SUMMARY: Simply mentioning the words "GeForce FX" sends a shiver down the spine of enthusiast’s users in the tech community as its retail release draws near. Don't forget about the graphics company from Canada though, ATI still currently have the speed crown in the Radeon 9700 Pro. Gigabyte are one of the third party manufacturers who switched to ATI from nVidia and today Cameron "Sov" Johnson takes a look at their Maya II Radeon 9700 - a cheaper, cut down version of the Pro version.
The range of ATI based video cards are slowly but surely expanding into the consumer market. Sapphire has started mass production of its ATI line of cards, Hercules has moved over to ATI and even Creative Labs has a couple of Radeon based cards out in the field.
ATI’s R300 core was revolutionised to be the best of the best. Designed on a 0.15um die for fastest clock speeds, along with the new FC-BGA connection for reduced heat, ATI set out to take the top 3D crown away from nVidia, which has been accomplished. However, with new drivers from ATI we have seen a decline in the effectiveness of the ATI Radeon 9xxx line, with compatibility issues and spyware claims in the mix. With this happening, it still hasn’t diminished ATI’s ability to take on the big boys.
Gigabyte, one relatively young player in the 3D market, has started to expand its video line. First basing their cards on nVidia chips, Gigabyte felt the market was is more of the ATI favour. Doing so, Gigabyte changed their entire line from nVidia over to ATI, hoping that the gamble would pay off; R300 gave ATI partners something to cheer about.
We have already seen the Maya II based on the 9700 Pro core. Today we see the GeForce 4 Ti 4400 equivalent in ATI’s line-up, the 9700 standard.
Signing up for a hosted IP PBX provider is just like signing up for cable TV; the provider is trying to lock you in to a long-term contract at terms that give them the most profit, while you're just trying to get the service and features you need at the lowest possible price. Plus, there are always hidden costs.
Copyright © 1999-2008 Tweak Town Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.