jadison
01-13-2002, 10:25 PM
The high-powered ATI Radeon 8500 is a fast graphics board that offers fine image quality.
http://neotech.8m.net/images/atiradeon8500.jpg
WHAT'S HOT: With 64MB of DDR SDRAM, a 275-MHz graphics processing engine, and a 400-MHz RAMDAC, the speed of the ATI Radeon 8500 rivals that of cards with NVidia's latest GeForce3 Ti 500 chip.
While the VisionTek Xtasy 6964 GeForce3 Ti 500 proved faster in our tests, the Radeon's image-quality scores were superior. In our Unreal Tournament tests, the Radeon displayed fine contrast, subtle shadows, and bright colors in the game's murky hallways.
WHAT'S NOT: Game play in Unreal Tournament was slightly jerky at times, and in Test Drive 6 we saw a bit too much contrast. In Quake III, some explosion effects were marred by monochrome blocks. Generally, however, the Radeon 8500's image-quality marks were well above average, with scores of Very Good or Good in our test games and a resulting overall image-quality score of Very Good.
WHAT ELSE: The installation process for the Radeon's drivers automatically updated our machine to DirectX 8. With the Radeon 8500's included dual 15-pin adapter, you can connect a TV and a monitor or a digital and analog monitor. Plus, ATI bundles the game Half-Life: Counterstrike and DVD playback software.
In most of our test games, the Radeon 8500's frame rates were lower than those of the $350 Xtasy 6964. In MDK2, the Radeon's frame-rate scores of 98 frames per second at 1024 by 768 resolution and 73 fps at 1600 by 1200 resolution fell short of the Xtasy's marks (115 fps and 102 fps, respectively).
UPSHOT:
A speedy card with fine image-quality performance, plus a ton of hardware extras, this high-end board hits the sweet spot.
OVERVIEW: 4X AGP, ATI Radeon 8500 chip, 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 400-MHz RAMDAC; DVI-out, dual-display capability, S-Video-out, composite-out; color-calibration utility, software DVD player, game.
Price:
$299
Purchasing Info
http://www.ati.com/
905/882-2600
*Courtesy of PCWORLD.COM HERE (http://pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,75864,00.asp)*
http://neotech.8m.net/images/atiradeon8500.jpg
WHAT'S HOT: With 64MB of DDR SDRAM, a 275-MHz graphics processing engine, and a 400-MHz RAMDAC, the speed of the ATI Radeon 8500 rivals that of cards with NVidia's latest GeForce3 Ti 500 chip.
While the VisionTek Xtasy 6964 GeForce3 Ti 500 proved faster in our tests, the Radeon's image-quality scores were superior. In our Unreal Tournament tests, the Radeon displayed fine contrast, subtle shadows, and bright colors in the game's murky hallways.
WHAT'S NOT: Game play in Unreal Tournament was slightly jerky at times, and in Test Drive 6 we saw a bit too much contrast. In Quake III, some explosion effects were marred by monochrome blocks. Generally, however, the Radeon 8500's image-quality marks were well above average, with scores of Very Good or Good in our test games and a resulting overall image-quality score of Very Good.
WHAT ELSE: The installation process for the Radeon's drivers automatically updated our machine to DirectX 8. With the Radeon 8500's included dual 15-pin adapter, you can connect a TV and a monitor or a digital and analog monitor. Plus, ATI bundles the game Half-Life: Counterstrike and DVD playback software.
In most of our test games, the Radeon 8500's frame rates were lower than those of the $350 Xtasy 6964. In MDK2, the Radeon's frame-rate scores of 98 frames per second at 1024 by 768 resolution and 73 fps at 1600 by 1200 resolution fell short of the Xtasy's marks (115 fps and 102 fps, respectively).
UPSHOT:
A speedy card with fine image-quality performance, plus a ton of hardware extras, this high-end board hits the sweet spot.
OVERVIEW: 4X AGP, ATI Radeon 8500 chip, 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 400-MHz RAMDAC; DVI-out, dual-display capability, S-Video-out, composite-out; color-calibration utility, software DVD player, game.
Price:
$299
Purchasing Info
http://www.ati.com/
905/882-2600
*Courtesy of PCWORLD.COM HERE (http://pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,75864,00.asp)*