Gamers Depot ASUS 9800XT Review

Vengeance · Nov 7, 2003, 10:31 AM

It’s always great to see new add-in board partners for chip makers like ATI and NVIDIA – regardless of your position on it; it’s great for the industry and consumers as it helps contribute to lower prices. At its recent 9800 XT launch event, ATI and ASUS announced a new partnership which should help elevate the 9800-series cards to new levels of sales as ASUS is a juggernaut when it comes to moving PC hardware components.

It should be a sign of the times when one of its strongest partners, ASUS, makes a move to the “other side” – this doesn’t mean ASUS has stopped making NVIDIA-based products, to the contrary they still have motherboards with nForce technology as well as GeForce FX-based video cards (up to the 5900-series).

This review marks the first time we’ve seen ASUS finally build an ATI-based video card and from the out-set it seems as if they’ve done very well. They’ve done a major deviation from the reference design and have developed their own cooling solution which yields excellent stability; even while over clocking – it’s also very aesthetically appealing as well. The massive copper heatsink over the top-side memory chips and the copper plate on the bottom memory chips help keep them cool as well.

ASUS also incorporates the Rage Theater chip to perform video in/out via an external device that closely resembles the ones found in current All-In-Wonder products; however there’s no support for component video, just composite and S-Video. The included software to perform these functions is decent, but we much prefer ATI’s Media Center – however, the quality is still great and it’s always a nice bonus to get this functionality for those seeking that.

The ASUS-modified 3.8 drivers don’t really offer any advantages over the Catalyst ones, in fact it didn’t have the overclocking tool – instead, ASUS offers a utility called SmartDoctor which works quite effectively.

If there’s one thing this card does well, it’s overclock (compared to the stock ATI design). The default core speed of 412MHz was able to hit 435MHz while the memory was able to be pushed from 365MHz (760MHz DDR) to 410MHz – the overall performance gains, while not earth-shattering, averaged about 15-percent.

Gamers Depot

Skull · Nov 7, 2003, 11:34 AM

wonder how many lucky people on this forum own a 9800XT?

wertret · Nov 7, 2003, 11:38 AM

In spain we don't even have the AIW 9800 yet so i guess i have to wait until 2004 to have an XT baby

Nov 7, 2003, 10:31 AM	#1
Vengeance DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort Worth TX Posts: 643 Rep Power: 0	Gamers Depot ASUS 9800XT Review It’s always great to see new add-in board partners for chip makers like ATI and NVIDIA – regardless of your position on it; it’s great for the industry and consumers as it helps contribute to lower prices. At its recent 9800 XT launch event, ATI and ASUS announced a new partnership which should help elevate the 9800-series cards to new levels of sales as ASUS is a juggernaut when it comes to moving PC hardware components. It should be a sign of the times when one of its strongest partners, ASUS, makes a move to the “other side” – this doesn’t mean ASUS has stopped making NVIDIA-based products, to the contrary they still have motherboards with nForce technology as well as GeForce FX-based video cards (up to the 5900-series). This review marks the first time we’ve seen ASUS finally build an ATI-based video card and from the out-set it seems as if they’ve done very well. They’ve done a major deviation from the reference design and have developed their own cooling solution which yields excellent stability; even while over clocking – it’s also very aesthetically appealing as well. The massive copper heatsink over the top-side memory chips and the copper plate on the bottom memory chips help keep them cool as well. ASUS also incorporates the Rage Theater chip to perform video in/out via an external device that closely resembles the ones found in current All-In-Wonder products; however there’s no support for component video, just composite and S-Video. The included software to perform these functions is decent, but we much prefer ATI’s Media Center – however, the quality is still great and it’s always a nice bonus to get this functionality for those seeking that. The ASUS-modified 3.8 drivers don’t really offer any advantages over the Catalyst ones, in fact it didn’t have the overclocking tool – instead, ASUS offers a utility called SmartDoctor which works quite effectively. If there’s one thing this card does well, it’s overclock (compared to the stock ATI design). The default core speed of 412MHz was able to hit 435MHz while the memory was able to be pushed from 365MHz (760MHz DDR) to 410MHz – the overall performance gains, while not earth-shattering, averaged about 15-percent. Gamers Depot

Nov 7, 2003, 11:34 AM	#2
Skull Boney Admin Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: somewhere over the rainbow Posts: 659 Rep Power: 59	wonder how many lucky people on this forum own a 9800XT? __________________ How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Nov 7, 2003, 11:38 AM	#3
wertret Still watching... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Orihuela (Spain) Posts: 1,560 Rep Power: 0	In spain we don't even have the AIW 9800 yet so i guess i have to wait until 2004 to have an XT baby __________________ "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."