SUMMARY: Whatever happened to the olden days when a video card was just something to throw into your system to ensure a screen display? Thankfully they are long gone! With modern advancements in graphics, we are getting ever closer to the day when we can have realism that is near true and speeds that never cause a flicker. Come join Cameron "Sov" Johnson as he takes a look at the next level of graphics adapters as he delves into the Gigabyte version of the Radeon 9800 Pro. It isn't just another pretty card!
Over the past 2 years, ATI has been the underdog when it has comes to the 3D scene. While having fast products at a reasonable price, ATI were never able to take out the top spot. This all changed, however, when ATI first released a brief on the R300 core. From this point, speculation and rumors kept the new R300 hype to the limit. On release of the R300 core, named the Radeon 9700 Pro, ATI had an instant 3D monster. ATI’s Radeon 9700 from the start was able to kill the Geforce4 video cards. While having an issue with AGP 8x in the first series, ATI refined the core and fixed the teething errors that usually come with first line products.
ATI’s R300 core was revolutionized 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. ATI’s push towards improvements of its drivers and optimizations has put them towards the top of the line, and so far, ATI hasn’t faltered.
With nVidia pushing towards the NV3x GPU, ATI needed to move itself up on the ladder, and the R350 core was ATI’s ticket to moving higher up the 3D chain. The R350 specs that were released to the market showed an impressive change in core speeds, memory size and added features for a greater and smoother performance.
Today we take a look at one of the newest cards to hit the market supporting the new Radeon 9800 Pro chip based on the R350 architecture.
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