ATI RD580: Dual x16 Crossfire Preview
by Wesley Fink on November 16, 2005 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Our Take
ATI's chipset Engineering team seem determined to take ATI chipsets to new levels to grab the attention of AMD hobbyists. They seem right on target, since the AMD market has been, and continues to be, driven by the computer enthusiast. Our preview of RD580 on the ATI Manta Reference board showed us some exciting developments are on the way from ATI. Dual x16 video capabilities in a single chip 44 PCIe lane package certainly performed extremely well compared to the just released Dual x16 from nVidia.The possibility of HTT ratio-free overclocking will also interest the real overclockers out there. Running over 300FSB with a 5X HTT multiplier with current Athlon64 chips seemed an impossibility until we saw it working for ourselves in RD580. We are also glad to see ATI continue their commitment to quality audio on the AMD platform with continued support for High Definition audio codecs. Audio is one area where ATI is clearly outperforming nVidia.
In the comparison of the RD580 Dual x16 motherboard with X1800XT Crossfire to Asus A8N32-SLI with 7800GTX Crossfire, X1800XT Crossfire won every benchmark. That means if RD580 and X1800XT Crossfire were shipping today the graphics war would be on and plenty hot. The reality, however, is that X1800XT Crossfire and X1800XT PE are "coming soon", while nVidia's offerings are available today. ATI RD580 will likely land in early to mid January. We also expect the nest generation ATI R580 GPU to land about the same time. ATI is also hard at work on Socket M2 offerings to be launched with that AMD socket.
Based on what we have seen in this RD580 preview, the worries at ATI right now are more about the present than the future. Future solutions look very competitive and exciting to the market. ATI seems to be caught in a release "Twilight Zone", but as they work their way through current release nightmares, the future looks as if it could be very bright again for ATI. Certainly the upcoming RD580 Dual x16 chipset, X1800XT Crossfire, and X1800XT PE look more than competitive. Add to that R580 is just around the corner and it looks as if ATI has the goods coming to erase the last nine months of disappointment
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JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
It would have been a heck of a lot easier to differentiate the cards if NVIDIA had gone and named the 512MB card the "Ultra" like everyone was expecting. *Grumble* ;)shabby - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Where is this $499 x1800xt you speak of, is this the 256meg card by any chance?If it is, then i dont see anyone buying it since for 50 bucks more *cough* you can get the 512meg one.
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
No one said there was a $499 X1800XY yet, as in the first wave the past week everyone was selling at $599 suggested retail price. The MSRP of the nVidia 7800GTX is also $599, but it is selling at most places now for $499 - even less if you shop. My point was the price of the X1800XT will likely drop once the retail pipelines are filled - just as the 7800GTX prices have dropped the longer they are on the market.shabby - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
My bad, i read that as the $499 x1800xt.Anyway while ati can believe the cheaper gtx is its competitor, its msrp doesnt suggest that unless they lower it.
Does ati also believe that the x1600xt is a competitor for the 6800gs? Same price right, but its half a slow.
fxrron - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
I couldn't agree more with allnighter. Companies tweak their product for weeks and send them to be reviewed. The reviews are worthless and a waste of time to read. I remember Falcon Northwest sent Tom's Hardware Guide a system to review. The 7800 GTX was overclocked alot and it would not even run the benchmarks. You can't order the same system so what good was the review in the first place. Spend your time reviewing retail products in the future.Ron
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
This was a PREVIEW, not a review, and I am still looking for the benchmarks you so roundly criticize - since there are no benchmarks in the preview. I have described relative performance that I personally found with my components on the ATI Manta board.I can't speak of how other review sites test, but I can tell I used known processors, memory, hard drives, and 7800GTX cards in my preview tests. I also did all the setup myself to make sure everything was as fair as I could make it. I also ran ALL the benchmarks myself - side-by-side - with the nVidia and ATI boards and video cards. This was not a canned set of numbers, or a canned demo, these are results I personally found in 2 days of testing.
Last, the DFI Retail is performing exactly as I found in my review in the retail samples. I found 305 max, lower than the Reference Crossfire - and retail buyers are finding 295 to 310 max.
I have suggested that any manufacturer who wants to duplicate ATI Reference results should copy the Reference Board, and other review sites have also said the same thing. Eventually someone will actually copy an excellent ATI Reference Design, and when they do buyers will do even better in performance than I have achieved in the AT reviews. The ATI Reference boards are not tweaked to oblivion - it's just the designs are that good.
DigitalFreak - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
First - ATI is not the only chipset maker with HD Audio support for AMD. Nvidia has this as well with the 410/430 southbridges.Second - "However, ATI clearly believes the competitor for X1800XT is the $499 7800GTX and not the $700 7800GTX 512MB."
Boy, does ATI need to get a clue. X1800XT cards are currently going for $599, while the 7800GTX boards are in the $450 range. Why would I want to spend $149 more for a card that performs slightly better.
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
When 7800GTX launched they were $600 or more, but they have dropped to around $499 at most e-tailers and you can find them even cheaper if you shop carefully. The X1800XT shipped first wave last week and instantly sold out. Prices will drop as soon as the supply line is filled - just like the 7800GTX.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
HD Azalia audio is just an option on the high-end versions of the nVidia integrated chipset, which have just started shipping. You also have to buy a high-end integrated video micro ATX board to get an nVidia HD audio solution, as this option is not available on any nForce4, SLI, or SLI Dual x16 board.haelduksf - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Thanks guys, way to tease me!One question though; is there a big difference between x8 and x16 Crossfire? Can an RD480/482 owner expect similar Crossfire performance to an RD580?