The benchmark section proved out what we had naturally assumed would happen; the increase in the Radeon 9800 XT's core and memory clock speeds provided a nice performance increase in the 10-20% range. It's also much the same scenario as a user video card overclock, where the most noticeable dividends occur at the higher resolutions or with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled. The GeForce FX 5900 Ultra comparison also favors ATI, and the Radeon 9800 XT is now the overall performance champ.
Performance is one consideration when evaluating high-end video cards, but image quality is also important, especially of late. The performance war has moved to a whole new level, and in some cases, the first casualty is image quality. Lowering detail levels or simply not reaching the highest potential quality in anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering can lead to higher benchmark scores, but will create a less appealing game environment. Balancing these two factors is a difficult job, and is made even tougher by the "personal taste" appeal of certain techniques and effects.
The Radeon 9800 XT features the enhanced R360 core, but it's still a Radeon 9800-based product and as such, displays excellent image quality. Its anisotropic filtering is the best in the business, and anti-aliasing is also top-notch. In our book, the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra can't match ATI's anisotropic filtering, and also falls back a bit when comparing pure edge anti-aliasing. NVIDIA has by no means "poor" image quality, it's just that ATI has presented such a high standard for comparison.
Our evaluation included several screenshot examinations, the use of a few AA and AF tools, and the usual in-game evaluation. To give a more general view of the image quality debate, we've included two screenshots taken from the 3DMark 2003 IQ suite, with 4X anti-aliasing and 8X anisotropic filtering modes enabled. Click on the thumbnails and compare images, and hopefully this can give a more individual view of our IQ opinions. Note that due to bandwidth concerns, these are jpeg files, taken from the original bmp's, set at 100% quality.
The ATI Radeon 9800 XT is expected to hit the market later in October, and will debut at an approximate retail price of $499. This is right on track with a name brand GeForce FX 5900 Ultra retail card, and is obviously where ATI is targeting its latest product. ATI provides excellent comparative value at this market segment, and is definitely the performance/IQ leader. The 256-MB DDR-II model has virtually disappeared from the retail market, and all signs point to the Radeon 9800 XT as its replacement.
The Radeon 9800 Pro will still be a powerful force, and its $340-$350 retail price tag makes it an excellent buy. The AiW Radeon 9800 Pro is still the best value in our opinion, and for only $20-$25 over the standard model, all the video and TV options can be yours. ATI does have an ace in the hole called Half-Life 2, and an OEM bundle deal for their upcoming Radeon 9800 XT.
* Please note that online prices reflect Retail models. Prices are taken at the time of review, and are not intended to reflect long-term trends.
The Radeon 9800 XT may not herald the arrival of a brand new technology or the transition to a 0.13-micron process, but it is a fine release on its own. ATI needed to move a bit higher on the performance chart, and the Radeon 9800 XT certainly fills the role. It represents the new high-end of an already-exceptional Radeon 9800 lineup, and the enthusiast market will certainly appreciate the added performance. The only potential issue is that ATI presents such a compelling video card list, and the Radeon 9800 XT could find itself in tough against the other Radeon 9800 Pro offerings.
