100 price point in order for it to be a viable alternative for many. Considering that a GeForce2 GTS can be had for close to $180 now, a $150 Radeon SDR isn't the most attractive option.

Secondly, the Radeon SDR and the Radeon in general is in desperate need of improved Windows 2000 drivers. The performance numbers tell the horrid story of a 50% drop in performance simply by moving to Windows 2000, that's not a very pleasing story to be hearing. While Microsoft did intend Windows 2000 to be a professional OS only, the fact of the matter is that there are quite a few power users that use the OS at home, and for them, anything less than the same performance they would get under Windows 98 is unacceptable.

On the bright side of things, the Radeon SDR will be very attractive to OEMs. Just as OEMs are doing now with the GeForce2 MX, OEMs will be able to say that their systems are powered by ATI's Radeon graphics accelerator while making use of the cheaper SDR version of the card. Unfortunately, without any TwinView or DualHead-like features, the Radeon SDR will have some trouble gaining the same acceptance, professionally, that the GeForce2 MX and Matrox G4xx line of cards have.

In summary, ATI has the potential to take the Radeon SDR quite far, provided that the price drops and drivers improve. If ATI wants to compete with NVIDIA, they need to do so not only based on performance, but based on price as well as drivers.