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PowerColor RADEON X800 Bravo Edition Review February 14, 2005 Brandon Sandman Bell |
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Summary: ATI's RADEON X800 VPU has been highly anticipated by gamers and hardware enthusiasts ever since it was introduced at the end of last year. The chip combines a 12-pixel pipeline architecture with high clock speeds and a 256-bit memory interface. But PowerColor takes the stock RADEON X800 to another performance level with their X800 Bravo Edition board. The card features 1.6ns GDDR3 memory, allowing PowerColor to supercharge the clock speeds to levels that are higher than stock. PowerColor rounds the package out with dual DVIs, VIVO, and better cooling. See how this board compares to the stock X800, the RADEON X800 XL, X700/X800 PRO, GeForce 6800 and 6800 GT as well as the GeForce 6600 GT in this review!
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 18 ) |
By all accounts, NVIDIA’s GeForce 6600 GT has ruled the mainstream roost ever since it was first introduced last summer. The GeForce 6600 GT merged high clock speeds (500MHz core/500MHz memory in PCI Express variants) with an eight pipeline architecture and shader model 3.0 support, all in a package that retailed for $200. The end result was a product that established a new benchmark in mainstream performance, pumping frames faster than a high-end RADEON 9800 XT in some cases; and to top it all off, PCI Express 6600 GT cards could be combined together for SLI for nearly double the performance.ATI’s answer to the GeForce 6600 GT was the RADEON X700 XT. The RADEON X700 XT matched up well to the GeForce 6600 GT, featuring similar clock speeds and a somewhat similar architecture. ATI did a few things different than NVIDIA with X700 XT, going beyond the GeForce 6600 GT’s design in many ways, but ultimately ATI just couldn’t produce the X700 XT in the volumes needed for a mainstream part at the lofty clock speeds they had set and the project was canned, with the few X700 XT chips that were produced eventually finding their way into higher end X700 PRO cards like the Sapphire X700 PRO TOXIC we reviewed two weeks ago.
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To ATI enthusiasts, the X700 XT was yet another poster child for all that was wrong with the company. Just as X800 XT/X800 XT PE were announced with much fanfare only to ship to retail in very limited quantities, the X700 XT was another embarrassment for ATI.
But little did the public know that ATI had a trick up their sleeve in the form of the RADEON X800!
The RADEON X800 core
First announced last December, the RADEON X800 borrows most of its design cues from its older brothers in the RADEON X800 PRO/XT, only it has been designed from the outset to be cheaper to produce. You’ve got the same 2.0b shaders, with 3Dc support and a 256-bit memory interface (four 64-bit memory controllers to be exact), only the RADEON X800’s R430 core is based on TSMC’s 0.11-micron manufacturing process.
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The smaller process allows TSMC to produce more chips per silicon wafer (assuming similar yields), thus reducing manufacturing costs. The only real downside to 0.11-micron for end users who are enthusiasts and like to overclock is that the process isn’t tuned for high clock speeds like the older 0.13-micron process was, which featured performance enhancements like low-k dielectric. As a result, the graphics core on the X800 and X800 XL is 400MHz. However, the beauty is that the cost savings introduced by moving down to 0.11-micron allows ATI to cram 16 pixel pipelines into the X800 XL, while the X800 features 12 pixel pipes (one of its pixel pipeline quads is disabled).
| ATI lineup update | Page:: ( 2 / 18 ) |
On the low end, you have the RADEON X700 PRO, which is an eight pipeline card with a 128-bit memory interface that’s intended to service the mainstream segment. When configured with 256MB of memory the board retails for $200, which happens to be the same price ATI has set for the 128MB RADEON X800. As we mentioned earlier, the RADEON X800 features 12 pipelines and a 256-bit memory interface.
On paper, the X800’s greater number of pipelines gives it superior pixel-pumping power, as well as fill rate, while its larger 256-bit memory interface keeps it better fed with data, especially once you scale up the screen resolution or turn on anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. However, its smaller memory size of just 128MB isn’t large enough to store the texture data, and other information used by today’s latest games. We saw this earlier this month in the TOXIC X700 PRO review, where its limitation of just 128MB of memory often meant that it was outperformed by slower X700 PRO cards with 256MB of memory.
Because of this, many of ATI’s board partners have elected to skip the 128MB RADEON X800 SKU at $199, opting instead for the more balanced 256MB RADEON X800. An official MSRP on these 256MB RADEON X800 cards hasn’t been set, but most expect it to hover in the $250 range. Herein comes the next difficulty: these 256MB RADEON X800 cards are priced very close to RADEON X800 PRO and RADEON X800 XL.
While ATI themselves had no plans for PCI Express-based RADEON X800 PRO cards, many of their board partners did produce boards, as they couldn’t get their hands on PCI Express variants of the X800 XT and X800 XT Platinum Edition. To the best of our knowledge, these boards are still being produced, and are still available in retail channels. In addition, despite the introduction of R430, ATI still intended to continue producing RADEON X800 PRO. During the R480 launch we were told by ATI that they planned to price X800 PRO between the X800 XL and X800, likely somewhere in the $250 range. This is exactly where the 256MB RADEON X800 now resides.
Our best guess is that the RADEON X800 PRO will continue to live on in AGP form, as ATI’s AGP bridge chip is still in development with no immediate ETA, while PCI Express X800 PROs will slowly disappear, making way for 256MB RADEON X800 cards.
With 12 pipelines and 256MB of GDDR3 memory, these RADEON X800 cards are well positioned in the market, as NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 features a slower core clock speed and a higher official price tag. But at the same time, their selling price is awfully close to the RADEON X800 XL’s MSRP of $300. Of course, if you’ve priced an X800 XL card lately you know that current street prices are nowhere near MSRP, with X800 XL boards selling for $370 or more, but as supply of these cards increases, price competition will begin to set in and the prices will fall. When this happens, consumers will have to decide between the 12-pipeline RADEON X800 with 256MB of memory running at 350MHz (700MHz effective), or for $50 more, the 16-pipeline RADEON X800 XL, also outfitted with 256MB of memory, but running at 500MHz (1.0GHz effective).
But PowerColor’s X800 Bravo Edition muddies the waters even further, as the board sports a clock speed that is higher than stock thanks to its faster GDDR3 memory modules. This allows the board to run faster than your typical RADEON X800 card!
| Board analysis | Page:: ( 3 / 18 ) |
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Sure, Sapphire’s TOXIC line of graphics cards shipped with their APE overclocking tool, but the board was clocked to ATI’s reference clock speeds out of the box. PowerColor’s X800 Bravo Edition however, is the first R4xx card we’re aware of that defies this. Like their RADEON 9600 XT Bravo, which was the company’s first “Bravo” board, the PowerColor X800 Bravo ships from the factory overclocked out of the box. In particular, it’s the board’s memory that is “overclocked”, running at 500MHz (1.0GHz effective) by default.
We put the word overclocked in quotes because while the memory’s 500MHz clock speed is officially 150MHz above ATI’s reference clock speeds for the RADEON X800, PowerColor equips their Bravo Edition board with 1.6ns GDDR3 memory modules from Samsung. These 1.6ns modules are officially rated for clock speeds up to 600MHz and are the same modules used on more expensive graphics cards. Since the Bravo’s memory is clocked at 500MHz, this is well within the capabilities of the Samsung memory modules. Other 256MB RADEON X800 boards we’ve received have shipped with 2.0ns modules from Samsung, which is the slowest GDDR3 module Samsung currently makes and is currently used on the X800 PRO, and X800 XL (among many others).
PowerColor clocks the graphics core at ATI’s default clock speed of 400MHz.
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But a superior memory subsystem isn’t the only feature the PowerColor X800 Bravo boasts, as PowerColor has also equipped the board with two DVI connectors. Silicon Image’s Sil1162 DVI transmitter powers the second DVI output. This feature was notably absent on ATI’s cards last year, including the $500 RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition, so its impressive to see PowerColor integrating the second DVI output on their RADEON X800 board. By providing two DVI connections the PowerColor X800 Bravo can power two DVI displays, or thanks to its twin DVI adapters (which are included in the card’s packaging) two VGA displays. This provides the end user with a wider array of display options than if the more traditional DVI/VGA configuration would have been used.
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The third additional feature PowerColor adds to their Bravo Edition board is video input support. On the underside of the card rests ATI’s Rage Theater chip.
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The rest of the PowerColor X800 Bravo is more in line with ATI’s reference design. PowerColor makes no major deviations from reference, although if you recall the original RADEON X800 cooler, you’ll see that PowerColor’s heatsink/fan unit is much more robust than the reference design used by ATI and some of their board partners. PowerColor uses a large aluminum heatsink to draw heat off the R430 core. Coupled alongside the heatsink is a sizeable fan. Like the RADEON 9800 XT cooler design, the fan is located offset of the VPU’s core in order to increase its effectiveness as the system draws air from within the system case and blows it across the heatsink’s fins, before the hot air escapes out the side of the ducted enclosure. By locating the fan offset of the graphics core, the fan’s motor is theoretically lengthened, as the area directly above the VPU is the hottest spot on the card’s PCB. This heat could potentially kill the fan’s motor prematurely. This is why the fans on most of the high-end cards you see today no longer rest directly above the graphics card.
| Test systems | Page:: ( 4 / 18 ) |
System Setup
Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz
ASUS P5AD2 Premium
ABIT IC7-G MAX 2 Advance
1GB OCZ EL DDR400 Platinum Edition Rev 2
ATI RADEON X800 XL
ATI RADEON X800 XL
ATI RADEON X800 PRO AGP
PowerColor RADEON X800 Bravo
Driver version CAT 5.2
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT reference card PCI-E
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT reference card PCI-E
Driver version 67.66 (obtained off nZone website)
250GB Maxtor Hard Drive Maxline III SATA Hard Drive w/16MB Cache
Windows XP Professional SP1
DirectX 9.0c
Benchmarks
Lock On: Modern Air Combat (Mig-29 custom demo)
IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles (The Black Death track)
Pacific Fighters (kamikaze demo)
Far Cry 1.3
DOOM 3 (gameplay custom demo)
| Lock On: Modern Air Combat | Page:: ( 5 / 18 ) |
Lock On: Modern Air Combat – Direct3D
| IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles | Page:: ( 6 / 18 ) |
IL-2 Sturmovik: FB - OpenGL
| Pacific Fighters | Page:: ( 7 / 18 ) |
Pacific Fighters - OpenGL
| Far Cry Volcano | Page:: ( 8 / 18 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
| Far Cry Volcano 4xAA/8xAF | Page:: ( 9 / 18 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
| Far Cry Training | Page:: ( 10 / 18 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
| Far Cry Training 4xAA/8xAF | Page:: ( 11 / 18 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
| DOOM 3 High Quality | Page:: ( 12 / 18 ) |
DOOM 3 – OpenGL
| DOOM 3 4xAA/8xAF | Page:: ( 13 / 18 ) |
DOOM 3 – OpenGL
| Half-Life 2 | Page:: ( 14 / 18 ) |
Half-Life 2 – Direct3D
| Half-Life 2 4xAA/8xAF | Page:: ( 15 / 18 ) |
Half-Life 2 – Direct3D
| Overclocking | Page:: ( 16 / 18 ) |
Half-Life 2 – Direct3D
DOOM 3 – OpenGL
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 17 / 18 ) |
Pros
RADEON X800 core: ATI’s X800 graphics core sports all the features first introduced in RADEON X800 PRO last year, only it’s cheaper for ATI to produce. You’ve got a graphics core running at 400MHz with 12 pixel pipelines and six vertex units, and a whopping 256-bit memory interface integrated onto a board that retails for about $250 in the case of the Bravo board.
A year ago, these kinds of features were unheard of, especially at that price point. It’s no wonder why so many enthusiasts have been looking forward to R430-based cards like the PowerColor X800 Bravo Edition.
1.6ns memory: Paired alongside the Bravo Edition’s X800 graphics core are 1.6ns memory modules manufactured by Samsung. For added performance, PowerColor clocks the board’s memory at 500MHz, 150MHz faster than the stock RADEON X800 clock speed. In our testing, the Bravo board outpaced the stock X800 by roughly 12-15% (or more in one case with IL-2 Sturmovik). This in turn leads us to our next topic, overclocking.
Overclocking: At 1.6ns, the Bravo’s memory modules are officially rated for speeds up to 600MHz, nearly double that of the stock X800. This gives end user’s more headroom for overclocking.
Our overclocking endeavors were limited to just 537MHz on the memory though, at speeds beyond that the board would lock up and VPU Recover would kick in. Voltages and/or differences in the X800's board design are likely preventing the memory modules from reaching their full potential. The X800 lacks some of the power circuitry found on X850 boards.
Dual DVI: The Bravo Edition PowerColor X800 ships with two DVI connectors, providing the most flexible range of display connections possible. Not only can you pair the card up with two DVI-powered LCD flat panels, you can use the DVI adapters to drive two VGA displays, or a mix of VGA and DVI.
Cooling: Rather than relying on ATI’s reference cooling design, PowerColor has implemented a unique aluminum heatsink which does a good job of keeping the X800 core cool. Sitting atop the heatsink is a large fan that runs quietly.
VIVO: ATI’s Rage Theater chip provides VIVO functionality, allowing you to hook up your PS2/Xbox or older video device directly to the graphics card for video capture.
Bundle: Hardware accessories bundled with the PowerColor X800 Bravo Edition include two DVI adapters, a component video cable for outputting to an HDTV, VIVO cable, power adapter (although an external power connection isn’t required), and composite cable. PowerColor also includes a copy of Hitman: Contracts, and suite of software from CyberLink including PowerDirector SE+, Media Show SE, PowerDVD, PowerProducer DVD, and Power2Go.
Cons
No AGP yet: While this certainly isn’t the fault of PowerColor or their Bravo board, we just wanted to note that this card is for now at least, a PCI Express part only. Those of you with existing systems who would like to upgrade to this card will also need to purchase a new PCI Express-based motherboard, which will add to your cost of upgrading. If ATI offered AGP variants of their latest cards, you could drop it right into your existing system. Unfortunately, we don’t know when, or even if that is going to happen.
X800 XL: The X800 XL is the only card that may stand in the PowerColor X800 Bravo’s way. It features 16 pixel pipelines in comparison to the Bravo’s 12, but other than that, the clocks are the same at 400MHz core/500MHz memory. As you saw in our performance testing, the increased number of pixel pipelines allows the RADEON X800 XL to outperform the Bravo board in all cases, so if you can afford to do so, you may want to pony up the extra cash for an X800 XL card. We reviewed PowerColor’s X800 XL card and found it to be an excellent graphics card.
| Final Verdict | Page:: ( 18 / 18 ) |
FiringSquad says:
Realizing that many of today’s games need more than 128MB of memory, ATI board partners like PowerColor have offered their initial RADEON X800 boards with 256MB of RAM. In addition, there are still tons of 256MB X700 PRO boards on the retail market priced around $200, so introducing the $200 X800 SKU with 128MB of memory would have only made matters more complicated for board manufacturers and retailers. As you saw in our performance results, the 256MB RADEON X800 blows away the X700 PRO 256MB (even at default clocks), especially in titles such as Half-Life 2 and Far Cry, so this is the card you’re going to want to get if you can afford to spend the extra cash. NVIDIA’s GeForce 6600 GT has just been dethroned.
Very rarely does a product get discontinued before it’s ever introduced (X700 XT) to be followed up by a product that’s so good (X800), you forget about the original, but that’s exactly what has happened. NVIDIA is now on the clock to either lower their prices, or deliver a 6800-class part that’s cheaper to produce of their own.
PowerColor’s X800 Bravo Edition takes the reference RADEON X800 design and builds on it greatly, producing a board that is superior to ATI’s at the hardware level. You’ve got faster memory, better cooling, dual DVI, and VIVO. What’s not to love about this card?
It’s because of this unique combination of hardware features that PowerColor earns our coveted Editor’s Choice Award. No other X800 card that has been announced to date combines Samsung’s 1.6ns DDR3 memory modules, dual DVI, and VIVO into one package. PowerColor tops it off with great cooling and a nice bundle, which includes a component video cable.
If you want to pick up a Bravo board though, you may want to act fast, as PowerColor’s previous Bravo Edition card, the 9600 XT Bravo was a limited edition product. Just be on the lookout for the “1.6ns GDDR3 Bravo Edition” logo on the front of the board’s packaging, and you should be good to go!