WARNING - Radeon LE *NOT* an ATI Product!

[White Widow]

Having just ordered my new Radeon LE yesterday (FedEx tracking says it'll be here tomorrow) I was shocked to learn that this card is not, in fact, an ATI product. That at least explains why there isno mention of this card on the ATI websitel. X-bit Labs is reporting that The Radon LE is actually being manufactured by an OEM called Althon Micro. You can read more about it here (pictures included):

x-bit labs news report

Can anyone confirm this with their own card?

This is probably why Hyper-Z is disabled - either they didn't want to pay for a Hyper-Z license, or ATI denied them access as a condition of their OEM sales license to reduce the posibility of competition. What do you guys think?

-Aaron

 

[Taz4158]

<< This is probably why Hyper-Z is disabled - either they didn't want to pay for a Hyper-Z license, or ATI denied them access as a condition of their OEM sales license to reduce the posibility of competition. What do you guys think? >>


Interesting can't comment as I don't own one. As for HyperZ there is no &quot;license&quot; it's simply three reg keys that make up the D3D potion of it:
&quot;DisableHierarchicalZ&quot;
&quot;DisableHyperZ&quot;
&quot;FastZClearEnabled&quot;=

 

[White Widow]

I realize that Hyper-Z can be enabled through certain registry keys, but by shipping the card with those setting disabled, this ATI OEM may not have to pay an additional licensing fee to ATI. Surely Hyper-Z is a technology that ATI has the power to license at will. ATI probably figures that since this is an OEM anyway, most of those people who end up with this card in their system will have no interest in playing with the registry.

-Aaron

 

[Taz4158]

&quot;DisableHierarchicalZ&quot; is disabled by default on ALL cards. There's a potential for artifacting according to ATI, although I've had no problem with it.

 

[White Widow]

Have you ever heard of ATI OEM'ing their chips out before? I bet the support for these Radeon LE's really sucks. I wonder what NewEgg would have to say about that...

-Aaron

 

[Taz4158]

It's the first I've ever heard of them doing this. We'll have to wait to see what their official position is.

 

[oldfart]

Yeah, I saw that. No big deal. I just set up an LE in a PC for a friend. The card says Radeon on it, but not ATI. It does come with an ATI install CD with DVD player. It works just fine, and is cheap. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

[hans007]

well i've got a 148/148 version. Fairly certain its an LE, but it has no sticker. And well yes i've seen rage2Cs and rage pros oem'd to other oems. but then again my radeon has an ATI serial number. So yeah... Also i doubt it would make a difference, if they are just using ATI's reference design. Also another thing, i doubt ATI's cards are made in canada either, they probably have other people in taiwan putting them together

 

[merlocka]

It's an ATI product just like every reference Geforce2 is an nVidia product. No need to sweat this one, just a good deal for peeps that don't mind a reg tweak.

 

[pidge]

<< &quot;DisableHierarchicalZ&quot; is disabled by default on ALL cards. There's a potential for artifacting according to ATI, although I've had no problem with it. >>



I have seen this problem. It is only disabled by default in D3D, not OpenGL.

 

[pidge]

<< &quot;DisableHierarchicalZ&quot; is disabled by default on ALL cards. There's a potential for artifacting according to ATI, although I've had no problem with it. >>



I have seen this problem. Rogue Spear, Winbench, Rogue Squadron, NFSU and more experienced artifacting once I enabled that. It is only disabled by default in D3D though, not OpenGL.

 

[Angus]

the article actually is in japanese

 

[elSmoko]

if you put a fan on that baby it should be alright, it seems to be identical hardware. as for disabling hyper-z for licensing issues, well, why would they pay for the 'radeon' name if licensing was a problem?

*edit*
w00t! I'm a senior member now, fear me

 

[Taz4158]

<< I have seen this problem. >>


Oh. Why am I not surprised you had this problem?

 

[pidge]

<< Oh. Why am I not surprised you had this problem? >>



WTF is your problem? Why everytime someone posts something bad about ATI, do you have to say trash about them? Damn. This is a video card discussion. This isn't an ATI is perfect and no one else can say anything bad about them forum. ATI has aknowledged the problem exists. I have seen this problem. WTF is wrong with me mentioning this? You are really turning into a troll.

 

[Yoshi]

I think the x-bit posting is incorrect.

Alton seems to just be a distributor, they distribute all ATI cards in addition to may other PC related products.

Also, my 64Mb Radeon VIVO has a similar &quot;Made In China&quot; sticker on it.

 

[White Widow]

My Radeon LE came with an &quot;INTERNATIONAL&quot; driver CD - did yours?

-Aaron

 

[Yoshi]

My VIVO came with the same CD.

 

[Armageddon415]

My retail Radeon32DDR also had a sticker saying &quot;made in China&quot;, but it does have the ATI technolgy markings on there, unlike the one on the X-bits site

 

[davidwiz]

Athlon Micro Inc. is the company responsible for processing and sending out cards,in the US, for ATI's recent Trade UP Program. It appears they are not a manufacturer but rather a distributor or supplier.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

x-bit tends to give out bs. I'm not gonna believe anything from that $hit site until it's confirmed by a decent site, that doesn't occasionally give out BS just to create traffic on thier site.