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Review: Leadtek PX7800 GTX TDH MyVIVO Extreme 256MB and SAPPHIRE RADEON HD X1800 XT 512MB

by Tarinder Sandhu on 11 November 2005, 14:20

Tags: Leadtek PX7800 GTX TDH MyVIVO Extreme, Leadtek, Sapphire

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qadz3

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Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory





Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is benchmarked with parallax mapping and high-quality shadows enabled, for maximum GPU grief. The SAPPHIRE card jumps from third place in the non-IQ tests to first place with 4x AA and 16x AF added to the mix.

What's clear from our performance evaluation is the present ineffectiveness of a 512MB framebuffer, even when benchmarks are set to 1600x1200 4x AA 16x AF. There will come a time in the near future when games will use textures that swamp the established 256MB framebuffer on most cards and 512MB-equipped models with show tangible increases as resolution and image quality settings are raised. That said, having a larger framebuffer can only be regarded as a future-proofing positive, and SAPPHIRE's RADEON X1800 XT 512MB card is well-positioned to meet the demands of true next-generation games' engines. It would be interesting to see if the 'XT variant ships with the standard 256MB of RAM and, hopefully, at a price closer to the Ā£300 level. We doubt that will happen for a while.