Release date for x800XT-PE ??

[karbon86]

does anyone know when the x800XT's will be shipped out to retailers because i really want to buy one. I have a almost brand new 9800 pro and a 9200 that i can sell both and net about $250 so i guess it will only be $250 for an x800XT. But i can't find anything on when they are gonna be out in mainstream.

[cadaveca]

the shipment of the platinum and XT versions of the x800 has been indefinately delayed to a lower-than-projected- production yield, leading every manufacturer fighting over chips. i have had mine reserved(platinum) for a while, aand i was to be shipped on monday, but i recieved an email on tuesday saying that the shipment to the retailer has been delayed by the supplier....for both oem bulk, and full retail models.
a regular x800 can be had @ futureshop.ca...last time i checked they had 8 left, @ 599.99 canadian....less then they sell a 9800xt for.

[karbon86]

i think i should just wait for the XT-PE to come out rather than getting the pro because there is a nice increase in performance for only like $100 US price difference

[Hoppster]

I read a review on guru3d that u need a grunty CPU to get the most out of these GPUs. Perhaps you should look at your entire ststem to see if the extra bucks on a card. surley the 9800 is a good match with your system.

Im just jelous, im thinking of upgrading to a similar system to yours (Im a tight arse)

[cadaveca]

i think you only need the beefier cpu to run the AGP VERSION to it's full potential
when u run a gpu that is faster than the bandwidth available, it'll generally start using the onboard mem, usually reserved for pre-rendered textures.
it was this behavior that made the ati cards better than nvidia's...nvidia's would start swapping with mem earlier than the ati, and this led to horrible performance in HL2, or so the guy running the HL2 project said in sept. so, with this in mind, if you have a pci express version that allows for greater bandwidth between the vid card and the cpu, which means larger textures can be passed to the card faster. but this is just what i make of what i have personally seen in the x800's. pci express version runs better with a 2600+ than the agp version.

[Hoppster]

Ive lead a sheltered life

Im gonna have to do some learning about this PCI express thing!!

[cadaveca]

pci express is meant to replace both agp and pci...
high high clock speeds.. as far as i know, up to 133mhz, whilst the standard pci is 33mhz and agp is 66.

[Daniel ~]

When is PCI EX due to hit the shelves?

[cadaveca]

it already has in japan AFAIK...ever since computex.
most pci-x slot are only in server-type mobo's that i found. although i have heard rumors of it going as high as 166mhz, i have as of yet to find a board tha offers more than 100mhz. but think about it...100mhz link to scsi/sata controllers.....against the 33mhz we have now...
BTW.....the GRAPHICAL pci-x slot is not always the same size as another...but i could be wrong. Seems alienware is the only retail manufacturer to be currently offering pci-x versions of the x800 liked up together..each doing a half screen.
can be found here:
http://www.alienware.com/ALX_pages/area51_alx.aspx
the 5600 price tag is a balker.. but water cooling and all you'll find in these pc's

[cadaveca]

oh..and alienware will install and optimize 3 games for you.. you send in the machine...they pay for shipping.
how's that for customer service?

[Daniel ~]

Thanks cadaveca seems odd to premiere a new graphics slot on a Server mobo, what's up wit dat!?

[cadaveca]

pci-x is not just graphics cards....like i said..imagine a drive on a 100mhz bus instead of 33....this is what pci-x provides....
in doing my research, it seems as though there WILL be backwards compatibility with current pci products, but that is through a specific type of pci-x slot. AFAIK, it only requires kind of like an additon onto the end of the slot....like if you were looking at the top of your mobo, the slots would go an extra couple of inches towards the southbridge. they've been trying to get pci-x mainstream for a couple of years now..in a few short months there should be a flood of boards on the market that offer this.
also..keep in mind that most pci-x slots are 64-bit....kiss your athlon's goodbye. might just be replaced with the "Geode"....

[Daniel ~]

Cool.

[karbon86]

right now i'm running a decent system so maybe i should settle for the x800 because i remember reading somewhere about if your under 3.0 ghz then it isn't fully used. here are my system specs.

AMD64 3200+ (@stock speed 2.0ghz)
MSI K8tNeo VIA
2x80 gig SATA segate baraccuda in RAID-0
1x40 gig Western digital IDE storage
2x512 OCZ platinum edition LL pc3200 (2-3-2-5)
ATI 9800 pro 445/780 1.8v
old soundblaster live card but does the job

[cadaveca]

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthre...hreadid=165061
x800 x600 x300 pci express releases this week coming.

[Daniel ~]

Looks like a lot of current cards might just slip into affordabilty!

[karbon86]

ok now that i have been seeing the new PCi-X comming now is there any new motherboards comming out for my AMD64 3200+ with PCi-X in the next few months at a reasonable price( less than 300 )? because if there is going to be an AGP bottleneck then why spend the money on a AGP card that will only work to a limit with my current system. Also the PCi-X is backwards compatible right because i haven't heard of a PCi-X sound card or anything.