X800 XL AGP

[John Carlyle-Clarke]

Hi-

I'm kicking myself for missing the amazing deals Overclockers UK had
on the ASUS X800 XT Platinum Edition which have now reverted to full
price.

I'm wondering about another item they sell, an HIS Excalibur ATI
Radeon X800 XL ICEQII TURBO 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (AGP).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X800_Series.html

I'm wondering how overclockable this product is likely to be. The
only difference between it and the XT PE are core and memory speeds.
This card seems to come with overclocking software and temp monitoring
which is helpful, especially the latter, and the cooling looks good.
However, they already appear to have clocked it to 432/500 from
400/490 so I wonder how much is left in it!

Here's a comparison of the differences from ATI's site:

Product Name: X800 PRO/X800 XT PLATINUM EDITION/X800 XL AGP
Memory Clock Speed (MHz): 450/560/ 490
Engine Clock Speed (MHz): 475/520/ 400
Pipelines: 12/16/16
Pixel Fillrate (Gpixels/sec) : 5.7/8.3/6.4
Geometry Rate(MTriangles) : 712.5/780/600

I currently have an ATI-built 9700 PRO with custom cooling which is
quite overclockable and plays HL2, Doom3 and Farcry well. I'm not a
hardcore gamer, but I like games to look good, and would like to
upgrade at some point to take full advantage of my Athlon 64.

Thanks in advance!

 

[AAvK]

Well... I just upgraded to an x800xl (made by ATI), and in playing games
I have never seen anything like it in graphics quality. that is to say; "image
quality". I really love it. it is not so much "speed" as it is amounts of RAM
and the memory interface of the RAM, as in 256 bit which is current tech.
Also highly important are the number of pixel pipelines, really, the more
the merrier. 16 is better than 12.

I upgraded from a Chaintech NV Ti4600, 128 bit memory in the amount
of 128MB, GPU of 300MHZ and DDR speed of 600MHZ, and merely 4
pixel pipelines... but it can play Doom 3 at medium graphics setting and at
800x600 rez, so... I think you would love the x800xl. The graphics of the
Ti4600 were not nearly anything compared to the x800xl.

Too bad you missed that sale! Also consider that the NV 7800 cards have
24 pixel pipelines which is superior to any other game card, but I think
they are only available as PCI express (drat!). Even with the new line of
ATI cards, they didn't go that far, still 16.

Definitely read-up on any card you consider I suggest, that includes all
the tech features and *test reviews* all over the 'net, good luck to you.

 

[John Carlyle-Clarke]

Thanks for the feedback. I think any of the X800 cards would be a
good upgrade for me, and the XL is definitely better than the PRO

I've just noticed though that this model is not a VIVO one, which is a
shame as a video in would be handy. HIS do make a VIVO version of
this card, but I can't find it for sale anywhere. Very annoying!

Perhaps I'd be better searching for the cheapest X800XL VIVO card I
can find and adding the Arctic cooler myself. Overclocking tools are
ten a penny, so that's not a problem. But, do all the cards have
temperature monitoring? I doubt it.

 

[madoverclocker]

Have you considered a X800Pro VIVO? I was able to pick up a used HIS
Excalibur ATI
Radeon X800Pro VIVO off ebay. A quick bios flash later and I had 16
pipes 520/560 core and memory speed and a rock solid card for a lot
less than X800XT PE money. Card can actually do 540/610 quite happily
and I haven't even tried any voltage mods yet.

 

[John Carlyle-Clarke]

Have you considered a X800Pro VIVO? I was able to pick up a used
HIS Excalibur ATI
Radeon X800Pro VIVO off ebay. A quick bios flash later and I had
16 pipes 520/560 core and memory speed and a rock solid card for a
lot less than X800XT PE money. Card can actually do 540/610 quite
happily and I haven't even tried any voltage mods yet.

Interesting! I didn't realise that the PRO's could be unlocked.
Presumably this is not guaranteed? There must be a certain amount
of luck involved.

In my ignorance, I thought that it was only the GTO2 models that
could unlock extra pipelines.

 

[AAvK]

Interesting! I didn't realise that the PRO's could be unlocked.
Presumably this is not guaranteed? There must be a certain amount
of luck involved.

In my ignorance, I thought that it was only the GTO2 models that
could unlock extra pipelines.

I believe the "made by ATI" pro cards cannot be unlocked (as I have read),
you should get one made by another company... "HIS"? If that brand that
madoverclocker has can do it, that's the way to go. But it's important to
read-up on cards available on the Albion, and Europe, not just any brand.

Also, I read this review for a card cooler which beat the Arctic Cooler, and
cools as good as liquid when there are two fans on it, the Thermalright V-1:

http://www.systemcooling.com/thermalright_v1-01.html
http://www.thermalright.com/

....prompted me to buy it. Currently my card levels to 59ºC when playing
CoD 2 demo, using the original ATI cooler, this cooler should take that
down 50% or a little above that.

 

[Dave]

Interesting! I didn't realise that the PRO's could be unlocked.
Presumably this is not guaranteed? There must be a certain amount
of luck involved.

In my ignorance, I thought that it was only the GTO2 models that
could unlock extra pipelines.

It has to be a X800Pro VIVO the standard Pro is hard locked to 12 pipes.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?s=4e73b5d3e82b7c7a7f96f7328e1e1a49&threadid=97283

and

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/100

for info. Obviously even a VIVO is not guaranteed to work nor are you
guaranteed to get XT PE speeds or above.

 

[patrickp]

I believe the "made by ATI" pro cards cannot be unlocked (as I have read),
you should get one made by another company... "HIS"? If that brand that
madoverclocker has can do it, that's the way to go. But it's important to
read-up on cards available on the Albion, and Europe, not just any brand.

Also, I read this review for a card cooler which beat the Arctic Cooler, and
cools as good as liquid when there are two fans on it, the Thermalright V-1:

http://www.systemcooling.com/thermalright_v1-01.html
http://www.thermalright.com/

...prompted me to buy it. Currently my card levels to 59ºC when playing
CoD 2 demo, using the original ATI cooler, this cooler should take that
down 50% or a little above that.

Looks like a nice cooler, Alex - doesn't seem to be available in the
UK yet, though... :-(

Patrick

<[email protected]> - take five to email me...

 

[AAvK]

Looks like a nice cooler, Alex - doesn't seem to be available in the
UK yet, though... :-(

Patrick

I see these two carry Thermalright but not the V-1 cooler, maybe you
could have them order it.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
http://www.cpucitystore.co.uk/

 

[patrickp]

I see these two carry Thermalright but not the V-1 cooler, maybe you
could have them order it.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
http://www.cpucitystore.co.uk/

Yes, I've used both those at some time or another. And I really like
Thermalright's CPU coolers. Not much point in ordering one, though;
overclockers, at any rate, will probably get them as soon as they're
available over here. In the meantime - :-(

Patrick

<[email protected]> - take five to email me...