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Review: SAPPHIRE RADEON X1800 XL 256MB & XFX GeForce 7800 GT 256MB

by Tarinder Sandhu on 29 October 2005, 16:42

Tags: Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL, Sapphire

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qadwf

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Chronicles Of Riddick: EFBB



The OpenGL-based Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay runs better on NVIDIA's hardware, so much so that a GeForce 6800 Ultra is faster than the RADEON X1800 XL. Still, ~55FPS average at 1600x1200 isn't shabby.



Let us explain the presence of the dotted blue line in the above graph. It represents the I.Q. score for the SAPPHIRE RADEON X1800 XL without any modification to the driver. However, if you've been keeping up with the comings and goings of graphics card drivers, you'll be aware that ATI recently released a performance tool that boosted X1000-series cards' performance in OpenGL applications when AA was implemented. We took a look at performance results here. With reference to the graph above, the red line shows performance with the memory management tool active. ATI has assured us that it will be rolled into the CATALYST 5.11 driver release, right in time for when X1800 cards hit retail shelves in considerable volume.

The tool does produce better performances but, as the graph illustrates, I.Q. results are barely better than an X850 XT's, and far lower than the XFX GeForce 7800 GT's. Take from that what you will. ATI's comparative lack of OpenGL performance, even with better memory management, still isn't where it should be.