On top of its incredible performance, the feature set of RADEON 9500 PRO is just as impressive. You’ve got full DirectX 9 compliance and 128-bit color support, 8-pixel pipelines for 16 textures per pass, and AGP 8X. Okay, so we’re reaching a bit with that last feature, but still, the RADEON 9500 PRO is loaded to the max with features. The only aspect the RADEON 9500 PRO is missing is the RADEON 9700’s 256-bit memory interface, and if you want that you’ll have to pay $100 more for it in the form of the RADEON 9700. As we said in the Ballistics Report, the only cards better than the RADEON 9500 PRO at this point would have to be the RADEON 9700 or RADEON 9700 PRO. NVIDIA’s GeForce4 Titanium line just can’t match what ATI is offering at this point.

Now that ATI has completed the RADEON 9500 PRO, their biggest challenge is going to be meeting demand. Just as the GeForce4 Ti 4200 was an instant success for NVIDIA, we have a feeling that the RADEON 9500 PRO will be a smash hit for ATI. If they can supply cards to the retail sector and their manufacturing partners in time for the holiday sales rush ATI could have a very merry Christmas this year. Meanwhile NVIDIA has got to lower the price point of its products or be forced to sit on the sidelines until its GeForce FX and other products based on the NV3x architecture make their debut next year.