Introduction

RADEON X700 XT: ATI’s RADEON 9500 PRO killer

When it comes to delivering the most bang for the buck, ATI’s RADEON 9500 PRO has been in a class of its own among DirectX 9 graphics cards. Thanks to its 8-pixel pipeline architecture (with four vertex units) and 275MHz core clock frequency, the RADEON 9500 PRO has the fill rate to pump pixels faster than many more contemporary DX9 mainstream cards. This allows it to perform well in situations with moderate screen resolutions, even with a little bit of anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering thrown in for enhanced visuals.

6600 GT (top) and X700 XT (bottom)

The X700 XT and X600 XT

When it was introduced nearly two years ago, enthusiasts flocked to the RADEON 9500 PRO. For about $200 you got a DirectX 9 card that played all existing games well, with the added bonus of DX9 compliance for the games of tomorrow. The RADEON 9500 PRO did so well that many gamers passed over its successor, RADEON 9600 PRO, even though in some cases the RADEON 9500 PRO was the more expensive option. In order to reduce manufacturing costs, ATI cut the number of pixel pipelines in half, they tried to offset this by cranking up the core clock speed to 400MHz, but it wasn’t enough, the RADEON 9500 PRO outperformed the 9600 PRO in all games except for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, which is based on a derivative of the UT 2003 engine.

Both cards utilize PCI Express interface

The X700 board is a little shorter than GeForce 6600 GT

ATI took a second stab at truly replacing the RADEON 9500 PRO around this time last year with the RADEON 9600 XT, but even with nearly double the core clock speed (500MHz in the case of the 9600 XT) the RADEON 9600 XT wasn’t a dramatic performance enhancement over the RADEON 9500 PRO. With the graphics market’s brutal 6-month product cycles, the RADEON 9500 PRO’s run at the top has been unprecedented. If you bought one of these cards before they disappeared, neither ATI nor NVIDIA has really offered a true replacement in the $200 price segment that’s worth the cost of upgrading too up to this point. This is going to change this fall however, as both ATI and NVIDIA will be releasing a new generation of mainstream parts that should offer significantly more performance than previous midrange card offerings.

X700 relies on copper cooling, while 6600 GT uses aluminum

We’ve already shown you a sneak peek at NVIDIA’s mainstream solution, the GeForce 6600 GT. Its 8 pixel pipes and 500MHz core clock allowed it to outperform more expensive cards like the RADEON 9800 XT in many situations. But what does ATI have up their sleeve? Read on to find out!