Item: MSI RX800 XTs
Author: Ryszard Sommefeldt

Thoughts

MSI actually has three RX800 XT variants. The version outside of the two featured in this article is the XT on AGP, at 500/100 clocked slightly slower than the Platinum Edition version. MSI's suggested retail price for all three lies in the £340 to £350 range, plus dreaded UK VAT. However, UK retail prices for the boards are likely to sit a lot lower and I've found rough online pricing at £340 including VAT for the XT on AGP, £350 for the Platinum Edition on AGP, and £360 for the XT on PCI Express. So the PCI Express version, while slower in clocks than the AGP Platinum Edition, attracts a premium.

With the difference in the two AGP versions lying solely in the DRAMs used (1000MHz rated DRAMs on the XT, 1200MHz rated versions on the XT PE), you'll end up paying a bit less for less overclockability with XT, given that the basic performance of the two is essentially identical in the real world.

As far as the PCI Express version is concerned, your choices are singular until MSI decide to produce a Platinum Edition-level version with that interface, as a couple of ATI's other AIBs are doing at the moment.

Bundle wise, all three versions carry the same outstanding set of software. I asked on the first page of this article, "Are MSI still all about the bundle?" and it seems that yes, they are. Three full, good UbiSoft titles are the highlights, the games demos and the software to make use of the VIVO hardware on each board round things off very nicely. With other PCI Express XT boards from other ATI AIBs sometimes seemingly shipping without the power connector required, it was also good to see MSI supply it. Here's hoping they don't miss it out from all full retail examples.

If you don't have any of the three full games and even just one of them takes your fancy, the pricing makes the MSI X800 XT boards well worth considering. They're only around £20 more expensive than most other XT boards from other vendors and on PCI Express the value looks even better, with some retailers asking £400 for XTs on that interface.

Overall, it's hard not to recommend MSI's boards in the face of those X800 XTs from other vendors. X800 XT and XT PE's raw power makes it arguably the fastest basic SKU from either of the top two GPU IHVs right now, with MSI's bundle and online pricing making it the most attractive that I've personally seen to date.

The only issue lies with availability. The AGP version of X800 XT, be that XT or XT PE, seems to be in major constraint, worldwide stocks at all the popular online vendors sitting at zero. The PCI Express board is a lot easier to obtain and a mighty partner for upcoming nForce4 and K8T890 mainboards on Athlon 64, and current shipping mainboards for Intel's Pentium 4.

MSI's variants of ATI's current flagship 3D processor come highly recommended, if those GPUs are what you have your heart and wallet set on.