Gaming Card Sweetspot = X800XL?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Mac
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Greg Mac

Every couple of years I upgrade my gaming card (usually as part of a system
upgrade) to what I perceive as the price/ performance "sweetspot" of the
day. Some years the choice is obvious (remember the Ti4200), sometimes not
so obvious (the FX5900 I have now was probably not ideal).

My survey of review sites and comments suggest that the ATI X800XL might be
my sweetspot card for this year, and I'd be interested in any opinions one
way or the other.

My definition of sweetspot is a bit fuzzy, but basically means the optimal
trade off between price and performance, for a card that will be reliable
and still perform very well with latest games (biggest test will probably be
Elder Scrolls Oblivion at year end). Absolute max performance is not the
issue, and it seems to me that you can comfortably drop back a couple of
rungs on the performance ladder, and still get maybe 70 - 80% of the
bleeding edge performance of the best cards available, at probably 40 - 50%
of the price of those best cards.

I also consider the single slot and big, slower (= quieter) fan on the
X800XL to be significant positives. I'd like to think the drivers are now
mature and stable, but haven't seen much to indicate that either way.


Thanks for any comments,
Greg
 
Every couple of years I upgrade my gaming card (usually as part of a system
upgrade) to what I perceive as the price/ performance "sweetspot" of the
day. Some years the choice is obvious (remember the Ti4200), sometimes not
so obvious (the FX5900 I have now was probably not ideal).

My survey of review sites and comments suggest that the ATI X800XL might be
my sweetspot card for this year, and I'd be interested in any opinions one
way or the other.

My definition of sweetspot is a bit fuzzy, but basically means the optimal
trade off between price and performance, for a card that will be reliable
and still perform very well with latest games (biggest test will probably be
Elder Scrolls Oblivion at year end). Absolute max performance is not the
issue, and it seems to me that you can comfortably drop back a couple of
rungs on the performance ladder, and still get maybe 70 - 80% of the
bleeding edge performance of the best cards available, at probably 40 - 50%
of the price of those best cards.

I also consider the single slot and big, slower (= quieter) fan on the
X800XL to be significant positives. I'd like to think the drivers are now
mature and stable, but haven't seen much to indicate that either way.
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree with you, Greg. At any rate, the x800xl is the
card I will get for my first PCI-e system, planning to build in the
next couple of months (630J, Intel945P, DDR2, etc.). I think it's a
natural step up from a 9800PRO (my present card, and arguably the last
'sweet spot' card). - Of course, nVidia users may disagree... :-)
Cheers.
 
Every couple of years I upgrade my gaming card (usually as part of a system
upgrade) to what I perceive as the price/ performance "sweetspot" of the
day. Some years the choice is obvious (remember the Ti4200), sometimes not
so obvious (the FX5900 I have now was probably not ideal).

My survey of review sites and comments suggest that the ATI X800XL might be
my sweetspot card for this year, and I'd be interested in any opinions one
way or the other.

My definition of sweetspot is a bit fuzzy, but basically means the optimal
trade off between price and performance, for a card that will be reliable
and still perform very well with latest games (biggest test will probably be
Elder Scrolls Oblivion at year end). Absolute max performance is not the
issue, and it seems to me that you can comfortably drop back a couple of
rungs on the performance ladder, and still get maybe 70 - 80% of the
bleeding edge performance of the best cards available, at probably 40 - 50%
of the price of those best cards.

I also consider the single slot and big, slower (= quieter) fan on the
X800XL to be significant positives. I'd like to think the drivers are now
mature and stable, but haven't seen much to indicate that either way.


Thanks for any comments,
Greg
Click to expand...

I just bought an X800XL AGP and going from a 9800pro it was a nice
boost but nothing major. It competes with the Nvidia 6800GT nicely.
I'm using the CAT5.6 drivers and all seems well so far. I paid $399.99
CAD for it and it's a made by ATI version. Bang for buck it's either
this card or the 6800GT.
 
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