ATI Radeon X850XT 256 MB AGP Video Card

List Price: $777.03

Features:

• ATI's SmartShader HD, the world's most advanced pixel shader engine, SmoothVision HD and 3Dc deliver brilliant image quality without comprising performance
• Up to 16 parallel pixel pipelines, a 256-bit memory interface and 43 billion shader operations per second provide the power serious gamers need
• VideoShader HD and FullStream de-blocking technology deliver a finely detailed multimedia experience for streaming video and DVD playback.
• Advanced hardware acceleration reduces CPU utilization for improved system performance.
• DVI and S-Video output deliver big screen multimedia and gaming with support for HDTV

Customer Reviews:

Empty Box arrived - finally got from another vendor! [Posted on 2005-10-08]
Well, this was the first time (and last) I will buy a piece of computer hardware from Amazon (though they did refund my money quickly).

The box arrives, after waiting 9 days for it (despite it saying 'in stock' and me ordering next day shipping). Its the right box, 256mb AGP x850XT PE. Pop open my computer, remove my old card, and remove the shrink wrapping, and open. Hmm. There's a disk, a manual, some cables... *BUT NO VIDEO CARD*!!! I was stunned! More thank likely, someone returned one of these to Amazon without putting in the card, counting on the fact that the amazon clerks wouldnt notice (since there was so much other crap in the box - warrantly cards, manuals, sealed disk, cables, power adaptors, tv/in out cables, etc). So I was the unlucky jerk who got the empty box!!!!

Bought it from NewEgg instead - arrives in 2 days. Works fine. Framerate increases by 20 to 30% in Halflife2, BF2, and Doom3. 3dmark scores almost double.

If you have an AGP motherboard, this is probably your best bet. If you dont, get a PCI Express Nvidia 7800 series. They are not much more $$$, and they are probably 25% faster than this card.

Literally a monster card (performance), but especially the amount of noise it makes. [Posted on 2006-02-12]
If you're not ready to step into the PCI-e (like myself), the Radeon x850 XT is definitely one of the best you can get for AGP.

For those unfamiliar with the other ATI x8xx series AGP models, this is how it goes:
x800 < X800 XL < x850 PRO < x850 XT < x850 XT PE
You can pretty much easily overclock this card to a Platinum Edition, anyway, and save some extra money.

IMPORTANT:
* This card requires the AGP slot AND the first PCI slot under it, due to the enormous fan attached to it. (Read on for more details about the fan).

* It also requires to connect a standard 4-pin molex, directly to the card, to draw extra power from the power supply. If it's not plugged in, your motherboard will start making beeping noises!

1. Download the latest drivers from ATI.com and save it on the hard disk (remember where you put it) -- BUT don't run it yet!
2. Make SURE you UNINSTALL your previous graphic's card drivers COMPLETELY to avoid any conflict.
3. Shutdown your computer, turn off the power supply switch off, unplug any power still going to your computer.
4. Open up your case, and remove old graphics card from AGP slot.
5. Add the X850 XT into the AGP slot. (It should also take up the first PCI slot).
6. Connect the molex to the card from the power supply (the card should come with a spare molex connector, or use any extra molex connectors that's still unused on the power supply)
7. Start the computer (if you don't hear any beeps and starts normal, then it should be fine from here).
8. Login and run the ATI drivers you downloaded previously.

Easy? Now, when you first start up the computer with this graphics card, the fan will power up extremely loud and then gradually decrease -- this is normal.

If you're the kind of person who gets annoyed easily by noisy computers, like me, then this card will probably drive you crazy. The ATI's fan was very annoying and even louder than the computer itself (the stock CPU fan)! Even though the loud fan, apparently, "sounded" like it was working, the cooling result was not there. The performance of the card is good, but the fan is terrible. But luckily, there was a solution (for an extra $30-40):

I highly recommend buying Arctic Cooling's ATI Silencer 5 Rev 2. The fan is now incredibly silent -- and the temperature lowered dramatically. Before, my temperature with the stock fan was going 60 degrees celcius (my room can get pretty warm) -- at idle! And now, in the same environment with the new fan, I get 40 degrees or under. So yes, louder the fan does not mean it does a better cooling job.

I also recommend downloading a program called ATI Tools, for simple overclocking, monitoring temperature, adjusting fan speeds, and more.

Pros:
- Powerful card

Cons:
- The stock fan is extremely noisy and does not lower temperatures very well.
- Takes up an extra PCI slot
- Installation may be a bit more difficult, for some, than installing a standard card.

I have played Half-Life 2, CS: Source, Call of Duty 2, F.E.A.R, DOOM III, Far Cry, Need For Speed: Most Wanted -- they all ran the way I'd always wanted to play them with: high settings. Although, if you want to play at max settings and run high FPS smoothness -- for the most demanding games -- of course, you'll still need an even more powerful card; but for that, you'll probably need a whole new motherboard and upgrade to PCI-e. So overall, for AGP, it is still a powerful card. And this card is even better once the stock fan is replaced!

Can It Get Any Better Than This? [Posted on 2006-03-01]
Pros:

insane framerates
easy install
high quality
perfect card for CS SOURCE!

Cons:

takes up 2 slots

Overall:

i upgraded from a geforce 6800gt and have immediately noticed a framerate increase of 20fps with everything turned on aa/af high quality in CS SOURCE with the same exact computer specs. best graphics card i've ever owned

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