EXAIR RADEON 9800 XT 256MB
Except
from being a supporter of Nvidia chipsets, Exair offers great VGA solutions
based on ATI's Radeon GPU. The Radeon 9800 XT chipset has many advancements
that the former Pro model. Although it is based on the same GPU, the XT series
have higher clock speeds on both GPU and Memory. You can say that the 9800
XT is a tweaked revision of the Pro model. But let's have a deeper perspective
on this card.
- Specifications
| GPU |
RADEON 9800 XT (R360) |
| Memory Bus Width |
256MB DDR MEMORY
|
| Memory interface |
256 Bit DDR |
| Memory Type |
DDR1 |
| Core Clock |
412 MHz |
| Memory Clock |
730 Mhz (364x2) |
| Memory Bandwidth |
23.4 GB/sec |
| Pixel FillRate |
3.3 Gpixels/sec |
| Geometry rate |
412 Mtriangles/sec |
| Bus |
8x/4x/2x AGP |
| Processing technology |
0.15µ |
| Output Connections |
VGA + TV + DVI |
| Cooling |
Dual-slot Fansink |
| 2D Display Resolutions & Hz |
640x480@200, 800x600@200, 1024x768@200, 1152x864@100,
1280x1024@160, 1600x1200@120, 1920x1080@100, 1920x1200@100, 1920x1440@85,
2048x1536@75 |
| 3D Maximum resolution |
2048x1536 with 16.7M colors |
| Anisotropic Filtering modes (AF) |
2x/4x/8x/16x |
| Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) modes |
2x/4x/6x |
| Dual Display |
Supported |
| Pipelines |
8 |
| Texture units per pixel pipeline |
1 |
| Technologies supported |
- SMARTSHADER 2.1 technology allows users to experience complex, movie-quality
effects in next-generation 3D games and applications
- SMOOTHVISION 2.1 technology enhances image quality by removing jagged
edges and bringing out fine texture detail, without compromising performance
- Unique VIDEOSHADER engine uses programmable pixel shaders to accelerate
video processing and provide better-looking visuals
- FULLSTREAM technology removes blocky artifacts from Streaming and Internet
video and provides sharper image quality
- HyperZ III+ technology improves rendering performance
- OVERDRIVE Automatic overclocking |
| Pixel Shader Support |
2.0+ |
| Vertex Shader Support |
2.0+ |
| DTV/HDTV decoding |
Supported
|
| System requirements |
The minimum system requirements for the card and complementary
software:
- PC with Pentium 4 / III / II / Celeron, AMD K6 / Duron / Athlon / Athlon
XP with 450 MHz
-128MB of system memory and 1.6 GB of hard disk space
-8x speed CD-ROM drive, DVD playback requires DVD drive
-300-Watt power supply or greater
- Windows 2000, 98SE, ME, XP and DirectX 9.0
- Microsoft DirectX 3.0 compatible sound card
- Monitor supported: CRT-15 pin, Svideo, Composite and DVI-I (LCD)
|
- 3D Mark detailed specifications
- The chipset
The Radeon 9800 XT has a higher core speed at 412MHz, 32 MHz higher than the
Radeon 9800 Pro at 238 MHz. Also a higher memory clock speed has been achieved
at 730 from 700. Although ATI has done a good job by braking the 400 MHz core
speed limit, there are some other matters technical issues need to be put into
consideration. Having in mind that the now achieved clock speeds were prohibitive
with the Pro series, it is interesting to see what cooling method ATI used
to perform such admirable a boost.
Front side. Despite the cooler's size, it is very silent. One of the best cooling
solutions based on fan architecture.
On the back side we found the holder of the fan which also reacts as heat
sink, and covers the 50% of the chipset.
The Radeon 9800 XT exposed
The R360 GPU in its all magnificence
Hynix DDR memories used
As you can see, the Radeon 9800 XT wears a new copper cooler. This new cooler
is larger and heavier than the heatsink/fan cooling techniques on the Pro cards.
The fan adjusts it's speed according to the chip temperature. Despite the fan's
size, we didn't experience irritating noise. These features makes it an awesome
cooler.
As you can see in the pictures, the 9800 XT is equipped with the standard
outputs: one VGA, one DVI, and one video out. With the new cooler, ATI says
the 9800 XT
is more overclockable and faster than its forerunner. In the comparison test
that follows you will be able to
see yourselves if ATI's statement is true or not.
- Package contents
-Instruction Manual
-Installation Driver Disk
-Cyberlink Power DVD
-Half Life2 (coupon for free downloading)
-S-Video Cable
-RCA Cable
-S-Video to RCA Adapter
