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ATI 512MB Radeon X800 XL

More buffer, gentlemen?

Performance

Half-Life 2 and Beepa's excellent Fraps 2.5.4 were combined to record framerate over a run of our custom timedemo. To exert maximum memory pressure, 1600 x 1200 (the maximum resolution of the LCD monitor used for benchmarking) with 6x AA and 16x AF was chosen, to see if 512MB of card memory has any effect on performance.

ATI 512MB Half-Life 2 framerates

The graph plots frame rate for the duration of the benchmark run, along with minimum frames per second as a constant value series. The black line, representing the 512MB board, shows the clear benefits over an otherwise identical board with half the memory size. There's enough going on during an average render of Half-Life 2 at those settings that 512MB can lessen the blow of a frame rate drop and provide a higher average frame rate and higher low frame rate.

The difference in average frame rates (68.637 for the 512MB board, 63.765 for the 256MB version) is smaller than the approx. 8fps difference in minimum frame rate, showing off one of the main reasons you'd maybe choose a larger board over the smaller one.

The X800 XL 512MB isn't faster than a 265MB X850 XT PE, however, either in lower frame rate or average frame rate. So depending on cost, a faster basic board is currently going to be a better choice for many.

Verdict

There's obviously a case to be made for 512MB consumer hardware, but I'm hoping you can see that the case to be made should be limited to certain sections of the graphics market, sections where the added costs of a board give you actual benefit, rather than none at all. Shop sensibly when considering one. The advantages will become much clearer in the future, as and when games titles start using rendering methods and art assets that make a 512MB board a much more compelling choice.

On a high end board like the X800 XL, the increased memory size will more often than not give you a smoother gameplay experience if you're running at high resolutions and with high levels of anti-aliasing applied. You therefore have to decide whether the cost for that bigger board is better spent there, rather than on something like an X850 XT PE. When you do so, consider how long you'll keep the board. If it's going to be a significant length of time, the choice makes more sense.

Overall, and I say this for the average consumer with a decent LCD rather than a very high-end CRT, 512MB hardware is something for the future rather than a purchase for today.

Review by
Hexus.net

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