Customer Reviews

ATI RADEON X800 Pro 256 Graphics Card (100435200)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

... but did you also know you need it? Why? Because on a top end machine the following games have settings that go way past the limitations of even this card - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, Doom 3, FarCry and the soon to be released Half-Life 2. These are all new engines that will drive the games of tomorrow, meaning that I will probably be trading this one in for Xmas 2005 when the 512 line should make its mark. Anyway how does this card pan out?

First of all it is a nightmare if you setup your card on a television and then forget to change it back for use with a monitor. So learn a lesson well about these monitor/television compatible cards. Make sure to change the Display Properties to whichever type you are using next because if you don't then you will not see anything and thus can not change it back. Next you need to know that these cards are top of line and make quite a great deal of noise. We are talking about listening to something like a 50cfm fan in your box doing the rounds. You are probably going to want to run your box cooler with these types of high-end chipsets running to get the most out of them so go searching on the net for a good environmental setup.

All these new series of graphics card come with DirectX 9.0c or higher but the real key to unlock this God is with the new ATI range of drivers that enhance and accelerate the visual experience - CATALYST(tm) (Basically complete Real-time 3D immersive game play*). The four games for this card I have already mentioned (Playing it with Counter-Strike: Source is extremely good although I believe maybe a 128mb would give virtually the same playability for now). So if you want those games then consider this card.

FarCry has an exceptional environment with something like X100 zoom on your binoculars. The enemy AI is unreal but in terms of graphics it is a real ride with this card. I believe you need this card for the full FarCry experience; however I do not believe that it pushes this card to its limit.

MS Flight Simulator 2004 does push this card past it limits. Put everything up full in the details panel and look out the window over populated areas. You will see a delay and suddenly several sectors start to pop up. A 512mb card will make that game real-time.

Doom3 has the ability to actually configure to a 512mb card if one existed now. Doom3 is an experience and a half, not 100% but unlike anything you have seen before and pretty scary to say the least. Anyway with this card the demon disintegration graphics are akin to watching someone getting beamed up in front of you. The lighting dynamics are also crucial to the game play. Get Doom 3 and this card and you will be stunned by something that looks like an XBOX 2 or PS3.

Half-Life 2 really needs this... if you buy the new Bronze edition from Steam you can DL the encrypted HL2 files onto your HD along with CS: Source and Play Source right away which is a big improvement on any version of CS you have seen. Anyway it looks top spec on this card but I believe a 128mb card can play Source at it highest settings. Anyway the point is to look for the HL2 video and know that in reality HL2 is going to cost you $300 if you want the full experience.

It's a tough cookie but let's face it. You have no choice. Now go work or Beg for it. We all did it!

*As for using unsupported ATI drivers for this card. Well even Catalyst is unsupported (Use at your own risk from ATI sort of thing) so hammering around with this card is probably not a bad idea however it is always useful to do that after the card has passed its warranty but the choice is there is you want it. Personally I would stick to the ATI releases and get some good tutorials on your computer environment

5 Stars but an XBOX is almost the same price.

***2008 update***

I got three and a half years out of this card. I will add the following notes about it.

- I burned out the fan for it in 2005 but it still ran for 3 more years before finally packing in. It blew the PSU a few times (twice) and this probably added more damaged to the video card. Originally the specified PSU was not enough. The video card had been damaged but still worked. Instead of replacing the card I got a better PSU with 600W and a new Zalman heatsink to keep the system cool for the card to run for a few more years. In Jan 2008 it essentially packed in. I will be trying Nvidia GeForce next for the experience, but I still replaced this one with another ATI Radeon 9550.

It was a five star experience but not a five star card. This should have been a three star card because of the problems I had with it.

As you can see, I have purchased this card much later than everyone else who has reviewed the card here. Upgraded from a 9600xt 128mb and the change in graphical prowess is defnitely worth it. Here's a hint: if you're still buying an AGP card then your pc more-than-likely does not have what it takes to push cards like the x800xt pe, x850xt pe or the 6800 ultra (let's not even talk about the 7800s and the x1800s) to their full potential. The only cards that will run better on your system than this one and your pc will still be able to use the card to the full potential are the X800xl and the 6800gt. Their difference over this card (in my opinion) is not warranted another $100, especially since your next pc with be PCI-E.

Anyways, this card runs Half-Life 2 on everything on max, save filtering and anti-aliasing and those are still on the higher settings. Runs FEAR on high settings (just one below max) and FEAR is a video card resource hog. And, if it can run these games at such high settings, it will run anyother game beautifully as well. SO, this card works wonderfully for about half the price of the highest end cards, and the card is still a powerhouse. Email me if you have any questions

This card will give you unbelivable frame rates in games. It Also gives very nice renderings of the scenery. I am a Flight Sim 2004 player, and got this to go with a somewhat super computer...
X800 Pro
1Gb OCZ PC-3200 RAM
AMD Athlon 3000+ XT
Asus A7N8X
120Gb Hard Drive
DVD burner

This thing is unbelivable, What ever you do you shouldn't have a bottle neck procesor, mother board, or RAM, as this will decrease preformance. If you have the money and other good components I highly recomend it!

For you people that toss around USELESS 3D Mark scores, PLEASE get a life ! First of all, 3D Mark is a joke for testing real world performance. It makes me laugh to see people post 3D Mark scores, and change their video drivers every 3 days to try and squeeze out every 3D Mark point they can. Let me explain something people...when ATI and Nvidia release drivers and your 3D Mark scores go up, its usually due to an image quality feature being turned off in the new driver by default.

Posting scores here is pointless...let me ask ya something Mr. 3D Mark...what image quality settings did you have on when ya benchmarked? Both Nvidia and Ati make very good cards. I used to be hardcore Nvidia until about a year ago. I went with an Ati Radeon 9800 pro and the image quality blew my socks off. Keep in mind that Ati cards generally outperform Nvidia cards when all the nice image quality features are turned on. The 6800 and the X800 are so close in performance, it all comes down to personal preference really, so take your flame wars to another site, or go change those drivers for the 1000th time.

Far from a gaming card, very far. I've owned this card for 5 years now. The 256mg size for today's demanding gaming and graphics is found wanting. Sturdy, robust and long lasting to be sure but extremely limited in use. I would recommend it for very light graphics use. It runs streaming NetFlix and Hulu, view pics, watch DVD's and surf the web just fine. However for demanding graphics such as World of Warcraft it is incapable of delivering the power needed even with the settings turned down to a minimum. Without the proper Ram in a GPU [graphics processor unit] you force the CPU [your computers processor] to take up the slack. Using a proper GPU reduces the load on your CPU making life easier for your machine increasing it's longevity. This is the card I am running now however I'm upgrading to a 1gig card. Even a 512mg card is not enough to run WoW these days. From what I can see online, the 1gig cards are the same to a bit less in price compared to this dinosaur, tough and reliable though it may be.

I bought the 9800 Pro 256Mb Mac Edition.....
I have two older Power Macs, 450 Sawtooth (updated power supply) and a 533DA both with 1.8ghz processors and the 9800 Pro Mac Edition (256mb) and they both run great. I think I bought the ATI's within a year of when they came out.('05).
I came from the original Rage 128 cards so it was a big step up. Maxed out my Ram and with this card it was like a new computer.

Be aware the cooling fans on these only have a life expectancy of 2 to 3 YEARS!

BOTH cooling fans went out within about a month or two of each other about 2 years after I bought them. I replaced one with a full size 3rd party heat sink/cooler and sent the other one back on warranty. The fan just went out this week on the replacement card. 3 years to the month. Both the computers were run pretty heavy with games and such almost 24/7 tho.

As an upgrade card, this Radeon x800 Pro AGP card has given me 4 good years of service. My system originally came with a Radeon 9200 AGP board and framerate was sad slow. This card gave it the boost I needed even on a 266 watt power supply. The fan eventually gave out (started clicking) and I replaced it with a Zerotherm GX810 about 6 months ago and it runs cooler than the stock fan.
That said, if anyone is looking to purchase the card, a little research and you can find x850 Pro cards (4 more pipelines) and even x800xt AGP cards for less than the price of this one.

This card is wonderful for playing 2003 era fast FPS games!

But be careful, this model does NOT support the new Shader Model 3, which is going to be an increasingly important limitation as it's used in more and more games. If you need a new card NOW, this one can't be beat, but if you can wait for the next update that supports SM 3, you'll be happier that your tech didn't go stale so quickly.

I benchmarked this GPU and GF6800GT. X800 Gives me ~9,400 Marks (Tested w/ 3DMarks03, P4 3.2, 1GB DDRRAM) and 6800GT Gone up to ~10,800 Marks. But technical specs are same. Except X800 does not support Vertex Shader 3. So I gives X800Pro 4 Stars.

Dang, the graphics produced by this card are astounding, it truly is High-Def, it is much better than the Nvidia 6800. If u are into grafics, or a extreme gamer like me then u need this card.