LOSTCIRCUITS

The launch of the R430 core has left the enthusiast community waiting in awe for the new gems to materialize on the shelves and on-line inventories. Sixteen pixel pipelines paired with 256 MB of on board GDDR3-based frame buffer at an estimated retail price of $300,- are potent stimulants of salivary glands. Sublingual, maxillary or whatever - it is drool time. We grabbed one of these puppies, that is, specifically the Sapphire X800XL "HYBRID" and checked whether the new kid on the block lives up to the expectations.

Each coin has two faces and on the dark side of things is the still lingering issue of non-availability. Still, is it going to be worth the wait? Read on ...

Sapphire "Hybrid" RADEON X800XL
Click for larger picture.

The graphics industry is currently in a somewhat strange situation. On the one hand, manufacturers like ATI are outputting press releases about increasing volume of graphics adapter shipments, on the other hand, these shipments appear to be completely invisible to the end users who are still waiting for some kind of miracle that will magically create the graphics adapter that was preordered months and months ago. ATI has been very busy in defending the company’s ability to produce with the lapidary statement that the OEM market is gobbling up the entire capacity, unfortunately, at the expense of their own credibility. Or was it rather that they don’t care anymore about the end user?

It is all a matter of standpoint, I suppose. OEMs are important and of course, we know that the average DELL user will enormously appreciate the upgrade to a RADEON X850XT Platinum Edition to add wings to the, er, Celeron .. But wait, all of that is supposed to change with the new 110 nm interconnect process by which the new R430 core is manufactured. Leaving aside those cards based on a not-quite perfect core with the consequence of losing one or two of the pixel pipeline quad blocks, all eyes are focused on the new low-price RADEON X800XL, a new and improved low power version of the X800XT, using 256 MB of local frame buffer that are connected through a 256 bit interface to the core.

This is not where it stops, though. A suggested price point of some US$300.-, way below any X800Pro featuring only 12 pipelines is supposed to make the X800XL the secret weapon against nVidia who, in the best company tradition, did not waste much time in regaining the top spot as the darling of the enthusiast community. On paper, the specs of the X800XL are extremely impressive, in addition, the top tier manufacturers like e.g. Sapphire are standing by to inundate the market with 16 pipelines at 400 MHz and GDDR3 running at 500 MHz. Special brownie points are earned for the lack of need for an external power connector. Or so the story went. As representative example of the new RADEON generation, we are looking today at the Sapphire X800XL.

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