Thoughts
With the cost of most Radeon X800 PROs sitting at £280 in the U.K. just now, the ASUS's £323 retail price at a well known online retailer seems a little steep. However, factor in the value added by the cute Webcam, the games bundle and the added utility and video capture software and you go some way to wiping out that increase in cost.Performance was simply excellent, sitting head and shoulders above the test Radeon 9800 XT in terms of raw benchmark numbers. Image quality, long an ATI forté, was subjectively excellent too. I also have to make special mention of the 2D picture quality on my Sony G400 CRT monitor, from both VGA and converted DVI outputs. Unusually crisp and with excellent geometry, the AX800PRO did a good job of making a corner focus problem I have with the G400, when it encounters a weak VGA signal, disappear.
While the price sits artificially high since it's a brand new generation of GPU and performance, even at £323 it's nearly tempting me into making a purchase of my own for my own PC. My only hesitation is with the (hopefully) imminent introduction of NVIDIA's 6800 GT variant into mass market retail. Benchmarking the 6800 GT reference board indicates greater than X800 PRO performance in a number of tests.
However, should you wish a slice of next generation ATI pie, the ASUS just about adds enough value with its bundle and presentation to make the price just about worth it.
It certainly deserves a place on any X800 PRO shopping list, without being the best value for money you can get just now, ASUS's traditionally high graphics card prices conspiring against them a little.
Score
Pros
Excellent performanceGood presentation
Good games bundle
Bundled webcam
Fairly quiet
Cons
High price for an X800 PRO if all you want is the cardDidn't seem to overclock that well, something seen with their 9800 XT sample at launch
NVIDIA's 6800 GT looms large
