The ATI business became worse last fall, though its power is still very high, but NVIDIA is still in the superiority in high-end and average market segments. At the same time, the Radeon X1800 XT is a very powerful video accelerator, which has many advantages.
The Radeon X1800 XT is based on the video chip R520. All accelerators of this type are produced on side factories by ATI orders. Partners of the Canadian company obtain these video cards, pack them and provide with packages and complexes.
There are some positive and negative factors in this technique. A user will know that each video card he obtains will be the product of the etalon quality and level. He may be sure that ASUS, Palit or HIS will provide the same video adapter.
The Radeon X1800 XT has a lower speed than the fastest NVIDIA product - GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB, though it is cheaper. Therefore, disregarding the difference in memory volumes, you should compare the X1800 XT with accelerated variants of the GeForce 7800 GTX 256 MB of Golden Sample or Gainward types. Another variant is the TOP from ASUS, as they are in the same price range.
The initial price of the X1800 XT can be decreased up to one hundred US dollars. In this case there will be another competition and another marketing policy.
The Radeon X1800 XT has the 512 MB DDR3 video memory. It is already a tradition to use the Samsung memory for powerful video cards. This product is made for the PCI-Express x16 interface. A clock rate of the video chip is 625 MHz, a physical clock by the memory is 750 MHz and an efficient clock is 1500 MHz. The width of the memory bus is 256 bit. There are eight top conveyors and sixteen pixel conveyors. The parameters of the video card are 205x100x32 mm. The color of the textolit is red. The video card is provided with 2x DualLink DVI and S-Video outputs. ATI uses VIVO and RAGE Theater technologies for its product. A TV-out is integrated to the GPU.
The cooler of the X1800 XT is inherited from the X850 XT. Actually, this is the same cooling unit, but the radiator is made from copper. The turbine, which blows the area out, is of the same construction; thus, you can hear a very unpleasant sound in ten-fifteen seconds after the start. Then, the device is becoming almost silent.
There are two disadvantages of this system. The video card should take two slots in the motherboard due to the cooler parameters. The second problem is a high level of noise at start. There are also some positive factors. For instance, hot air is blown out of the system block, which is a very important feature for the system components. It also becomes more useful, since the video card heats much and it requires much power. The X1800 XT has a greater power supply than 7the 800GTX - it requires 100-100 Wt against of 80 Wt. At the same time, these parameters are not too high. For instance, you can use the Radeon X1800 XT in a bare bone computer with a power supply unit for 350 Wt.
Radeon video cards are treated as high performance video adapters. The only choice that can be better in the modern market is only GeForce based video cards. Simultaneously, limited editions of Radeon video cards with lower prices can be the best choice if you prefer the high performance hardware with soft prices.