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Conclusion

Numbers don't lie, but there is more than just numbers. For a first pass of a new graphics adapter, the Xabre600 has done quite well with certain restrictions, of course. We just have to go back to the original release of the ATI RADEON 8500 and look at the performance as well as the texture mapping quality then and compare it to what the same cards are capable of delivering one year later with the only difference being better and more mature drivers. If we take these margins into account, we also have to admit a substantial margin for improvement of the existing hardware / software combination.

The most annoying part of the Xabre600 in all tests was the mediocre image quality. Where every other card used in this comparison showed excellent levels of detail not only in the first person but also in the environment, the Xabre600 was rather disappointing. As mentioned, this statement is based not only on purely esthetical values but, more importantly, on how the image quality or lack thereof influenced the playability of games like Unreal Tournament 2003. Speed is not everything. Of course, benchmarks are important, not to say "frame rate is life" but there is a limit of how much trade-off, particularly with respect to the level of detail will be tolerated by the user.

Suffice it to say that from a technical standpoint, the Xabre600 with its Vertexilizer technology and XiminatorII drivers is a very interesting solution. The concept certainly appears to work, at least in conjunction with a 3 GHz P4 and, moreover, the vertex shaders are not locked in hardware which means that the GPU can be upgraded to future versions of vertex shader specifications. The question is, will anybody really need that. It was only 18 months ago that the GeForce3 was released and where is it now? The GeForce4 along with the RADEON 8500 and 9000 don't qualify as state of the art anymore but that is only in the face of the RADEON 9700 and the upcoming GeForce FX. Bottom line is that the graphics market is moving extremely fast and, therefore, software upgradeability may be interesting but become applicable at a point where the rest of the hardware is already completely obsolete.

At a time where more than a handful of the graphics manufacturers are competing mostly for the low to mid range market, one has to be either extremely good or extremely cheap to find a foothold. Until the necessary improvements have been accomplished, the Xabre600 will have to be extremely cheap to find its fan club, that is, the retail price will have to drop below $100 to even have a chance.

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