ATI Hard Launches 1900 XT, XTX, XT Crossfire and All-in-Wonder Editions

[Citizen Philip]

Here is the press release regarding the All-in-Wonder and Crossfire editions: http://ir.ati.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=105421&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=807679&highlight=

Radeon X1900, All-In-Wonder X1900 and Radeon X1900 CrossFire products will engage and entertain customers while they breakthrough performance and quality barriers. Gamers and multimedia enthusiasts alike will be delighted by the launch and immediate availability of the Radeon(R) X1900 graphics processor from ATI Technologies Inc.. With the most advanced and complete set of features, PCI Express(R) add-in-cards based on the Radeon X1900 GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) will, without question, be the cards of choice for gamers looking for the best performance and for multimedia enthusiasts looking for a high-performance, high-quality digital media experience.

There are a huge number of reviews for the new cards to be read:
HardOCP (http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTUz), TechReport (http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/radeon-x1900/index.x?pg=1), Beyond3D (http://www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/r580/), Guru3D (http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/315/), bjorn3D (http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=871)

As written in the review by HardOCP reviewer Brent Justice (and editor Kyle Bennett): The bottom line is that ATI has produced an impressive refresh to the X1800 XT. We are very happy to say that ATI has informed us that production is not a problem with this X1900 GPU and that these video cards are everywhere now for people to purchase. Timely availability has really been ATI’s main problem recently. ATI had some very impressive technology in the recent past; it was just that no one could buy it in the right timeframe. It seems ATI has turned the tables and provided the hardest launch we have ever seen—video cards that were actually available and in people’s hands before the card was even announced! While not official, that’s as hard as it gets folks; let’s hope ATI can maintain these hard launches and provide products the day of launch.

So...yeah. Who can hook me up with a good deal on an XT or XTX?

[bean19]

Any truth to the rumors that Windows Vista and DirectX 10.0 will obsolete all of these high end cards upon their release later this year?

[Varsity]

I somehow doubt that.

[Kyle Jones]

I just got an X800XL recently and I really see no reason to upgrade yet again... Also, Microsoft claims their OS is going to "revolutionize things" every time they hype up a new one, and in reality, it's never quite what they say. Got to love that hype machine!

[Citizen Philip]

I haven't seen anything official but the DX10 cards are suppose to be the starting point for Windows 64 and include "new features" that won't be seen on DX9 cards: I believe I read somewhere that all DX9 cards are going to be supported by emulation under Windows 64.

Of course.. you need games and developers supporting the new platform and using the new features before it's important. I'm not really concerned, but if you have a decent system now, you may want to hold off until 64-bit stuff comes into first bloom for any upgrades. I'd guess a good time would be +8 months after the release of the first DX10 cards.

[IndependentGMR]

I bought a 9600 pro 3 years ago, and it's still doing me just fine. I've enjoyed Half-life 2, Doom 3, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, and World of Warcraft without any problems. Of course, I'm probably going to have to upgrade sooner rather than later.

[kokyunage]

Hopefully this will encourage nVidia to produce more 7800GTX cards w/ 512 video ram. I can find them on ebay, for 800 each. Yeah, fucking right.

[I[HATE]Everything]

Any truth to the rumors that Windows Vista and DirectX 10.0 will obsolete all of these high end cards upon their release later this year?

Not obsolete, but they won't support all the new functionality of DX10 as I understand it. I'm waiting until Vista ships to upgrade anything. No point spending 3 grand now when it will be low end stuff the day Vista comes out.

[Citizen Philip]

I bought a 9600 pro 3 years ago, and it's still doing me just fine. I've enjoyed Half-life 2, Doom 3, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, and World of Warcraft without any problems. Of course, I'm probably going to have to upgrade sooner rather than later.

Dude. You have my card. I have two shipments of parts arriving in the next 48 hours for my system.. all I need is

a video card
processor
memory
and a motherboard!

That stuff is pretty cheap. I think I'm going with the red team.. I hope to have a 1900 sometime in the next.. few pay checks ;)

[AntB]

I will never upgrade to Vista if they put that DRM crap into it. UGH.

[Voodoo]

I too have heard that DirectX v10 will not be backwards compatible except via emulation. And that emulation will only cover DirectX v9. The reason is that v10 is supposed to totally new from the ground up and they did not want previous generations to nix this version up like the history of directX has been. This is the primary reason I have no upgraded my Radeon 9800. That, and the secondary reason of those damn Physics processors I keep hearing about...

[Voodoo]

I will never upgrade to Vista if they put that DRM crap into it. UGH.

I completely agree! Come on GoOS! Get out already damn it!

[Taco]

Still happy with my 6800 Ultra. Just bought a Dual Core 4200+. I didn't need it by any stretch of the imagination, but I am NewEgg's wet dream.

[Citizen Philip]

I will never upgrade to Vista if they put that DRM crap into it. UGH.

There's quite a fight over how this is suppose to work, originally it was suppose to be something like a blu-ray wet dream, where all the companies can sit behind friendly Microsoft firewalls dictating the content you can play on your system..

meh couldn't find the article. There was an article with pretty pictures that showed how the OS was suppose to handle DRM.

Here's another article that gets techie, but has some pretty pictures.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1871

[Taco]

It doesn't really matter and I don't care. Any DRM in Vista or Blu-Ray or whatever will be cracked inside of a month.

But yes, hypothetically if these issues would not be cracked I'd have a gaming PC system and a Linux everything else. I'm not that far from moving to that solution DRM or no DRM.

[TheKeck]

So, how much does this puppy cost right now?

[StoneGut]

I got a X800XL a little while ago and it's doing me just fine. BUT if I did have the cash for this new X1900 I'd be first in line to get one. Looks like a great card!

[thecrazyd]

I am gonna wait for the Radeon XX9999 XTXTXTXXX.

[GodFather]

Its amazing how the AGP's got dumped so quickly. I just found a BFG 6800 ultra online(AGP) and still paid $470 for the thing. Those things havent gone down much at all because they stopped production of them.

[bapenguin]

$650, $600 (cross fire) or $550.

It seems the performance gains are minimal and basically ATI just caught up to NVidia with these cards except in FEAR, these cards blow the game out of the water. Way to much money for a video card though.

[see colon]

the x1900 looks to be the most future proof of current cards because it has a 3:1 shader to rop ratio. i think we'll see it pull away from the 7800 gtx 512 when the newer crop of games comes out.

BTW, does anyone know of a site that benched the "extreme gamer edition" of king kong on this card?

[thecrazyd]

future proof
Please people. Do you see what happens when you start using stupid buzz words? You look stupid. Don't do it.

[Citizen Philip]

Please people. Do you see what happens when you start using stupid buzz words? You look stupid. Don't do it.

Future proof is a term used in PC hardware. The idea is to buy new hardware right after a big update to hardware features. Like getting a PCI-E motherboard with decent features, so that when AGP got outdated your system will have continued longevity because you didn't need to update your mainboard to take the new standard.

Like buying a motherboard with 4 slots for memory, and buy ram that is a bit more pricey to only use up 2 slots so can buy another 2 later.

etc.

It's mostly a losing battle trying to futureproof your system, but if you pick your battles well you can stretch your dollars for years.

[thecrazyd]

Future proof is a stupid buzz word used in PC hardware.
Much better.

[Citizen Philip]

Much better.

If you are going to be my pet troll I strongly suggest you jingle the bell you have around your collar. I otherwise might have to slap you for being a bad dog.

Now. Sit. Bark.

Good Boy.

[thecrazyd]

If you are going to be my pet troll I strongly suggest you jingle the bell you have around your collar. I otherwise might have to slap you for being a bad dog.

Now. Sit. Bark.

Good Boy.
The fuck. I mention that future proof is a stupid buzz word, which it clearly is, and you give me an idiotic response explaining what it means. I know what it means, but that doesn't make it any less of a stupid buzzword. Lay off, cock.

*EDIT* I see this is the second time I stepped up to you today. Well, stop saying stupid things then.

[Atorak]

Disclaimer for Evil Avatar: Troll at your own risk.

[Citizen Philip]

The fuck. I mention that future proof is a stupid buzz word, which it clearly is, and you give me an idiotic response explaining what it means. I know what it means, but that doesn't make it any less of a stupid buzzword. Lay off, cock.

*EDIT* I see this is the second time I stepped up to you today. Well, stop saying stupid things then.

Good Boy!

Bark.

[thecrazyd]

Good Boy!

Bark.
Who is the troll again?

[see colon]

wow, this thread went downhill fast. thanks guys.

[Voodoo]

Aww, thecrazyd and Citizen Phillip are at it... Reminds me of GrinR and Assassin... And that reminds me of something else...
http://www.beggingtodiffer.com/archives/Gay%20Batman.jpg

[Citizen Philip]

the x1900 looks to be the most future proof of current cards because it has a 3:1 shader to rop ratio. i think we'll see it pull away from the 7800 gtx 512 when the newer crop of games comes out.

BTW, does anyone know of a site that benched the "extreme gamer edition" of king kong on this card?

Back on topic then, ;)

I haven't heard of a site that benched King Kong for anything, but I don't follow benchmarks really. Only bench I recall being noteworthy on was on an X1800 that either had the core or the memory OC'd to +1000 mhz.

As far as ATI architecture, I think what they are doing is a good idea, I know using high-end animation software like Maya you can do lots of amazing tricks with shader properties: I don't know how much of that translates to being programmable but there is point in production animation (not movie) where you can either waste processing ability on useless geometry that takes up resources or you can fake it using shaders and lighting tricks for a fraction of the resource cost.

[Taco]

he fuck. I mention that future proof is a stupid buzz word, which it clearly is

His point was still valid. Your point is what?

[Citizen Philip]

Aww, thecrazyd and Citizen Phillip are at it... Reminds me of GrinR and Assassin... And that reminds me of something else...


Oh stop it, you are giving me the warm fuzzies.

[Voodoo]

Oh stop it, you are giving me the warm fuzzies.

Hahaha! I think you two should add eachother to your particular instant messagers and have a conversation over this with some nice fava beans.

[Voodoo]

Back on topic then, ;)

I haven't heard of a site that benched King Kong for anything, but I don't follow benchmarks really. Only bench I recall being noteworthy on was on an X1800 that either had the core or the memory OC'd to +1000 mhz.

As far as ATI architecture, I think what they are doing is a good idea, I know using high-end animation software like Maya you can do lots of amazing tricks with shader properties: I don't know how much of that translates to being programmable but there is point in production animation (not movie) where you can either waste processing ability on useless geometry that takes up resources or you can fake it using shaders and lighting tricks for a fraction of the resource cost.

I agree that ATI is moving in the right direction. I wonder what nVidia will shoot back in response.

[thecrazyd]

I agree that ATI is moving in the right direction. I wonder what nVidia will shoot back in response.
Why do they need to respond? The difference between the 7800GTX 512 MB is marginal at best.

[Mason]

Why do they need to respond? The difference between the 7800GTX 512 MB is marginal at best.
Other than the inability to run HDR and AA simultaneously. 7800 is the king of 2005 games, no question, but Nvidia needs a small refresh for 2006.

But then maybe Nvidia is waiting for Vista also (which could be a very smart move). You'd like to think that MS would've firmed up their VDDM and DX10 by now, such that any new card would be marketed as Vista-ready or something. Apparently not.

[Schnoogs]

I agree that ATI is moving in the right direction. I wonder what nVidia will shoot back in response.

7900 naturally.

[gojira]

Nice! Call me when this card is $139.


'kthxbye

[Montgomery_Python]

I'm waiting for the XTXXX.

(Could these model names get more dumb?)

[Voodoo]

I'm waiting for the XTXXX.

(Could these model names get more dumb?)

Damn right! I hate those letters and don't have enough time to keep track of what the hell they all mean. Bunch of fuckers! Why don't they just modify the 1900 instead with...

1900 = xt
1925 = xtx
1950 = xt crossfire
1975 = all in wonder edition
1999 = could be platinum edition

Hell, see that wasn't that damn hard! Fuckers.

[Schnoogs]

Damn right! I hate those letters and don't have enough time to keep track of what the hell they all mean. Bunch of fuckers! Why don't they just modify the 1900 instead with...

1900 = xt
1925 = xtx
1950 = xt crossfire
1975 = all in wonder edition
1999 = could be platinum edition

Hell, see that wasn't that damn hard! Fuckers.

As if life isnt already tough enough...starving children in Africa...fear of suicide bombers blowing up middle eastern school buses...Israelis worrying about a nuclear Iran....think they have problems???? Those people have it easy compared to the hell us PC gamers live in.

Perspective is everything ;)

[Voodoo]

As if life isnt already tough enough...starving children in Africa...fear of suicide bombers blowing up middle eastern school buses...Israelis worrying about a nuclear Iran....think they have problems???? Those people have it easy compared to the hell us PC gamers live in.

Perspective is everything ;)

Wow Assassin, you have got to be one busy body. Being involved with helping the starving children in Africa, helping to provide security for middle eastern school buses, working as an intelligence operative for the Israelis and a PC gamer. Damn! And I thought I had a difficult job.

Me, I am positive that the people that are tackleing those problems are the best ones to be doing such. Some of them may even be PC gamers. And then, those that are I bet are confused as hell when they go buy a new PC graphics card.

[Draft]

Much better.Hahahaha. "Future proof" is a perfectly valid way to describe a piece of hardware. You're a dumbass.

[Madwand]

I agree that ATI is moving in the right direction. I wonder what nVidia will shoot back in response.

As has already been pointed out several times here, the next meta-game will be future-proofing DirectX 10 support. NVidia's been bitten recently wrt to Vista graphics capability, with Microsoft saying that at this time, ATI is a better solution. They have to address that.

So, for now, who really gives a damn as to who has the biggest, um, pipe? Until we hear some commitments to full hardware DirectX 10 support, many of us are going to stay away from laying down the big bucks for a more future-proof solution.

The other part of this question is when DirectX 10 support is really going to matter. When will it be that Vista or whatever is out there in enough numbers, together with enough games that support, require, and capitalize on DirectX 10 that the next-gen (I mean future-proof) card is "really important"?

[Schnoogs]

Wow Assassin, you have got to be one busy body. Being involved with helping the starving children in Africa, helping to provide security for middle eastern school buses, working as an intelligence operative for the Israelis and a PC gamer. Damn! And I thought I had a difficult job.

Me, I am positive that the people that are tackleing those problems are the best ones to be doing such. Some of them may even be PC gamers. And then, those that are I bet are confused as hell when they go buy a new PC graphics card.

Their confusion is understandable...yours on the other hand...well just say its pityable

[Voodoo]

As has already been pointed out several times here, the next meta-game will be future-proofing DirectX 10 support. NVidia's been bitten recently wrt to Vista graphics capability, with Microsoft saying that at this time, ATI is a better solution. They have to address that.

So, for now, who really gives a damn as to who has the biggest, um, pipe? Until we hear some commitments to full hardware DirectX 10 support, many of us are going to stay away from laying down the big bucks for a more future-proof solution.

The other part of this question is when DirectX 10 support is really going to matter. When will it be that Vista or whatever is out there in enough numbers, together with enough games that support, require, and capitalize on DirectX 10 that the next-gen (I mean future-proof) card is "really important"?

I completely agree. If you go through those times in this topic where DirectX 10 support will be the next meta-game you'll see me among those people saying so. I am exactly in that camp and the other camp that is waiting to see what UT2007 and Quake Wars brings to the table this year. Beyond those two I don't see any others pushing the graphics envelop in a big way this year, as of yet.

Assassin! You are killin' me. GrinR is making smart posts while you are making posts poking fun at me. Do you have some sand up your hiney hole? Hahahaha!

[Schnoogs]

GrinR is making smart posts while you are making posts poking fun at me

Well it naturally doesn't take much to make fun of you...I save my smart posts for everyone else ;)

[Voodoo]

Well it naturally doesn't take much to make fun of you...I save my smart posts for everyone else ;)

Damn it! Got me again, Klerck! I know you ain't dead and it is really you posing as Assassin!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8b/Klerck1.jpg
It is either Klerck or I keep failing my damn bridge troll rolls. Damn D20 must be weighted!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Internet_Troll.png

[Schnoogs]

Damn D20 must be weighted!

You wonder with all the kids here who grew up with keyboards and controllers if they even know what a D20 is...damn your post made me feel old.

[Schnoogs]

Ordered a 1900X today...if anyone is interested I will post benchmarks and general impressions.

[Voodoo]

Ordered a 1900X today...if anyone is interested I will post benchmarks and general impressions.

Holy Crow! I'll be getting one of those 7800 AGP cards when they come out. It'll be interesting to see your report bud. How much did you end up spending on that beast? And what is your system specs anyways?

[Schnoogs]

Holy Crow! I'll be getting one of those 7800 AGP cards when they come out. It'll be interesting to see your report bud. How much did you end up spending on that beast? And what is your system specs anyways?

For a couple of reasons I ended up with a nice chunk of change to biuld a new PC so I decided to splurge and build a real monster. I am a programmer by occupation and needed a new rig for both work and my hobby which is game engines.

I ended up ordering...

Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Corsair XMS 2x1gig DDR 400
Asus Crossfire Motherboard
Radeon X1900X
Seagate Barracuda 250gig hard drive
Antec Truepower 550watt power supply
Cooler Master case
Logitech 5500 speakers

I'll use my Apple 23" display from my current system and kick my current system to the home theater so I can finally have a HTPC.

[Schnoogs]

Update...

So I recently built a system with the following specs...

Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Corsair XMS 2x1gig DDR 400
Asus Crossfire Motherboard
Radeon X1900X
Seagate Barracuda 250gig hard drive
Antec Truepower 550watt power supply
Cooler Master case
Logitech 5500 speakers

My previous system consisted of an NVidia 6800 GT, P4 2.8ghz, and 1 gig of ram.

I benchmarked both systems and the scores are as follows...first score is old PC...second score is new PC.

3DMark01 - 15947 - 27500
3DMark03 - 10745 - 16903
3DMark05 - 4814 - 10013
3DMark06 - 2381 - 5086

As you can I see I obtained some pretty healthy gains. It was nice to see both 3DMark 05 and 06 run smoothly since before it was very choppy. 06 often ran between 25-30fps.

3DMark06 is stunnign to say the least. I read some posts here dogging it and I can only assume those individuals ran the test on outdated machines. I cant emphasize enough how stunning 06 looks when you get smooth framerates. It was very clever of Futuremark to reuse some of the tests from 05 only this time with HDR and better pixel shaders. The difference is mind boggling.

I also ran two ATI demos...The Assassin...ToyShop. Even at 1920x1200 they playback was FLAWLESS. We're talking damn near Pixar level renderings in real time. I'll have to use the word stunning yet again.

I also watched some QT HD in 1080p. PERFECT playback with ATI's AVIVO. Looked incredible.

I then decided to test the dual core and watched a 1080p trailer and one of the ATI realtime demos simultaneously....didn't skip a beat. On my old system either one of those would have brought the system to its knees. On my new one I saw 85% CPU utilization and perfect playback of both.

Well I'm stoaked....time to install some old games.

[steinfoot]

hey Assassin, did you run that new 3D benchmark? its a real workhorse, pushes some 13 million polygons, HDR, pixel shader 3.0, real beauty of a demo.
check it out, its called

C.A.R.O.L.

[dr_wily]

i hate you.