05:33
Abdul Raauf
My, that one was fast! Two days ago, I was telling you about the release of the new HD3400 and HD3600 series from ATI, and today I already started to find full reviews, with benchmark results and a lot of technical details, as we all like them. It seems now ATI has a full line of DirectX 10.1 video cards available, while NVIDIA's 9xxx series are still hiding in the shadow of the excellent 88xx generation. Obviously, things are going to change pretty soon, but for now, let's talk a bit about ATI's new products, shall we?
As I was saying, the new cards are targeting the low-end sector, with prices that should go between $50 and $100, and featuring Display Port, HD video upscaling and DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1, both only available in Vista (yes, I know...). The only problem is that ATI may have forced these cards a bit on the market, but if they manage a good entry in the OEM market, my opinion is only dust in the wind. Anyway, let me detail this...
A couple months ago, I had to choose between the older X1950 Pro and the new 2600XT cards from ATI. After reading a lot of reviews and checking my choices at the store I usually use for my hardware purchases, I ended up choosing the X1950 Pro. I don't regret it at all. Now, the HD3650 should fill the gap left behind by the HD3850 card, but it seems this is not happening. The reason? Well, in most real-life tests, the HD3650 finishes behind the older 2600XT.
According to Rick Bergman, “With the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, AMD is delivering outstanding graphics performance to the mainstream. AMD is leading the industry by delivering top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support with modular graphics capabilities for easy upgradeability. It’s a part of our commitment to deliver ‘The Ultimate Visual Experience’ to more users than ever before.”, but no matter how much I would love ATI, I must disagree. Come on! Let's get serious! ATI delivers a lot of features to the low-end segment, but this is not what I had in mind as "mainstream graphics" performance, when talking about the HD3xxx series!
Once upon a time, you could simply get a $100 video card and enjoy a lot of games with all detail sliders pushed to the max. Are those time ever going to come back? Probably no, but it feels good remembering them...
As I was saying, the new cards are targeting the low-end sector, with prices that should go between $50 and $100, and featuring Display Port, HD video upscaling and DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1, both only available in Vista (yes, I know...). The only problem is that ATI may have forced these cards a bit on the market, but if they manage a good entry in the OEM market, my opinion is only dust in the wind. Anyway, let me detail this...
A couple months ago, I had to choose between the older X1950 Pro and the new 2600XT cards from ATI. After reading a lot of reviews and checking my choices at the store I usually use for my hardware purchases, I ended up choosing the X1950 Pro. I don't regret it at all. Now, the HD3650 should fill the gap left behind by the HD3850 card, but it seems this is not happening. The reason? Well, in most real-life tests, the HD3650 finishes behind the older 2600XT.
According to Rick Bergman, “With the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, AMD is delivering outstanding graphics performance to the mainstream. AMD is leading the industry by delivering top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support with modular graphics capabilities for easy upgradeability. It’s a part of our commitment to deliver ‘The Ultimate Visual Experience’ to more users than ever before.”, but no matter how much I would love ATI, I must disagree. Come on! Let's get serious! ATI delivers a lot of features to the low-end segment, but this is not what I had in mind as "mainstream graphics" performance, when talking about the HD3xxx series!
Once upon a time, you could simply get a $100 video card and enjoy a lot of games with all detail sliders pushed to the max. Are those time ever going to come back? Probably no, but it feels good remembering them...
Posted in: Computer Vidio Card
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