Retail X700 Pro Roundup

by Derek Wilson on December 13, 2004 12:05 AM EST

The Test

Our test system is the same setup that we used in our 11-card Geforce 6600GT roundup.

 Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s): 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
RAM: 2 x 256MB Samsung DDR2 (4:4:4:11)
Hard Drive(s): Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB PATA
Chipset Drivers: Intel Chipset INF v6.2.1.1001
Video Card(s): ABIT Radeon X700 Pro (128MB)
HIS Radeon X700 Pro
PowerColor Radeon X700 Pro
Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 GT
Video Drivers: NVIDIA ForceWare 67.03 Beta
ATI Catalyst 4.11
Operating System(s): Windows XP Professional SP2
Power Supply: OCZ PowerStream 520 PSU
Motherboards: Intel D925XECV2

We are using the 4.11 version of Catalyst and the control panel rather than the Catalyst Control Center and .NET framework.

The ABIT card is the only 128 MB card that we tested. With the amount of extra memory needed for high resolution normal maps and multiple render targets used in current and future games, lower frame buffer sizes are impacting performance more and more.

Sapphire Overclocking Comparison
Comments Locked

22 Comments

View All Comments

  • Gaia Hunter - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link

    @11:

    Dont forget most 6800 vanillas can easly be softmoded with rivatuner:

    -All will get the 6th vertex unit;
    -Good chance of getting the additionall 4 pixel pipes too.

    I was able to go to 16,6. That gave me a 25% boost in 3dmark03 and 33% bost in 3dmark05.~

    Also consider 6800 LE (around $250). Most can get 12 pipes and 5 vertex. If u get lucky u can get to 16,6.

    While u cant always do this, consider that nvidia is implementing a new way to mask the Pipilines! think about that :)
  • Questar - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link

    >>Mid range and PCIe dont mix right now. who would get mid range card if they were dishing out big bucks to get a PCIe setup??

    Me. Assuming 3Ghz is midrange.
  • Alphafox78 - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link

    Mid range and PCIe dont mix right now. who would get mid range card if they were dishing out big bucks to get a PCIe setup?? AGP still has 98% market share, but I guess the 2% high end stuff is worth forgetting agp over.
  • DerekWilson - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link

    #18

    the wildcat is a professional card, not a consumer level card. the wildcat realizm 200 competes with the quadro, not the geforce.
  • nurazlanshah - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link

    im just wondering, why dont people just use 3dlabs wildcat realizm 200 if they really want the best computer and if they have the money? i would do that.

    http://www.3dlabs.com/products/product.asp?prod=29...
  • skunkbuster - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link

    #16, i think they do that in order to eliminate the cpu as being a bottleneck
  • alexlck - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link

    nice review but there is something that i don't understand.

    When people is looking for a mid-range video card, they are usually having a medicore setup. so what's the point to test a mid-range card with a
    $1,000+ CPU?

    can you please retest those cards with 3Ghz/3000+ cpu?

    Which, i think, will give some more realistic results.
  • ShadowVlican - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link

    i can confirm #12 statement about the "2004 Performance" cause i see that too.. stoopid ad :/

    too bad ati... better bring out the new X800s now and lower the price too :D cause ur X700Pro can't touch the 6600gt :P
  • DerekWilson - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link

    Thanks Pete. Corrected the typo.
  • Pete - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link

    Hey Derek, slight typo in the Doom 3 benches. I think you mwant to say AA rather than aniso in the first sentence, as HQ mode in D3 uses 8xAF by default.

    Sorry, I can't get as excited about this article as the last simply b/c the cards are uninspiring. Better luck next SKU, ATI.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now