8/10 rating for Radeon VE

[PeAK]

Sharky's Extreme posted this review of the VE. Despite being targeted for business, the combination of newly optimized drivers has managed to finally squeeze more out of the Radeon to the point that it matches the MX under D3D and in Quake 3 in HQ mode and gives chase under Normal mode.

I read the review on this site on the VE (quite a difference in tone ???) but think I'll read other reviews to get a consensus. You think the experienced hardware reviewers could agree.

None of the Radeons have garnered a really postive review here at Anand despite tremendous consumer popularity and great reviews at many other hardware sites. I do smell something and it ain't fish.

 

[Leon]

If you have problems with Anand reviews, click here and never come back.

It's that simple.

I don't see anything special with VE. MX can be found for only 80$ on Pricewatch, and it is much faster card in most cases. Just because VE had similar scores in couple of CPU limited D3D games doesn't make it better.

btw, MX is targeted for business use, and many OEM's using one in their low-mid end systems.

Leon

 

[BFG10K]

the combination of newly optimized drivers has managed to finally squeeze more out of the Radeon to the point that it matches the MX under D3D and in Quake 3 in HQ mode and gives chase under Normal mode.

Excuse me? Show me where it's "matching" the MX in Quake 3? It never even gets close.

Despite having DDR memory clocked at 183 MHz and fast Z-clear vs the MX's 166 MHz SDR memory, the GF2 MX slaps it silly across the entire suite of benchmarks, except for one synthetic benchmark where it barely loses. And Sharky's usage of a G450 as a comparison to make the VE look better is just lame.

Pardon me for asking PeAK, by why is it that every single post you ever make in this forum is pro-ATi? It's like you only post here just to advertise ATi's products and how good they are.

 

[pidge]

That's nothing compared to his website:

ATI Fan

 

[Taz4158]

<< . And Sharky's usage of a G450 as a comparison to make the VE look better is just lame. >>


This is not lame whatsoever. The VE's direct competition is the G450. The LE which handily stomps the MX is more in line with that product.

 

[PeAK]

&quot;The truth is somewhere in the middle&quot;. Some of Nvidia's products have been the darling of the industry based upon a herd mentality for framerate alone. The VE is a new market segment which says framerate can almost be a commodity even if very high quality stories/games are told using graphics hardware demanding engines (such as the Quake3 engine). Back when DOOM existed, no one ever really complained about the hardware getting in the way of telling the DOOM story. Part of the rewrite of DOOM by ID is to say how much better that story can be told today using modern graphics and CPU hardware.
It should be quite amazing!!!

I chose to wear my ATI hat because beyond framerate, there are other aspects to graphics cards that are very important to end user satisfaction such as 2D quality, DVD image sharpness and quality, and the use of the DVI connector as the defacto graphics card and monitor connection(one connector supports both digital flat panel and RGB signals...a DVI to RGB DB-15 dongle is included for backward compatability).
Mature TV-out is now standard so if you wish to run your games on a 36&quot; tele..go ahead.



Dual monitor support really makes sense with the widening use of flatpanel that frees up desk area and just having two RGB connections does not cut it in practical terms.

These are some of the design details that important
to get right beyond framerate. The drivers on the Radeon are very good considering the new architecture
and useful beta releases solving real problems are available for those who want earlier access. Most users find that the out of the box experience to be very solid. If you want mature multimedia video support, the ATI is really the only choice at the moment.

Anyways, I'm blabbering but thanks for your feedback.