ATI X800XT Video Card Review :: Gaming ATI Style

My home system is a 3800+, with 1 GB of DDR memory, a ATI RADEON Xpress 200 reference motherboard, 2x120 GB Seagate Barracuda V hard drives in RAID 0 mode, and the X800XT card being reviewed here. The X800XT is an excellent addition to this system replacing an ATI X700 Pro that came with the test kit.

Half Life 2 is the latest game from Valve Software released a short month or so ago. If you haven't picked it up, I would strongly suggest picking it up as it's one of the most beautiful, strong games in a long time. Featuring DirectX 9.0 Pixel Shader 2.0 effects throughout, this game can stress even the most powerful system of just last year.

On the X800XT, Half Life 2 plays great. This game is almost totally playable on the X800XT. By totally playable, I mean 1280x1024 32 bit DX9.0 render path 6x AA 16x AF. I played the entire game with only a few hitches here and there at those settings. Part of the performance most likely came from the strong CPU, but it's still good to see a game run so well.

I just started playing Need for Speed Underground 2 for the PC. On the X800XT it plays great. Graphics look sweet, with the rain causing the streets to become slick with reflections on the street where a water puddle lies. 1280x1024 32 bit 6x AA and 16x AF is fully playable on this game. There are only a couple places in the game where the action gets a little slower, but otherwise it's fully playable.

Half Life 2

Half Life 2

Half Life 2

Half Life 2

Half Life 2

Half Life 2

Doom 3

Doom 3

Doom 3

Doom 3

Halo

Halo