Originally posted by: Zim Hosein
Originally posted by: ericlp
This is Retail ATI, so it can't get much real then this...
But IF and WHEN the x800's start shipping you will see this card drop to about 150 bucks since the x800 is about 100% faster then a 9800XT card.
So if you can wait, then do so.
100% faster! :Q
Links please ericlp, as I have yet to see any issues w/ my ATI AIW 9800 Pro card w/ the current games available
Well You can go here and look at this...
Linky
I only know of FarCry that really takes advantage of the power of an x800 chip. I really like the game some people don't.
The upcoming John Carmack extravaganza known as Doom 3 is expected to tax even the highest-end systems when it debuts in March 2004. But according to the latest issue of MaximumPC, Doom 3 may be superseded by Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2 is due out this September, and should feature many more shader programs than Doom 3. Apparently, Half-Life 2 can play on almost any system, although on low-end systems it won't look much different than the original Half-Life. Those with the latest DirectX9 graphics cards and systems, however, can take advantage of numerous visual enhancements, including:
Bump mapping: nearly every surface in Half-Life 2 is bump-mapped
Specularity: specualar shine will be placed on bump-mapped surfaces
Multi-textured environments: every surface in the game will have two textures, one basic texture for low-end (64 MB or less) cards, and a more elaborate texture which adds both variation and detail for higher-end cards
Reflective and refractive water: this effect should allow for realistic looking water from almost any angle or position. In particular, Fresnel reflections will allow water to become less reflective as the player gets closer
Bump-mapped displacement maps: this feature allows objects to become increasingly detailed as one gets closer to them
Volumetric effects: this should allow for sporadic and heterogeneous patches of smoke, clouds, and fog
Detail props, static props, and particle effects: detail props are randomly placed throughout scenes, and most of the small static props are fully interactive. Particle effects should allow for realistic behavior of objects such as bullets
Good Luck having all the eye candy on with a 9800 but I think an X800 Even the Pro with a 1280X1024 will have a pretty good game play for some time.
You can get a X800Pro for 330 or so dollars. If you really want to play the "NexGen" Games then you should save up for the x800 card. Might have to wait to get one.
So with Far Cry as a taste for what is to come in future gamming as you can see it's almost twice as fast as a 9800 XT Card.