X800 Pro or XT pe

Juic3 · Jul 8, 2004, 06:38 PM

Hi, hope youre all enjoying cat 4.7s

I havent tried em out yet.
Ive been wondering about which card I should buy, the PRO version or the XT one, what worries me is the bottlenecks Ive been reading about ...

My current hardware is
P4 2.4 Northwood, 768 MB PC2700 RAM, 40GB seagate 7200 rpm HD, Intel 865PE mb, sapph 9800 pro...
now i know this is pretty low so Im upgrading these
P4 3.0 Northwood, PC3200 RAM

Now which one would be better for me x800 pro or XT .. dont want to waste the estra 60-100$ on the XT if its not gonna make the difference

Thanx

**MIG-31** · Jul 8, 2004, 06:57 PM

these are the specs taken for a asus x800 pro.

- 475MHz GPU Clock Speed
- 256MB 900MHz GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest cutting edge 3D applications
- 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
- Twelve pixel pipelines
- Supports the AGP 8X and AGP 4x standards
- Six programmable vertex shader pipelines
- Full support for DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality
- New SMARTSHADER™ HD technology
- SMOOTHVISION™ HD technology
- 3Dc™ High quality 4:1 Normal Map Compression delivers beautiful scenes without the performance hit.
- Unique VIDEOSHADER™ HD engine
- HYPER Z™ HD
- ASUS GameFace™Live
- ASUS Video Security™online
- ASUS On Screen Display
- Free 300k Pixel Webcam

and these are for the asus x800xt

- 520MHz GPU Core clock speed
- 16 Pixel rendering pipe-line core
- Six programmable vertex shader pipelines
- 256MB 1120MHz DDR3 High Speed Memory
- 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
- 128-bit, 64-bit & 32-bit per pixel floating point color formats
- ASUS GameFace™Live for real-time video/audio communication
- ASUS Video Security™online for building private security system
- ASUS On Screen Display allows you to instantly change various 3D settings in almost any PC game without the need to quite the game
- High-quality TV output for big screen gaming or presentations
- DVI output for easy connectivity to digital flat panel display
- Diversified displays connectivity (DVI, Dual VGA, DVI+VGA, DVI+TV-out)

good amount of differences from them both.but cant say about the xt pe as there not available in the uk.and can't be bothered to do a google on that card.

as you will notice the xt is clocked faster and with a further 4 pipelines than what the pro version has.

and this asus x800xt is the card i am considering at the moment.as i am on nvidia at the moment i can't say anything about the 4.7's i hope they are good.

Juic3 · Jul 8, 2004, 07:05 PM

I c, what are your specs, what id like to know is if an XT would run better on my 3.0 p4 then a PRO making it worth the extra $ .

**MIG-31** · Jul 8, 2004, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Juic3
I c, what are your specs, what id like to know is if an XT would run better on my 3.0 p4 then a PRO making it worth the extra $ .

that is something i like to know also,those specs can be slightly different from different makers so i just posted them there for a reference.

my specs:

p4 3.2 800fsb ht.
abit is7-e latest bios.
1024mb pc3200 osz dual channel
fx5900 256 mb by msi (for now)

but as your question is not to easy to answer as to all rigs act differently,depends on how you have your bios setup etc.power supplied that sort of stuff.

as to spend that extra $$ is not easy for anybody as a whole to answer as thts your cash.see if you can find some benchies with similar specs to compare,but i can't help you there as for 2 reasons.

a)not got one of those cards
b)don't care about benchies myself...i know how my rig performes and benchies are only numbers to me.

Zardon · Jul 8, 2004, 07:21 PM

the answer to this is simple.

"how deep is your wallet?"

seriously we have reviewed both cards here several times, and the XT is faster, but ask yourself this to answer your own question.

what resolution do you game at?

Juic3 · Jul 8, 2004, 07:30 PM

Im willing to pay as much as needed in the Video Card if its gonna make up for it, I usually game at 1024*768 with my 9800 pro, dont go much higher cause my fps just get lower in games like ut 2004, ive read the reviews and know XT is way better, but im wondering about my system, the 3.0 p4

.

Buddahpest · Jul 8, 2004, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zardon
the answer to this is simple.

"how deep is your wallet?"

seriously we have reviewed both cards here several times, and the XT is faster, but ask yourself this to answer your own question.

what resolution do you game at?

I sincerely apologize for jumping in here but this thread appeals to me. I game at 1280x1024 at minimum with as much eye candy as possible and I have the X800 Pro already. I am contemplating getting rid of the Pro and wait for the XT. With the system I have, which seems to be comparable with the systems listed in this thread, would it be worth it to get the XT?

Zardon · Jul 8, 2004, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Juic3

Im willing to pay as much as needed in the Video Card if its gonna make up for it, I usually game at 1024*768 with my 9800 pro, dont go much higher cause my fps just get lower in games like ut 2004.

ok the followup question then

do you want to game higher, can your monitor handle 1600x1200? if you are happy gaming at 1024x768 id save some money and upgrade something else, get the pro.

although sometimes i feel you might have a longer life on your card for gaming if you jump in at the top end, so therefore "value for money" is relative.

Juic3 · Jul 8, 2004, 07:35 PM

Yeah my monitor can hold that , if its playable ... 60 fps + ? I would play at that resolution, but this is all about bottlenecks, Ive read on some other reviews that these cards tend to hit bottlenecks with Athlon 64 @ 3400 in some games, that just got me worried with my 3.0 p4

Point is I want this card to be ready for HL2., who doesnt want to be

Zardon · Jul 8, 2004, 07:41 PM

Well then its really simple get the XT then, and overclock the hell out of that 3.0ghz P4, go to water or slap on a Thermalright SLK heat sink, most of them hit 3.5ghz really easy.

The cards are so fast there are bottlenecks on most cpus, even the Extreme edition on certain things. but it will be noticeably faster than the pro, especially in the forthcoming games........

Juic3 · Jul 8, 2004, 07:43 PM

So if I stick with the 3.0 at the normal speed, an XT will still be much better then the PRO ?

Just getting this clear before I buy, hehe....

Thanx for the help.

**MIG-31** · Jul 8, 2004, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Juic3

So if I stick with the 3.0 at the normal speed, an XT will still be much better then the PRO ?

Just getting this clear before I buy, hehe....

Thanx for the help.

of course. it will be faster and better.

Zardon · Jul 8, 2004, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Juic3

So if I stick with the 3.0 at the normal speed, an XT will still be much better then the PRO ?

Just getting this clear before I buy, hehe....

Thanx for the help.

yes noticeably, and with the new engines coming out, if you have the money go for it.

RVachon · Jul 8, 2004, 08:50 PM

Damn Zardon, do the light flicker when you power up that PC? LOL Nice setup for sure.

I feel so inadequate.

Brian48 · Jul 8, 2004, 09:03 PM

Definitely get the PE if you can afford it. The extra pipelines do make a difference at the higher resolutions. Have had mine since 16 Jun 04 and I absolutely LOVE IT!

Juic3 · Jul 9, 2004, 02:47 AM

Now where can i buy this PE ? I was thinking of cdw.com, where did you ppl buy it from ?

Lakevren · Jul 9, 2004, 04:13 AM

Most of the people who currently have an XT PE are Sapphires. Mine is one.

I got mine through ABS (bought a whole computer. Plus, it was free shipping. ABS is basically Newegg's PC System company).

Brian48 · Jul 9, 2004, 04:15 AM

Got mine from CompUSA. It came with the promo kit that has the x800xt t-shirt, Ruby CD, $20 coupon off a TV tuner, and ATI letter.

Brian48 · Jul 9, 2004, 04:17 AM

FYI, I had a pre-order with both Gateway and CDW, but got tired of getting bumped back in shipping date every other day.

Lakevren · Jul 9, 2004, 04:18 AM

Aww, I want a T-shirt... damnit.

Geminiwave · Jul 9, 2004, 05:05 AM

yeah I tend to feel inadequate when im on this forum. But im a 17 yearold who built his first computer on less than $800...and i get well over 6k on 3dmarks03...I feel good about that

sorry off topic

the PE is the way to go. my friends have PEs or 6800ULTRAs and um...wow...even so. I dont find them THAT much better than the 9800XT.

Zardon · Jul 9, 2004, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Geminiwave
yeah I tend to feel inadequate when im on this forum. But im a 17 yearold who built his first computer on less than $800...and i get well over 6k on 3dmarks03...I feel good about that

sorry off topic

the PE is the way to go. my friends have PEs or 6800ULTRAs and um...wow...even so. I dont find them THAT much better than the 9800XT.

very nice setup for the price. its not always the highest end hardware that is fun to play with. at 17 I had a really crappy machine then again we didnt have all the luxury items we have nowadays.

as for the 9800XT its still a wonderful board, I gave my kid brother one and it can handle anything thats thrown at it. its really 1600x1200 with max eye candy you see the differences with say an XT PE (over double the frame rates is quite a difference). this will of course change over time as game engines get more complex, the differences will become more apparent.

Zardon · Jul 9, 2004, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian48
FYI, I had a pre-order with both Gateway and CDW, but got tired of getting bumped back in shipping date every other day.

im curious brian, ive never seen one of those letters in the promo package as the cards I get are generally engineering samples, what does the letter say ?

RVachon · Jul 9, 2004, 02:38 PM

What's funny is ATI is a Canadian company, yet XT PE are nowhere to be found around here. Some limited Pros but that's about it. ATI's Canadian website store doesn't even sell the XT PEs.

Brian48 · Jul 9, 2004, 05:41 PM

Quote:

im curious brian, ive never seen one of those letters in the promo package as the cards I get are generally engineering samples, what does the letter say ?

I don't remember actually. It read like the usual "blah blah" PR stuff. Basically thanking me for the purchase and that the XT is the greatest thing since sliced bread, etc. etc.

I thought the t-shirt was OK. The back of it has the same demon holding the AX with "PLATINUM EDITION" clearly visible on it. Some complained that they only issued it in XXL size, but it seems to fit me fine. Hey, at least it turned a few heads when I walked into a local CompUSA wearing it

The Ruby CD is a big disappointment. It's basically the Ruby flash site transposed onto the disk with a poorly drawn comic that "preludes" to the events in the demo. Another aggravating thing is that the demo itself is not on the CD. You still have to DL it from ATI's site.

The $20 off coupon for the TV tuner was handy. BestBuy had the TV Wonder VE for $29.95 (after instant rebate) a couple of weeks so I picked up one of these for $9.95.

Geminiwave · Jul 9, 2004, 06:52 PM

Well unfortunatly for me, I cant run my monitor at 1600x1200...which kindof bites. And its so small. But eh, thats what I got.

Oh yeah Zardon, not even 6 months ago, I was running of an HP computer with a 333mhz AMD K6-2 proc and a PCI Vodoo 3 2000. I ran everything but games that came out last year...it was nice. Did alot of mods to that comp too.

now I cant believe I ever used such a dinosaur.

phongtruong12 · Jul 11, 2004, 08:19 AM

brian, i am totally jealous of your setup. you've got the x800xt pe on one computer, 9800 pro on another, 9700 pro on another...that's some expensive equipment.

Jul 8, 2004, 06:38 PM	#1
Juic3 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 26 Rep Power: 0	X800 Pro or XT pe Hi, hope youre all enjoying cat 4.7s I havent tried em out yet. Ive been wondering about which card I should buy, the PRO version or the XT one, what worries me is the bottlenecks Ive been reading about ... My current hardware is P4 2.4 Northwood, 768 MB PC2700 RAM, 40GB seagate 7200 rpm HD, Intel 865PE mb, sapph 9800 pro... now i know this is pretty low so Im upgrading these P4 3.0 Northwood, PC3200 RAM Now which one would be better for me x800 pro or XT .. dont want to waste the estra 60-100$ on the XT if its not gonna make the difference Thanx

Jul 8, 2004, 06:57 PM	#2
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,791 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	these are the specs taken for a asus x800 pro. - 475MHz GPU Clock Speed - 256MB 900MHz GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest cutting edge 3D applications - 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface - Twelve pixel pipelines - Supports the AGP 8X and AGP 4x standards - Six programmable vertex shader pipelines - Full support for DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality - New SMARTSHADER™ HD technology - SMOOTHVISION™ HD technology - 3Dc™ High quality 4:1 Normal Map Compression delivers beautiful scenes without the performance hit. - Unique VIDEOSHADER™ HD engine - HYPER Z™ HD - ASUS GameFace™Live - ASUS Video Security™online - ASUS On Screen Display - Free 300k Pixel Webcam and these are for the asus x800xt - 520MHz GPU Core clock speed - 16 Pixel rendering pipe-line core - Six programmable vertex shader pipelines - 256MB 1120MHz DDR3 High Speed Memory - 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface - 128-bit, 64-bit & 32-bit per pixel floating point color formats - ASUS GameFace™Live for real-time video/audio communication - ASUS Video Security™online for building private security system - ASUS On Screen Display allows you to instantly change various 3D settings in almost any PC game without the need to quite the game - High-quality TV output for big screen gaming or presentations - DVI output for easy connectivity to digital flat panel display - Diversified displays connectivity (DVI, Dual VGA, DVI+VGA, DVI+TV-out) good amount of differences from them both.but cant say about the xt pe as there not available in the uk.and can't be bothered to do a google on that card. as you will notice the xt is clocked faster and with a further 4 pipelines than what the pro version has. and this asus x800xt is the card i am considering at the moment.as i am on nvidia at the moment i can't say anything about the 4.7's i hope they are good. __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Jul 8, 2004, 08:50 PM	#14
RVachon Genuine Crazy Canuck Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Hamilton, ON Canada Posts: 208 Rep Power: 0	Damn Zardon, do the light flicker when you power up that PC? LOL Nice setup for sure. I feel so inadequate. __________________ AMD 64 3500+ Winnie \| MSI Neo4 Platinum \| 1 GB Corsair TwinX1024 PC3200 Dual Channel \| ATI RADEON x850XT \| 200 GB WD SATA150 8 MB Buffer 7200 RPM \| Win XP Pro SP2 \|\|

Jul 8, 2004, 09:03 PM	#15
Brian48 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 55 Rep Power: 0	Definitely get the PE if you can afford it. The extra pipelines do make a difference at the higher resolutions. Have had mine since 16 Jun 04 and I absolutely LOVE IT! __________________ My current specs....... Heatware References eBay References

Jul 9, 2004, 04:13 AM	#17
Lakevren MedicalEntropy Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: New Jersey Posts: 294 Rep Power: 0	Most of the people who currently have an XT PE are Sapphires. Mine is one. I got mine through ABS (bought a whole computer. Plus, it was free shipping. ABS is basically Newegg's PC System company). __________________ [COLOR=darkorange][COLOR=SeaGreen]Opteron 170 @ 2500 MHZ (In Need of Better HSF)[/COLOR] [/COLOR] [COLOR=darkorange][COLOR=Yellow]DFI LanParty UT SLI-DR Expert[/COLOR] [/COLOR] [COLOR=red]HIS IceQ3 X1900XT @ 680/785 [COLOR=YellowGreen]Corsair XMS Pro DDR 400 1GB[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=royalblue]CoolerMaster WaveMaster Case[/COLOR]

Jul 8, 2004, 07:05 PM	Thread Starter #3
Juic3 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 26 Rep Power: 0	I c, what are your specs, what id like to know is if an XT would run better on my 3.0 p4 then a PRO making it worth the extra $ .

Jul 8, 2004, 07:21 PM	#5
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	the answer to this is simple. "how deep is your wallet?" seriously we have reviewed both cards here several times, and the XT is faster, but ask yourself this to answer your own question. what resolution do you game at?

Jul 8, 2004, 07:30 PM	Thread Starter #6
Juic3 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 26 Rep Power: 0	Im willing to pay as much as needed in the Video Card if its gonna make up for it, I usually game at 1024*768 with my 9800 pro, dont go much higher cause my fps just get lower in games like ut 2004, ive read the reviews and know XT is way better, but im wondering about my system, the 3.0 p4 .

Jul 8, 2004, 07:35 PM	Thread Starter #9
Juic3 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 26 Rep Power: 0	Yeah my monitor can hold that , if its playable ... 60 fps + ? I would play at that resolution, but this is all about bottlenecks, Ive read on some other reviews that these cards tend to hit bottlenecks with Athlon 64 @ 3400 in some games, that just got me worried with my 3.0 p4 Point is I want this card to be ready for HL2., who doesnt want to be

Jul 8, 2004, 07:41 PM	#10
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Well then its really simple get the XT then, and overclock the hell out of that 3.0ghz P4, go to water or slap on a Thermalright SLK heat sink, most of them hit 3.5ghz really easy. The cards are so fast there are bottlenecks on most cpus, even the Extreme edition on certain things. but it will be noticeably faster than the pro, especially in the forthcoming games........

Jul 8, 2004, 07:43 PM	Thread Starter #11
Juic3 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 26 Rep Power: 0	So if I stick with the 3.0 at the normal speed, an XT will still be much better then the PRO ? Just getting this clear before I buy, hehe.... Thanx for the help.

Jul 9, 2004, 02:47 AM	Thread Starter #16
Juic3 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 26 Rep Power: 0	Now where can i buy this PE ? I was thinking of cdw.com, where did you ppl buy it from ?

Jul 9, 2004, 04:15 AM	#18
Brian48 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 55 Rep Power: 0	Got mine from CompUSA. It came with the promo kit that has the x800xt t-shirt, Ruby CD, $20 coupon off a TV tuner, and ATI letter. __________________ My current specs....... Heatware References eBay References

Jul 9, 2004, 04:17 AM	#19
Brian48 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 55 Rep Power: 0	FYI, I had a pre-order with both Gateway and CDW, but got tired of getting bumped back in shipping date every other day. __________________ My current specs....... Heatware References eBay References

Jul 9, 2004, 04:18 AM	#20
Lakevren MedicalEntropy Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: New Jersey Posts: 294 Rep Power: 0	Aww, I want a T-shirt... damnit. __________________ [COLOR=darkorange][COLOR=SeaGreen]Opteron 170 @ 2500 MHZ (In Need of Better HSF)[/COLOR] [/COLOR] [COLOR=darkorange][COLOR=Yellow]DFI LanParty UT SLI-DR Expert[/COLOR] [/COLOR] [COLOR=red]HIS IceQ3 X1900XT @ 680/785 [COLOR=YellowGreen]Corsair XMS Pro DDR 400 1GB[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=royalblue]CoolerMaster WaveMaster Case[/COLOR]

Jul 9, 2004, 05:05 AM	#21
Geminiwave I Have lovely Breasts Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In the closet... Posts: 5,395 Rep Power: 63	yeah I tend to feel inadequate when im on this forum. But im a 17 yearold who built his first computer on less than $800...and i get well over 6k on 3dmarks03...I feel good about that sorry off topic the PE is the way to go. my friends have PEs or 6800ULTRAs and um...wow...even so. I dont find them THAT much better than the 9800XT.

Jul 9, 2004, 02:38 PM	#24
RVachon Genuine Crazy Canuck Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Hamilton, ON Canada Posts: 208 Rep Power: 0	What's funny is ATI is a Canadian company, yet XT PE are nowhere to be found around here. Some limited Pros but that's about it. ATI's Canadian website store doesn't even sell the XT PEs. __________________ AMD 64 3500+ Winnie \| MSI Neo4 Platinum \| 1 GB Corsair TwinX1024 PC3200 Dual Channel \| ATI RADEON x850XT \| 200 GB WD SATA150 8 MB Buffer 7200 RPM \| Win XP Pro SP2 \|\|

Jul 9, 2004, 06:52 PM	#26
Geminiwave I Have lovely Breasts Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In the closet... Posts: 5,395 Rep Power: 63	Well unfortunatly for me, I cant run my monitor at 1600x1200...which kindof bites. And its so small. But eh, thats what I got. Oh yeah Zardon, not even 6 months ago, I was running of an HP computer with a 333mhz AMD K6-2 proc and a PCI Vodoo 3 2000. I ran everything but games that came out last year...it was nice. Did alot of mods to that comp too. now I cant believe I ever used such a dinosaur.

Jul 11, 2004, 08:19 AM	#27
phongtruong12 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Georgia Posts: 264 Rep Power: 0	brian, i am totally jealous of your setup. you've got the x800xt pe on one computer, 9800 pro on another, 9700 pro on another...that's some expensive equipment. __________________ Sony VAIO RX860 2.4 @2.6 Ghz, 533 @580 Mhz PQI 1 GB PC2700 80 GB Hard Drive 5400 RPM Thermaltake 480W PSU X800XL 256 MB VIVO Soundblaster Live! 5.1 Logitech X530 Speakers