ATI 9800XT & HL2 = Sept 30th

[{RA}SKYFURNACE]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11547


ATI's Radeon 9800XT, Half Life bundle to be launched in Alcatraz

On the 30th September


By Fuad Abazovic in Wien: Monday 15 September 2003, 10:42

ATI'S long awaited card that is expected to take the performance lead in the increasingly bitter graphics battle, is to be launched in Alcatraz, the former prison just a wave away from freedom-loving city San Francisco.
The cards are close to being finalised, with ATI boffins hoping the clock speeds will be a little less than 415MHz for the core, and 730MHz for the memory.

We're not certain that these are the final numbers, but you probably already know that the 30th is also the day when Valve will introduce its highly anticipated Half Life 2 with its now famous benchmarks.

As we said previously, all Radeon 9800XT cards will be shipped with this card and this is likely to cost ATI some serious money -- some are suggesting as much as $8 million, although we still wait to get solid proof about the Nvidia-ATI auction.

The card will cost $399 and will be in the shops two to three weeks after the Alcatraz announcement in serious quantities.

The European launch party will take place in Munich - not so exotic as Alcatraz -- but the place where ATI has its nice offices and as far as we know there will be no Paris and London based parallel events.

As we've said elsewhere, the interesting thing here is whether there was or was not an auction to bundle Half Life 2 with ATI or Nvidia.


SOUNDS LIKE RELEASE FOR HL2 IS STILL GOOD FOR Sept 30th :)

[ElectricHead]

"SOUNDS LIKE RELEASE FOR HL2 IS STILL GOOD FOR Sept 30th :)"


:rockon:


EH

[SoBeiT]

So I will need this video card to play HL2 or is this just 2 companies pushing their own products?

[{RA}SKYFURNACE]

i think its called "marketing", its a new card at the price is 399.00.

altho the gpu is essentially the same.

[IHopeToGod]

So I will need this video card to play HL2 or is this just 2 companies pushing their own products?

For a next gen game like Half-Life2 that is a DirectX9 game, stay away from Nvidia cards as they perform badly under DirectX9 and are not able to generate many DirectX9 effects that the game will have. And Nvidia has lied and cheated in their benchmarks tests in order to deceive the public about how bad their Directx9 cards perform.

ATI's top cards seem the best right now for Half-Life2. Right now word is that the ATI Radeon 9600 or 9600 pro gives the best bang for your dollar. It's not the fastest ATI Card just the best value supposedly....

[The_Stranger]

For a next gen game like Half-Life2 that is a DirectX9 game, stay away from Nvidia cards as they perform badly under DirectX9 and are not able to generate many DirectX9 effects that the game will have....Nvidia claims that the drivers used in the Half-Life2 tests were not the best ones for DirectX 9. From a tomshardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030912/half-life-01.html)article:
(http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030912/half-life-01.html )

We're confused as to why Valve chose to use Release. 45 (Rel. 45) - because up to two weeks prior to the Shader Day we had been working closely with Valve to ensure that Release 50 (Rel. 50) provides the best experience possible on NVIDIA hardware.

It's hard to tell if this is a valid objection or just an attempt at spin control. I hope it isn't just excuse-making, as I will probably have to stick with Nvidia--Radeons work poorly with 3D production software, which I need occasionally for work. If your only need for 3D is gaming, ATI may well be a better choice.

PS:

So I will need this video card to play HL2 or is this just 2 companies pushing their own products?
According to reports, Valve is making a lot of effort to make the game run well on older systems. That doesn't mean it will look as nice, or that people with newer equipment won't have a big edge in multiplay.

[Creeper]

Annnddd.. Carmack smacks down NVidia:
http://english.bonusweb.cz/interviews/carmackgfx.html

The only somewhat-encouraging news for nvidia is the Aquamark DX9 benchmark.. BUT.. that is a mixed DX8/DX9 bench, which is how nvidia keeps up.

imo, the good news for us is, now that word is out, nvidia had better get their act together for their next line of cards, or face not selling any of them at all.

[MadMikey]

I reluctantly switched from the Voodoo series of cards to geForces cards shortly after Nvidia acquired 3dfx.

Then I reluctantly switched to ATI and now I'm never looking back.

I know they're not even the same calibre of video card, but swithcing from a geForce 3 card to a Radeon 9800 pro, has been night and day as far as gaming goes. :D

I'll be very reluctant to move to a different brand of video card in the future.

[Inkswitch]

I reluctantly switched from the Voodoo series of cards to geForces cards shortly after Nvidia acquired 3dfx.

Then I reluctantly switched to ATI and now I'm never looking back.

I know they're not even the same calibre of video card, but swithcing from a geForce 3 card to a Radeon 9800 pro, has been night and day as far as gaming goes. :D

I'll be very reluctant to move to a different brand of video card in the future.

Wow, Mikey. I feel exactly the same.

It was like firing up my old Voodoo for the first time when I got my 9800 running. I am home.

[Hort]

So-- is the 9800 XT the way to go? I've scraped up the cash.

[{RA}SKYFURNACE]

hort, i have heard that the gpu is the same in the 9800xt and the 9800pro, considering the 9800xt is bundled with HL2 then i would say its more moarketing than anything else. there are small differences but i dont see anything that says its much better than the 9800pro. the good thing is maybe the XT coming out will cause the price of the Pro fall a bit :)

[Creeper]

Once it is actually out.. then see if it's worth it. Rumors I've heard point to the XT being just a faster 9800 Pro. Faster, and more expensive.. so I'd wait for benchmarks from a major hardware news site.

[Inkswitch]

So-- is the 9800 XT the way to go? I've scraped up the cash.


Hort. I love my Raddy. Great visuals and silky smooth framerates. They also overclock really well if you are into that. I have a 9800Pro and clock it to 510/380 on water. That is about 70-80mhz faster than the XT.

[SoBeiT]

So if I get the new video card what else has to be changed (insides of computer) to go with it?

[The_Stranger]

So if I get the new video card what else has to be changed (insides of computer) to go with it?

Y'know that's a good question...most of these fancy new cards are "AGP 8X support". I haven't been able to figure whether that means AGP 8X on the motherboard is required or just a good idea. Will a new card not fit or not work in a 4X slot, or will I just be sacrificing potential speed benefits by using the slower connection?

-TS <==Thinking about getting a new system anyway...

[Play]

Yep, I must admit I'm a big ATI fan. Ever since I switched over to the 9700 pro, I've been very pleased with its performance. I don't believe there has been a game yet that I can't run high res with high details. :rockon:

[Play]

Y'know that's a good question...most of these fancy new cards are "AGP 8X support". I haven't been able to figure whether that means AGP 8X on the motherboard is required or just a good idea. Will a new card not fit or not work in a 4X slot, or will I just be sacrificing potential speed benefits by using the slower connection?

-TS <==Thinking about getting a new system anyway...

The new 8X cards should still run on the older mobo's. You just won't be able to take advantage of the 8x AGP capabilities...but then again, if you have 128MB or 256MB video memory, I doubt you'll ever need to resort to the AGP bus.

[MadMikey]

Also, ATI recommends at least a 350W power supply for the 9800.

[The_Stranger]

Thanks, Play and MM, that clarifies things considerably.

[Creeper]

Yep, I must admit I'm a big ATI fan. Ever since I switched over to the 9700 pro, I've been very pleased with its performance. I don't believe there has been a game yet that I can't run high res with high details. :rockon:


Well... except when you were running UT in software mode, at 800x600... lol

[Inkswitch]

Sobe, I don't think you need a new video card. Your GF4 should handle HL2 fine. You will only miss a very few effects from DX9 code. You have to decide weather a few effects is worth $300-400 for a new video card.

[SoBeiT]

Thanks Ink, good to here all is well inside my computer :)

Since I just bought new bedroom draperies the question of where to spend the money is now moot...hehe.

[Hort]

For the 400$ has anybody heard if this new card is 128 or 256? I can't find that detail. A couple of forums are debating it. If it's 256-- that's a big price savings over the 9800 Pro 256 which is listing as high as $599. I asume that price/bundle is for a 128 card? I can wait but if it's 128 I might just find a deal on a 9800 Pro 128 now.

[Play]

Well... except when you were running UT in software mode, at 800x600... lol

Actually, that was with the old Voodoo 5500 running on XP back when there were limited to non-existent 3D drivers for them....but that's more a M$ problem. :p

[Play]

For the 400$ has anybody heard if this new card is 128 or 256? I can't find that detail. A couple of forums are debating it. If it's 256-- that's a big price savings over the 9800 Pro 256 which is listing as high as $599. I asume that price/bundle is for a 128 card? I can wait but if it's 128 I might just find a deal on a 9800 Pro 128 now.

Good question Hort, I dunno either. I've searched a number of websites and can't find any information regarding whether or not this price will include a 128MB or 256MB model. From ATI's past experience, I would imagine this would be a 128MB version and a more rare 256MB version will also be released, but for much more $$$. I know, that doesn't answer your question, but maybe it can give you a better idea. :confused:

The question I have is, how much faster is the 9800xt to the 9800 pro, and how much faster is the 9800 to the 9700? From what I've read, though ATI has advertise one to be 40% faster than the other, benchmark testings have only shown a 5% increase in performance from one iteration to the other. If this is true, for those who are looking to upgrade to a better vid card, but may not have a lot of extra $$, go for the 9700 pro which is significantly less in price, but not in performance. :cool:

[IHopeToGod]

Sobe, I don't think you need a new video card. Your GF4 should handle HL2 fine. You will only miss a very few effects from DX9 code. You have to decide weather a few effects is worth $300-400 for a new video card.

Yes but some of those effects are pretty significant. You can see a couple of them, if you download the Half-Life2 tech vid I posted in one of the threads in this forum. The other thing is speed. Nvidia cards run pretty good under DirectX8 but when things get really demanding you might want that high end ATI card :rockon: . Also future games will not scale back their DirectX9 effects to a DirectX8 substitute.

I personally would never buy the top of the line card because you could get a much cheaper card like the 9600 pro and overclock it to the speed of the next highest card if you are willing to take that chance :) . I will upgrade my motherboard and cpu and later on down the road my graphics card. For now I will stick with my Geforce4ti. I can't justify upgrading all components, even if it is for Half-Life2 :D . Best advice would be to do what Creeper says and wait for more Card reviews when the game ships or is about to ship...... :bow:

[Creeper]

Now.. what I *REALLY* wanna see.. are HL2 benchmarks with both various Vid cards, AND AMD64s. :rockon:

[IHopeToGod]

There have been a few "reviews" using the Half-Life2 "benchmark" and they show Nvidia's high end DirectX9 cards as inferior.

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/video_cards/ati_vs_nvidia/dx9_desktop/HL2_benchmarks/001.htm

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/video_cards/ati_vs_nvidia/dx9_desktop/hl2_followup/001.htm

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/hl2_performance_preview_part1/

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/hl2_performance_preview_part2/default.asp



:rockon:

[Hort]

Well-- I'm in no hurry so I'll wait to see what develops.

The Radeon 9600 in the HL2 test below is the 9600 pro, BTW.

[IHopeToGod]

Well-- I'm in no hurry so I'll wait to see what develops.

The Radeon 9600 in the HL2 test below is the 9600 pro, BTW.

Yes that's right, and it is an important distinction. So anything I said regarding the ATI Radeon 9600, replace that with ATI Radeon 9600 PRO :D