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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yacoub - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
Which chipset is it?
Wesley Fink - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
Corrected. Unfortunately, spellchecks don't catch a misplaced 4. The tested ATI chipset is the RD580.tajoh111 - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
Its terrible how anandtech looked like they were paid almost by ATI to do this article. They took known facts and known rumours and molded them to that would best suit ATI. This was done in a almost fanboyish manner in this regard.They changed and modified price details, to best suit ati's interest. We all know that ATI 1800xt's are 600 dollars, but we also know that 7800gtx 256 for the most part beside the most expensive overclocked versions are 450 dollars not the 499 that anandtech suggested.
Yes the prices of the gtx 512's are 700 dollars, but the suggested retail is 650. Note we get these 512 gtx cards for 640 USA in canada.
So basically anandtech took the manufacture suggested prices and the street prices and painted an inaccurate and favourable picture for Ati.
They also did this for the competition part. Ati also said that they released the cards to compete with the 256mg 7800 gtx, how is it supposed to be compared to this when it is 150 dollars more expensive than the competition, and is 5 months newer in the technology cycle. On the other hand the GTX 512 was released in week of each other, with a suggested retail price difference of 50 dollars. Not to mention warrenty.
Nvidia also released this card to do battle with the 1800 xt, not the phantom 1800xt PE which is not availible. SO why is anandtech believeing ATI in this manner. Is it because ATI has made it clear... blah blah, we are going to release this PE product that not availible and we all know will be in lottery rare quantities.
I don't believe any of this competition stuff that anandtech suggest as good for the industry when ATi's showing this year has been poor. They should be punished and forced like a dog to earn the publics trust in there company.
Anything below the 1800 series is still unavailible, the 1800 xl is still more expensive then the Gt and arguably a worse performer, and the Current 1800 xt flagship product is slower than nvidias. THe worst crime I find still those is the 1 year warrenty offered from ati. I find this unforgivable. This makes any ati product a poor purchase. The consumer has a right to be treated with respect not just superior products.
ATI should be gouged this year until they produce competitive products and restore their warrenty from 3 years or to match much on the nvidias card lifetime. If they are not punished and swayed from this inferiority, they will become an abomination of a company.
nVestor - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
Sadly, I agree with most of what you have mentioned. How can ATi/AnandTech begin to sell me on RD580/Crossfire X1800XT when I haven't been sold on Rx480/482/Crossfire X1800XT yet?Then to find this RD580/Crossfire X1800XT was compared to the 7800GTX 256MB SLi? Price points aside, though isn't a 512MB card suppose to be compared to a 512MB card?
If that's the case, I assume Rx480/482/Crossfire X1800XT result would probably be even lower than the RD580/Crossfire X1800XT when pitted against the 7800GTX 512MB/SLi?
Lastly-
That might be the case for ATi Fans, though I believe they don't take to kindly to deception/trickery either like rest of us.
Wesley Fink - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
You use MSRP's when it suits your argument and street prices when those suit your point. The MSRP of the X1800XT and 7800GTX are the same at $599 - check the 7800GTX launch reviews if you doubt that point. X1800XT have beens selling for a week and are selling for retail at $599. 7800GTX has been selling since late June and a search of our Price Engine shows a price range of $449 to $599 selling price for the 7800GTX, with a check of etailers showing most cards around $499. The 7800GTX 512 has a MSRP of $649 but is selling for $699 at every e-tailer in our Price Engine.From our June 22nd 7800GTX launch review, p.1 "The GeForce 7800 GTX will cost a solid $600. Of course, we do expect retailers to charge a premium for the early adopters. Prices we are seeing at launch are on the order of $650."
The prices fpr today's new stuff, both the X1800XT and the 7800GTX 512, will likely drop over time just as the 7800GTX prices have dropped. Today the 7800GTX is clearly the best high-end value, particularly if you shop a little for the $450 to $460 cards. We can only speculate about tomorrow.
It is impossible to debate with a fan - or most nVidia or ATI PR departments.
Powermoloch - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
I don't see why people start bashing ATi after reading this article. I find it ironic that people are willing to spend $200 more on a dual card setup on Nvidia (2x512 7800GTX) while it is likely that the 2 x X1800XT "only" shows better performance according to AT. My belief that competition is healthy, this gives more variety of products for the end-user of all kinds to choose from. And this kind of competition will likely spark new technology, drive down prices (maybe rise up too), and also people can claim themselves as ATi or Nvidia and still be happy for what they get (maybe).Other than that, this is good news for the PC enthusiasts. Why have a fuss about it?
Aquila76 - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
It may be a great performer, but that is the fugliest board layout I have EVER seen, and the color scheme rivals only the McDonald's-themed Jetway. If I had a windowed case, I'd put up curtains to hide that thing.3DC - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Why didn't you compare it to a 512MB 7800GTX setup? Is it because ATI told you not too? Another thing you mention price point comparison. Well it's actually cheaper to compare it to a 512Mb 7800GTX SLI setup then to a 256Mb 7800GTX SLI setup.2 512MB 7800GTX = $1400.00
2 512MB X1800XT = $1200.00
2 256MB 7800GTX = $900.00
Plus if you tack on the price of the RD580 motherboard and then you are putting the Crossfire setup more and more comparable to the 512MB 7800GTX SLI system. Considering everyone and their mothers own a SLI nForce board for their AMD CPU.
It seems ATI didn't want you to use the 512Mb cards, because according to them it's not the card they are going after. Plus to tack on you saying ATI beats NVIDIA in all of the benchmarks is a little premature don't ya think?
This preview sounded more like a ATI PR Announcement...
JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Derek Wilson is our GPU guy and Wesley is our Chipset/Motherboard guy. The 7800 GTX 512MB just launched Monday. I can guarantee that Wes was well along in benchmarks (probably even done!) before Derek has numbers for the new NVIDIA card. Read the article closely: it states that the X1800XT/Crossfire beats 7800GTX/SLI in every test run. However, 7800GTX 512MB/SLI would probably come out on top still.Looking at prices of the X1800XL - they're selling below MSRP and are only slightly more expensive than the 7800GT - we can guess that X1800XT prices will drop over the next month or two. The price of the new NVIDIA 512MB cards will also drop, of course, but they will likely continue to cost ~$100 more than X1800XT.
As for this being a PR piece, *every* article written is essentially PR. There's no such thing as a bad review from the marketing standpoint - many people won't read the reviews, but they'll still see the company names! However, that doesn't mean we're intentionally playing favorites. ATI's X1800XT is a fast card, and in Crossfire it should be very competitive with 7800GTX. If you're an NVIDIA diehard, you probably won't care, but the ATI fans are probably glad to hear that there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
3DC - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
I think the article should be a little clearer in differentiating between the 7800 GTX 256Mb and the 512Mb card. Just a little FYI, I think it's time to add the 256Mb moniker to the end of the 7800 GTX so we all know which card you are talking about.