ATI 2900 XT reviews... Does not look good.

gpett

Here are some indepth reviews of the recently (today) released ATI HD 2900XT.  Since they delayed so long in releasing this card I assumed i was going to have problems.  It does!





Anandtech.com 2900 XT review



"The bottom line is that R600 is not perfect nor is it a failure. The HD 2900 XT competes well with the 640MB 8800 GTS, though the 8800 GTS 320MB does have a price/performance advantage over both in all but the highest resolutions and AA settings under most current games."





[H]ardocp.com 2900 XT review

" 'A day late and a dollar short.' Cliché but accurate. The Radeon HD 2900 XT is late to the party and unfortunately is bringing with it performance that cannot compete. The GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB is $50 cheaper, performs better, and draws a lot less power than the 2900 XT."

"This is as good as it is going to get for a while from ATI. The GeForce 8800 GTX will still dominate at the high end of the video card market. As it stands right now the Radeon HD 2900 XT, in our opinion, is a flop."

terrorantula

Did great on the Gamespot review.....



Also it's only the 2900XT it's not the 2900XTX or 2950XTX which will surely comeout soon and you have to consider the fact that the drivers wont be that great for it atm and it's only 512mb. I'd expect them to make a x2950xtx 1024mb DDR4 laster this year. Anyways it's always jumping back and forth between Nvidia and ATI.





Nvidia 5/6 and 7 series have all been worse than ATI's versions and it's about time Nvidia show some worthly competition.

gpett

FYI, the gamespot article was just an announcement of the product and its specs.  Gamespot did not actually have a card there or run any tests on it. =P



Edit: Oh, in the Anandtech article they mentioned that there will not be an XTX or 2950 version.  But who knows.. those things always change.

FilipinoFury

I would also not trust any reviews from Gamespot, last place I would look for hardware reviews.

Chase05

if your gonna look for reviews try sites that are dedicated to hardware, not gamesite cuz those reviews could have been done from a gamers prespective

Jackcolt

Originally posted by Chase05

if your gonna look for reviews try sites that are dedicated to hardware, not gamesite cuz those reviews could have been done from a gamers prespective

Of course. I wouldn't want some media oriented test from my favorite game review site. Most people visiting that site are gamers, and of course they would want the tests from a gamers perspective.

gpett

But the fact remains gamespot did NOT review the 2900 they just announced it and its features.  So, they know nothing about the real world performance of said video card.



That is why I linked articles that actually reviewed and thouroughly tested said video card.

ikra

theres nothing wrong with the 2900's... its supposed to go against 8800 gts and not ultra or gtx... ati has reiterated on that couple of times from what ive read. So far it has beaten the 8800gts in those benchies...



only problem is, this card eats up a power plant

Jackcolt

Originally posted by ikra

theres nothing wrong with the 2900's... its supposed to go against 8800 gts and not ultra or gtx... ati has reiterated on that couple of times from what ive read. So far it has beaten the 8800gts in those benchies...



only problem is, this card eats up a power plant

Exactly. Wait till the x2950 XTX + matured drivers are released.



Also, I'd bet the x2900 would rape the 8800GTS in the future, since it has more pipelines and faster ram interface.



Don't be so quick to judge.

gpett

The fact remains that the 2900 is more expensive than both 8800 GTS  and the 8800 GTS 640 outperforms it, costs less, and consumes way less power. 



The truth is that the 2900 is a failed product that has a bunch of work arounds, which is why it is so late to release.  The next generation of ati cards will fare better.. but this generation is just a bandaid to the problem of them not being able to do a die shrink AND a logic change.



They were overambitions to try to do a die shrink and a logic change and it bit them in the ass.  Now they have a core that is too late to market and not fleshed out.  Its ok, it has happened to other companies.



They will learn from their mistakes and move on.

Jackcolt

Fact is, that the x2900 XT out performs both the 640 and 320 MB version of the 8800 GTS in most tests(Not in oblivion and Stalker). The x2900 is also cheaper than the 640 MB version. Only problem is that it has a higher power comsumption.



This is according to gamespots tests.

outfctrl

I just bought the 8800 GTS 320mb and it is one sweet card, but it is a monster.  It is the biggest video card I have ever seen!!

Weighs a ton and almost takes up two slots, but is quiet as hell.  I love it.  Gonna keep this bad boy for awhile.

n25philly

It's the same old story, 6-8 months after Nvidia came out with new cards, ATI finally gets around to putting theirs out.  They are slightly faster, but have a horribly price to performance ratio compared to Nvidia's cards.  As soon as it seems like ATI is going to do soemthing worthwhile Nvidia comes out with a new generation of cards, and ATI starts playing catch up again.

Agent_X7

Legit Reviews tried the HD2900 and the 8800  in two different DX10 demos and the AMD/ATI card had image issues with both, while the 8800 did not.