X1800 series programmable enough for general computing applications.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tony DiMarzio
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Tony DiMarzio

http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/8887

Major points are that the X1800 architecture is extensible, flexible, and
programmable enough to be used for general computing applications (where
parallelism is key) like folding@home, and that the X1800XT performed 5 to 7
times faster than the Nvidia 7800GTX in the same folding@home test.

Very interesting, and promising news for the incumbent X1800XT and the
already available X1800XL. For the X1800XL's part though, it's still not
even close to enough to justify the price.

The price point for the X1800XL is just wrong :(
 
http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/8887

Major points are that the X1800 architecture is extensible, flexible, and
programmable enough to be used for general computing applications (where
parallelism is key) like folding@home, and that the X1800XT performed 5 to 7
times faster than the Nvidia 7800GTX in the same folding@home test.

Very interesting, and promising news for the incumbent X1800XT and the
already available X1800XL. For the X1800XL's part though, it's still not
even close to enough to justify the price.

The price point for the X1800XL is just wrong :(

And it may not overclock much either, since it probably uses chips
from the buggy early R520 silicon....a key design error limited the
functional clock speed to ~ 500MHz. Note that the X1800XL has a
clock speed set to 500MHz. The probable reason why the
X1800 XT is shipping late into November is the packaging and QC
lead-time for production parts from the fixed silicon. The review
copies of the X1800XT are likely to be using chips from the
verification build of the latest silicon.

John Lewis


 
John Lewis said:
And it may not overclock much either, since it probably uses chips
from the buggy early R520 silicon....a key design error limited the
functional clock speed to ~ 500MHz. Note that the X1800XL has a
clock speed set to 500MHz. The probable reason why the
X1800 XT is shipping late into November is the packaging and QC
lead-time for production parts from the fixed silicon. The review
copies of the X1800XT are likely to be using chips from the
verification build of the latest silicon.

John Lewis

That _is_ a possibility. Perhaps a strong one. However, we can not be
positive that the X1800XL is using chips from the early R520 silicon that
contained the bug that limited the clock to ~500mhz. The fact that the
X1800XL is set stock to 500mhz _could_ be just a coincidence.

If it is true, and for some reason I actually wanted an X1800XL, I would
wait a few months, maybe more, to ensure the finite supply of old R520
silicon was exhausted and had been shipped to the unfortunate who bought
them :) LOL
 
That _is_ a possibility. Perhaps a strong one. However, we can not be
positive that the X1800XL is using chips from the early R520 silicon that
contained the bug that limited the clock to ~500mhz. The fact that the
X1800XL is set stock to 500mhz _could_ be just a coincidence.

Then pray give me another logical reason why the X1800XT is so late,
considering that the board design is a trivial tweak on the XL.

If it is true, and for some reason I actually wanted an X1800XL, I would
wait a few months, maybe more, to ensure the finite supply of old R520
silicon was exhausted and had been shipped to the unfortunate who bought
them :) LOL

Wise man... better get it from a very-high-turnover on-line supplier.
Or see if you can read the manufacturing date before you buy retail at
a store.

John Lewis
 
John Lewis said:
Then pray give me another logical reason why the X1800XT is so late,
considering that the board design is a trivial tweak on the XL.

You misunderstood me. There is no disputing that the X1800XT is late because
of the previous rev. R520 bug, and I don't dispute that. What is disputable
is whether they tossed the chips from the bugged R520 silicon in the trash
or or if they will actually be using them in X1800XL's until the supply is
exhausted (as not to waste). We can't know for sure. Well, actually we can
know for sure. If in a few months X1800XL's start clocking significantly
higher than the current shipping X1800XL's then that will prove the theory.
 
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