ATI Radeon X850 XT Video Card

LAST BREATH FOR AGP OWNERS..........

Strengths: HIGH OVERCLOCKABILTY POTENTIAL, DOUBLE DVI CONNECTION...

Weakness: THE OBVIOUS ONE, MAMMOTH SIZE, TAKES 2 SLOT INSIDE, DRAW MORE POWER FROM PSU....

THIS IS MY UPGRADE FROM MY 9800PRO, BOY WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN PERFOMANCE. I'M TALKING ABOUT THE GAME "FEAR" BATTLEFIELD 2, CALL OF DUTY 2, QUAKE 4 AND DOOM 3!" THE ONLY GAME I CANNOT MAX OUT THE ROSOLUTION IS THE GAME ":FEAR." STILL, COMPARED TO MY 9800 PRO RESOLUTION 800X600 AND NOTHING FANCY ON. MY MONITOR IS DELL ULTRA SHARP 24INCH. I INSTALLED A 120MM FAN BLOWING AIR DIRECTLY ON THE CARD, MAN...
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THIS IS MY UPGRADE FROM MY 9800PRO, BOY WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN PERFOMANCE. I'M TALKING ABOUT THE GAME "FEAR" BATTLEFIELD 2, CALL OF DUTY 2, QUAKE 4 AND DOOM 3!" THE ONLY GAME I CANNOT MAX OUT THE ROSOLUTION IS THE GAME ":FEAR." STILL, COMPARED TO MY 9800 PRO RESOLUTION 800X600 AND NOTHING FANCY ON. MY MONITOR IS DELL ULTRA SHARP 24INCH. I INSTALLED A 120MM FAN BLOWING AIR DIRECTLY ON THE CARD, MAN IT OVERCLOCKS LIKE A CHAMP, I MEAN SERIOUS OVERCLOCK........ OVERALL, IF YOU'RE NOT ON THE UPGRADE MODE YET AND STILL WANT TO SQUEEZE SOME MORE PERFORMANCE OUT OF YOUR AGP SYSTEM, THIS IS THE WAY TO GO.....

By TAN732ND - Dec 23, 2005

The Best AGP video card

Strengths: The Price is Unbelievable cheap for the quaility of the card. The Price does not affect any of the graphics. Can Play battlefield 2 on all the highest settings.

Weakness: Can't find anything wrong with this card.

According to Tomshardware.com, They rated this card, to be #2 in the AGP’s, and the number one is the X850 XT platinum, which is about $150 more. For the price and quality this is nothing better in the AGP video cards. The Drivers are great, and so is the software that comes with it. Supports 2 monitors, and plan to use it.

By skocaj - Dec 19, 2005

Great ATI card

Strengths: Best AGP card for price, 16 pipelines, most can be flashed to platinum edition speeds

Weakness: Aging technology, driver issues, no software bundle

This has to be the BEST AGP card for the price. It has the potential to be flashed to Platinum Edition speeds and has ATI's good 3-year warranty. With the 16 pipelines it can play most new games at acceptable speeds.
The price of these are dropping fast and are now one of the few graphic card bargains.

By norman888 - Dec 14, 2005

Radeon X850 XT Video Card

Strengths: Powerful video card

I upgraded this video card from my old ATI 9600XT, I test it with 3DMark2005, it shows the score ATI X850XT 256MB AGP 6100, what a impressive benchmark. I can set the highest effect and detail for BF2, and it still runs flawlessly.

By jwang68 - Feb 15, 2006

Wow what a difference

Strengths: Amazing performance, 2 slot design directs hot air from the GPU to the outside. The best agp card period.

Weakness: 2 slot design takes adjacent PCI slot. Fan noise.

I was chugging along with my 9800pro OC'd to XT speeds and upgraded to a 6600GT. Even after overclocking the card I was still GPU limited in most of the recent games. Then came along a good deal on a x850xt and purchased it. Wow finally I can unlock all the potential on all the recent games. It runs flawlessly with my OC'd P4 3.5ghz with 1gb. I can max out most if not all options on 99% of games...
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I was chugging along with my 9800pro OC'd to XT speeds and upgraded to a 6600GT. Even after overclocking the card I was still GPU limited in most of the recent games. Then came along a good deal on a x850xt and purchased it. Wow finally I can unlock all the potential on all the recent games. It runs flawlessly with my OC'd P4 3.5ghz with 1gb. I can max out most if not all options on 99% of games and still get great frame rate @ 1280 res. I'm talking like Q4, FEAR, HL2, FarCry, Riddick, etc. Now I don't have to junk my whole system just to upgrade to PCIX card. I'm using ATI Tray Tools and have it set to automatically overclock to PE speeds (from 520/540 to 540/590) whenever going into 3D mode and back to default when in 2D mode. That way I don't put too much unnecessary stress on the GPU. I think this card should last at least another couple years or until more games with SM3.0 come out that would be worthwhile upgrading my entire system to PCIX. I don't think thats gonna happen too soon though.

Only down side besides taking up 2 slots is the fan noise. The 2 slot issue is a non-issue for me as I leave one slot next to the AGP empty anyways to ensure maximum airflow to the GPU. That said, the fan is definitely louder than my 9800pro but about the same compared to the 6600GT reference fan. Only time it seems to get really loud is during boot up when it maxes out for few seconds. I've never heard it max out so far during heavy gaming so its not an issue. Definitely recommended if you can find it at a great price like I did.

By pbkim - Jan 8, 2006