SUMMARY: Half a grand is a lot of money to spend on a graphics card. In this article we examine visual gaming performance of ATI's latest GPU, the Radeon 9800 XT, in Counter-Strike, NHL 2004, Max Payne 2, Midnight Club II and Halo PC to work out if it is really worth spending all those dollars.
1 x Graphics Card 1 x S-Video Cable 1 x Composite Cable 1 x DVI / VGA adapter 1 x S-Video / Composite Adapter 1 x Power Extension Cord [1x Driver CD] [1x Software CD] [1x Half-Life 2 Coupon]
The contents enclosed in brackets are what you would generally not find in an OEM version of this product. Shockingly, Allstarshop’s OEM version includes all three.
Aesthetically speaking, the Radeon 9800 XT is stunning. The card is marginally heavier than that of the nVidia GeForce 3 & 4 series, and it feels considerably sturdier. With their customers in mind, ATi has cleverly provided the Radeon 9800 XT with a second power extension cord (attached to the first one) which allows for a longer reach inside your PC. As a perk, included within the entire Radeon 9800 series is the ability to swap your graphic card’s power cord for a brand new one. This could turnout to be a life-saver if you happen to damage your cord.
The Radeon name and logo (refer to the image above) are positioned directly above the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), which is housed by the plastic guard that contains the XT’s dynamic cooling fan. The stock fan spins accordingly to the level of heat dissipation and usage of the card. Interestingly, the copper plate underneath the card also acts as a cooling solution – a thin heatsink.
Now we’ve taken a quick look at the 9800 XT, let’s get onto gaming performance.
