ATI HD2900XT beats 8800GTS and comes close to 8800GTX

[oc2001]

Amazing what a new set of drivers can do for a card, just too bad they came out late with these drivers to show what the new card can really do.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/111...ion/index.html

[Spank_Me_Hard]

I think that you mean that it beats the 8800GTS... not the 8600GTS.

The new drivers really look to make a big difference! And it sounds like they're not done yet... the next few drivers that come out should make even more noticeable difference.

It now sounds like it makes more sense to buy the 2900XT than the 8800GTS.

I can't help but wonder how the 2900XTX (with what I would think would be mature drivers) will compare with the 8800GTX next month.

[nails]

it will most likely beat it. whats weird is that theres a clear bottleneck with the card, most strongly emphasized by the lack of returns from overclocking. i think that a gb of vram will really make the card shine.

[OpStar]

Doesn't matter, if they do beat the 8800GTX nVidia will just release their next silicon and utterly destroy ATi.

I mean its almost sad that this many months later ATi is relying on driver updates to almost beat a card that came out last November.

[oc2001]

Well, if your a nvidia fanboy, I guess the performance and price really does not mater, and the next chipset is always beter than the current one. But if you are not a fanboy, then performance to price ratio does count. As a consumer, and not a fanboy of any manufacturer, I just want the best performance for the least amount of money possible. And all this nvidia vs ATI is a good thing for us consumers.

[Spank_Me_Hard]

Doesn't matter, if they do beat the 8800GTX nVidia will just release their next silicon and utterly destroy ATi.

The biggest performance increases come out with the release of a new generation of cards.

I have seen no indicators that nVidia is ready to launch the sucessor to their 8xxx series.

Thus, any improvements that they do will just be built on the existing generation (i.e. higher clock speeds, GDDR4 RAM, smaller fab process, more memory, etc.).

I don't see nVidia being able to do anything to "utterly destroy" ATi until at least the next generation. They are limited with what they can achieve in this generation.

[Russell]

Its performance still sucks badly with AA on. I wonder if ATI/AMD will ever manage to fix that.

[OpStar]

I have seen no indicators that nVidia is ready to launch the sucessor to their 8xxx series.

I don't see nVidia being able to do anything to "utterly destroy" ATi until at least the next generation. They are limited with what they can achieve in this generation.

The 8800 series came out in November of 06, its almost July of 07, which would be 7 months. They're on about a 9 month product cycle last I checked. The 7800GTX came out in June 05, the 7900GTX came out in March 06, the 8800GTX came out in November 06, so we're due for either the 8900 series which would be a refreshed 8800 series (like the 7900 was for the 7800) or if nVidia holds the performance crown even with the next couple updated drivers I see no reason why they can't just go to the next line entirely.

Not to mention nVidia is still sitting on a dual gpu card for the 8800 series which they could make.

I'm not a fanboy, I've had ATi cards. I'm just a realist. ATi should've beaten the 8800GTX hands down, after all they had half a year after the 8800 series launch to prepare. They didn't. They still can't beat the GTX, though the gap is narrowing, and even if they do beat the GTX nVidia still has the Ultra. nVidia can also cut prices, which ATi can't easily do. So even if the 400 dollar 2900 can beat out the GTX in a couple driver revisions at 150 bucks cheaper, what if nVidia cuts the price on the GTX to 350 and the ultra to 450.

Then we're right back to where we are now. Not to mention a 300 dollar GTS 640 and a 250 dollar GTS 320 would also be price/performance competitive with the 2900 series.

The point is, ATi is still behind no matter how you look at it and nVidia has a rather large cushion to sit on and decide what to do. nVidia is close to the next series and we all know ATi isn't.

So I wouldn't go praising the 2900 no matter how you look at it. As it stands the driver revisions is getting the performance out if it that should have been there at launch. So it isn't really gaining ground, its just doing what it should've always done.

/shrug

In the end it performs on par/slighty better than a 640mb GTS while costing 30 bucks more. It performs worse than the GTX, while costing 120 bucks less.

It also runs hotter and consumes more power than both the GTS and the GTX.

Not to mention the AA issues. So I'm just wondering who would pay more for the 2900 when they could get the cooler running, less power consuming GTS 640 for less? If you're looking for the best performance out there for the money, then you'd want a GTX or an Ultra.

I guess I just don't get it.

[richardginn]

Still can't win in some games.

[Spank_Me_Hard]

The 8800 series came out in November of 06, its almost July of 07, which would be 7 months. They're on about a 9 month product cycle last I checked. The 7800GTX came out in June 05, the 7900GTX came out in March 06, the 8800GTX came out in November 06, so we're due for either the 8900 series which would be a refreshed 8800 series (like the 7900 was for the 7800) or if nVidia holds the performance crown even with the next couple updated drivers I see no reason why they can't just go to the next line entirely.

I made mention of the 8xxx series being part of this generation. You respond by saying that nVidia is close to launching the 8900... which is... you guessed it... part of the 8xxx generation.

The 8900 will be no leap in architecture like jumping from the 7xxx series to the 8xxx series was. It will be a moderate improvement... not a ground shaking one.

And you made a couple comparisons within the 7xxx generation itself (i.e. not a radical jump either).

That all being said, if I were to buy a card RIGHT NOW, it'd be the 8800GTX. And in fact, I'm in the market for a new card.

But I'm also planning on going quad core CPU when the price cuts happen... and it turns out that the 2900XTX is supposed to be out at about that time... so I'll wait to see what the final verdict is before jumping to any conclusions.

Bottom line is that when the time comes, I'll be going 2900XTX if it's worth it, or 8800GTX (and hopefully, the rumoured price drops here are true as well) if not.

[OpStar]

I heard the XTX was pretty much scrapped. I also never said they would do the 8900 line, only that they easily could. They could also easily do a dual gpu card.

I have no doubts if the current performance stays as is nVidia will just go straight to the 9xxx whatever series. As they have no reason to release a refresh of current architecture when they have the performance crown.

[Spank_Me_Hard]

I heard the XTX was pretty much scrapped.

If that turns out to be true, then my decision will be easy. I have also heard the same... just don't know if it's definitive yet.

[oc2001]

all I want to see is parity, because if you have two products of similar performance, then the prices will come down, and the consumer gets the best of both worlds.

I think the next salvo from ati in this competition will be the low and midrange cards that should be available to retailers in a few weeks.

I personally do not care if nvidia or ati has the 'crown', since I am a poor bastard that can not afford a 600 dollar video card, and instead shops hard for a sub $200 card that will hopefully last at least 2 years before I need to upgrade.

So, I am waiting on the hd24-2600 cards comparisons to the low end 86-8800gts.

[Buckeye Kid]

I hope the ATi cards are competitive with the NV cards to drive down price and increase performance selection.

That being said...

The ATi cards should beat the NV cards; the NV cards have been out for 9 months!

[Transfurzz]

I'll agree that the lack of mature drivers at release was disappointing at first. But as with Buckeye, I'm damn happy they did fix it. Now that their price competitive , it can't be anything but good for the consumer.

As with Kero, I also agree that now is the time to look forward to the next generation architechtures. This generation is pretty much done and over, very anti-climatic too. The 8 series has been out for far too long a time and I think the 8800 Ultra fills the performance crown out quite nicely.

As for the midrange, your right there. ATi could really have a few heavy hitters, after all, that is where the money is. It stands cause to reason that has been their emphasis this generation. The 2900XT may have justified its cost, but its power requirements are a bit steep. We could infer from there that perhaps ATi, is not too focused on that right now. Though considering that Nvidia has been traditionally strong in the mid-range offering, they may very well be forced to release an update to their midrange if ATi ninjas this one.

Hell, didn't they promise us a near simultaneous release of midrange and highend ? I smell a kettle of fish.

Either way, regardless if I'm imagining it or not. Nvidia and ATi are finished fighting for the performance crown. The real tussle will definitely be in the midrange. If their able to be beat Nvidia's strong midrange for price vs performance, we'll have an interesting fight in the trenches. Very interesting...