Swad Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 ATI announced today 5 new video card models, some of the first product announcements since the purchase of ATI by AMD. All of the models are within the x1000 line. Starting with the cheapest, we've got the Radeon X1300 XT, Radeon X1650 Pro, Radeon X1900 XT 256 MB, ATI’s Radeon X1950 XTX and X1950 CrossFire. Interestingly, both X1950 are priced the same (USD $449). [H]ardOCP (mentioned to us in Reader News by embries) had this to say about the new high end models: TI has proven they are a leader and not a follower with the X1950 XTX. ATI has released the world’s first consumer 3D graphics card with GDDR4 memory clocked at the highest ever stock speed that chews through games when it comes to high definition gaming. Memory bandwidth looks to one again be the defining factor in 3D performance. With a re-designed heatsink/fan unit, faster memory, and lowered price, the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX and CrossFire Edition are both serious 3D gaming video cards for the [H]ardcore that offer some value over NVIDIA’s more expensive 7950 GX2. ATI’s CrossFire dual GPU gaming platform looks to have just grown up. Anandtech notes that ATI is moving to simplfy its product lineup to just 8 card models: - ATI Radeon X1950 XTX - ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB - ATI Radeon X1900 GT - ATI Radeon X1650 Pro - ATI Radeon X1300 XT - ATI Radeon X1300 Pro - ATI Radeon X1300 256 - ATI Radeon X1300 64-bit With Apple using a GeForce card in the standard configuration of the Mac Pro (something carried over from the Power Mac G5), we're still unsure if we'll see variations of these cards in future Macs or, instead, a move away from ATI by Apple. What are your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
embries Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I think you'll continue to see Apple use ATI cards. First of all a driver progression exists. Second, ATI has been (to some degree) committed to having its cards in Macs for a long time. They've laid out at least some capital to help develop an EFI/BIOS compatible platform and it will take several generations of cards sold on a Mac for them to recoup this investment. Furthermore, at this point, until the next monster from ATI hits with its 64 pipelines (what a crazy number), there is little need for any tweaking from ATI to anything aside from adding a 128k EEPROM to the card and flashing is appropriately for a Mac. I do think that, like the [H] guys said, ATI has somewhat shot itself in the foot as far as the PC user goes in that the X1300XT and the X1650 Pro have MSRP's which are only $10 apart. Retail prices will likely only differ from $0-$25 so for most customers it will be a no-brainer to step up to the X1650 Pro. For systems developers, builders, or integrators, there may be a more compelling price reason to choose the X1300XT but by and large I think that segment is mostly dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmanfvrga Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Nice. I have converted to ATI totally from Nvidia. I just wonder when the ATI drivers for OSX Intel are coming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobNyc Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Love The Good News! I never had Nvidia and it was Linux users always telling me nvidia was the best. I had a radeon 9250 pro , then when I was doing some upgrades in May for OSX I was thinking either the 6600gt, x1600 or x800gto. So I went with the x1600pro and you guys know the good results its been giving on osx. I'm not a hardcore gamer so gaming with the x1600 previously was a pleasure (The GodFather) which i was playing when i first got the card and haven't gamed lately but will start looking into it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst.schlemmer Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I guess, apple will stick to ATi and don't kick them out and will only sell macs with nvidia graphics. You can order the new mac pro with an ATi x1900xt, so i dont see there any trouble for ati. But nvidia drivers for Mac OS X x86 will be good for our users, u dont run ati cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeksHaveFeelings Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I would like to see nVidia cards in Macs as they have better OpenGL performance than ATI cards, and because ATI's drivers for Windows, Linux, and presumably OS X are half-assed, but ATI probably bought them out. NVidia cards consistently get better framerates than ATI on OpenGL-based games like Quake 4, and OS X only uses OpenGL for its graphics (Quartz Extreme is using OpenGL to do GUI drawing...that's why they can add more effects without slowing down the computer), so it should be a no-brainer. I'm guessing that OS X ATI drivers are probably not that optimized because Macs are still a portion of ATI's market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeezoflip Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 i wouldnt mind more support for nVidia cards. Ati is nice too. I actually like them both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sev7en Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 There are no news about new mobile GPUs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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