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Sapphire RADEON X800 XL 512MB Review July 18, 2005 Brandon Sandman Bell |
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Summary: With X850 XT dual-slot copper cooling, dual DVI, and VIVO, Sapphire's RADEON X800 XL 512MB is loaded with features. In today's article, we've put this board through its paces against the latest high-end cards at high resolutions in order to see if the extra memory really helps. Over the course of our testing we found a few cases where the 512MB board outperformed its 256MB predecessor, in addition to one app that actually takes advantage of the additional memory: F.E.A.R. beta.
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 16 ) |
Both ATI and NVIDIA’s case for a 512MB card was similar. The argument was that games were becoming increasingly complex. Not only were more advanced shaders being used more frequently, game developers were also increasingly using high-resolution textures as well as full resolution normal maps. In a .plan update shortly before DOOM 3’s release, id’s Robert Duffy explained that DOOM 3’s Ultra Quality mode loads all textures with no compression (including the game’s normal and specular maps), requiring around 500MB of texture data for a typical DOOM 3 level. Meanwhile in our GeForce FX And DirectX 9 Half-Life 2 Performance article last year, we showed you Half-Life 2’s use of full resolution displacement maps, which were used in the cave walls in HL2’s video stress test.
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With an increasing amount of games using these high-resolution textures, a solution was needed to prevent the graphics core from chugging underneath all this data (this leads to the choppiness you’ll sometimes encounter when you enter large environments in games). ATI’s initial solution to the problem was 3Dc, which brings compression to normal maps. Now a year later they’re following 3Dc up with another solution: integrating more memory onto the graphics card.
Integrating 512MB of memory on the XL
While ATI initially chose the RADEON X850 XT VPU to demonstrate the feasibility of a 512MB card, they’ve ultimately elected to go with the RADEON X800 XL VPU for the first batch of retail 512MB cards. ATI wanted to keep price in check, so it was decided that the X800 XL VPU would be best for the job (keep in mind that the X800 XL ships with less expensive, slower 2.0ns memory modules). To ease the transition to 512MB, clock speeds of the 512MB X800 XL remain the same, at 400MHz core, 490MHz memory (980MHz effective), but ATI has had to make a few changes…
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In order to accommodate the extra memory modules, ATI had to slightly rework the basic 256MB RADEON X800 XL reference design. The most obvious difference is the board’s longer PCB – the X800 XL 512MB is just under half an inch longer than its 256MB predecessor – but ATI has incorporated a few other changes as well, for instance, with more memory modules onboard, the 512MB X800 XL card draws more power. As a result, ATI added additional power circuitry to the board, which in turn bumps the XL board’s power requirements over the 75 watts the x16 PCI-E slot provides. Because of this, the RADEON X800 XL 512MB requires the same six-pin PCI-E power connector as the X850 XT series of cards.
But ATI’s changes to the X800 XL 512MB aren’t limited to the board’s PCB itself, as ATI has also added two new features to the X800 XL 512MB’s repertoire: dual DVI and VIVO. Up until now, both of these features have been optional additions only a handful of board partners have implemented on their boards, for instance, in our RADEON X800 XL Roundup, only the ASUS EAX800XL/2DTV, MSI RX800XL-VT2D256E, and PowerColor RADEON X800 XL boards supported both of these features. Now ATI is requiring that all 512MB X800 XL boards support both of these features.
But Sapphire has decided to go one step further than this, replacing the stock X800 XL cooler with something better: the X850 XT’s heatsink/fan unit!
| Board analysis | Page:: ( 2 / 16 ) |
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Rather than sticking with ATI’s reference board design for the RADEON X800 XL 512MB, Sapphire has incorporated a few changes that are unique to their board.
For instance, like previous Sapphire RADEON board’s, Sapphire outfits their RADEON X800 XL 512MB with their company’s color, using an aqua-blue shade for the board’s PCB.
The most notable difference between Sapphire’s X800 XL 512MB and ATI’s reference board however is the board’s cooling. Rather than rely on the stock X800 XL 256MB heatsink/fan unit, which is a long, single-slot cooling design, Sapphire has decided to integrate the X850 XT’s cooler onto their X800 XL 512MB card.
As you can imagine, this has huge ramifications on the board’s cooling. Whereas the stock X800 XL heatsink/fan unit is composed entirely of aluminum, the Sapphire X800 XL 512MB relies on copper. Due to its superior thermal conductivity, copper is more effective than aluminum at transferring heat, making it the natural choice for a high-end VPU like the X850 XT, which runs at high clock speeds. By placing a copper heatsink on a cooler chip like the X800 XL’s R430 VPU, Sapphire ensures optimal thermals for the X800 XL, providing better cooling than stock X800 XL cards.
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The only downside? As a dual-slot card, the X800 XL 512MB won’t fit in many small form factor systems, like those from Shuttle, Biostar, and AOpen. Overall we think Sapphire did the right thing though by incorporating the larger cooler, as the RADEON X800 XL officially carries a $450 MSRP – that’s a price premium of $150 over the stock X800 XL 256MB (although fortunately street prices for the Sapphire X800 XL 512MB board are hovering just under $400). Naturally with the higher price tag you expect the best cooling possible.
Sapphire X800 XL SKUs
Sapphire’s introduction of the RADEON X800 XL 512MB marks the third Sapphire X800 XL SKU we’ve tested. With so many X800 XL SKUs out there, we figured we should provide a quick refresher on Sapphire’s X800 XL lineup, so when you’re shopping for a Sapphire X800 XL card you can be assured that the Sapphire card you’re interested in is actually the card you’ll get. Looking over Newegg’s listings for the Sapphire X800 XL, it appears Sapphire has produced three 256MB X800 XL boards. The most notable of the three is the Sapphire X800 XL ULTIMATE Edition. This is the X800 XL board we reviewed last month, praising it for its excellent Zalman VF700 cooling. This is the quietest X800 XL card Sapphire currently offers.
The other two 256MB SKUs are pretty similar, with the differences being the interface used, cooling, and VIVO support – Sapphire’s original X800 XL 256MB shipped with a copper-based cooler (this is the same card we evaluated in our RADEON X800 XL Roundup). While the addition of copper is good, the heatsink itself was too small to really be effective, especially at higher clock speeds when overclocking, as a result the card’s fan would sometimes crank up to higher RPMs to keep the X800 XL core cool, thus generating more noise than other X800 XL cards we tested during our roundup.
To address this, it appears Sapphire has integrated ATI’s reference cooler for their X800 XL AGP, this is the third X800 XL 256MB SKU (although keep in mind that this card uses the AGP interface, while the other cards are all PCI-E based). Sapphire finishes the X800 XL AGP off with the addition of VIVO support.
| Test Systems | Page:: ( 3 / 16 ) |
System Setup
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
1GB OCZ DDR400 SDRAM
ATI RADEON X850 XT PE
ATI RADEON X800 XL 256MB
Sapphire RADEON X800 XL 512MB
Driver version CATALYST 5.6
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
Driver version 77.72
250GB Maxtor Hard Drive Maxline III SATA Hard Drive w/16MB Cache
Windows XP Professional SP1
DirectX 9.0c
Benchmarks
Pacific Fighters
IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles
Lock On: Modern Air Combat
Far Cry 1.31
DOOM 3
Half-Life 2
Battlefield 2
| Pacific Fighters | Page:: ( 4 / 16 ) |
Pacific Fighters - OpenGL
| Far Cry Training | Page:: ( 5 / 16 ) |
Far Cry – Direct3D
| IL2 | Page:: ( 6 / 16 ) |
IL-2: FB – OpenGL
| LOMAC | Page:: ( 7 / 16 ) |
LOMAC – Direct3D
| DOOM 3 High Quality | Page:: ( 8 / 16 ) |
DOOM 3 – OpenGL
| Half-Life 2 | Page:: ( 9 / 16 ) |
Half-Life 2 – Direct3D
| Splinter Cell | Page:: ( 10 / 16 ) |
Splinter Cell – Direct3D
| F.E.A.R. Beta | Page:: ( 11 / 16 ) |
| F.E.A.R. 4xAA/8xAF | Page:: ( 12 / 16 ) |
| Battlefield 2 | Page:: ( 13 / 16 ) |
Battlefield 2 – Direct3D
| Overclocking | Page:: ( 14 / 16 ) |
DOOM 3 – OpenGL
Half-Life 2 – Direct3D
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 15 / 16 ) |
Pros
X800 XL core: With a 400MHz core featuring 16 pixel pipelines and six vertex units, the R430 chip ATI’s X800 XL is based on is highly robust, with more than enough horsepower to run today’s latest games with high levels of visual quality.
ATI pairs the X800 XL’s R430 core up to quad 64-bit memory controllers, providing a 256-bit wide memory interface running just shy of 500MHz. This provides it with nearly 32GB/sec of peak memory bandwidth. What is the result of this in laymen’s terms? You can crank up the AA of course! Other mainstream cards with 128-bit memory controllers wouldn’t have the memory bandwidth to keep the graphics core fed with data once the AA is cranked up, resulting in sluggish performance.
On paper and in practice, the RADEON X800 XL stacks up well against NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 GT, with each winning their fair share of benchmarks and performance metrics. This is pretty good company in our opinion.
X850 XT cooling: Rather than stick with ATI’s reference cooler for the X800 XL, Sapphire borrows the larger, more effective, copper-based cooler from the X850 XT. While some may argue that the new dual-slot cooler is overkill for the X800 XL’s VPU, most enthusiasts will probably welcome this change. After all, the 512MB card’s improved cooling can potentially yield to better overclocking if you’re lucky enough to get a good R430 chip.
Dual DVI and VIVO: Unlike Sapphire’s previous PCI Express-based X800 XL cards, their RADEON X800 XL 512MB board ships with both dual DVI outputs and VIVO (video-in/video-out) support, squashing one of our chief complaints with previous Sapphire X800 XL cards we’ve reviewed. These additions will make the board more appealing to LCD users and video buffs alike.
512MB=Future-proof?: This one is a hard call to make, as we really don’t have enough titles to test the theory that the RADEON X800 XL 512MB’s larger memory buffer makes it more future proof than an X800 XL card sporting only 256MB of memory.
It’s possible that the 512MB board’s larger memory footprint will allow it to run the next crop of DX9 games with fluid frame rates. These games will feature higher resolution textures and include full resolution normal maps more extensively than the titles we’re testing with today, which were designed to run sufficiently with older hardware. It’s also possible that the X800 XL’s R430 core won’t have the power to run these games with adequate performance regardless of the amount of memory the X800 XL 512MB has.
Unfortunately right now, it’s too soon to say one way or the other.
Cons
X800 XL 256MB Price/Performance ratio As it stands right now, the X800 XL 256MB delivers performance that is roughly equivalent to the X800 XL 512MB. The only title where the 512MB board really shines over its predecessor is in the unreleased F.E.A.R. beta, and in a few cases with Half-Life 2 and Battlefield 2 at 2048x1536. Considering the 256MB board’s lower price, it’s clearly the better value right now.
| Final Verdict | Page:: ( 16 / 16 ) |