PowerColor X800 GTO 128MB 256-bit Video Card Review
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It seemed like Nvidia’s 6600 GT dominated the mid-range video card market for ages. But lately, ATI has been readjusting the balance with their latest line of X800 cards. PowerColor, a leading manufacturer of these new mid-budget cards, is up on the review bench today. Let’s see how their X800 GTO 128 MB performs.
PowerColor has a good reputation among the manufacturers of ATI video cards, so we have high expectations of this video card. The X800 GTOs generally cost somewhere in the $120-$200 range, depending on the model and its specs. The sub-$200 price point used to belong exclusively to Nvidia, but the X800GT and X800GTO Radeons are quickly changing this.
The packaging is basic, and it displays just a few details about the video card. To get through the basics, here’s what he box says the specifications:
- PCI Express x16
- 128 MB GDDR 256-bit
- 12 parallel pixel pipelines
- 6 vertex shader pipelines
- High speed quad-channel memory interface
- 160 million transistors on 0.11-micron fabrication process
- Full Support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 and OpenGL
So, it’s finally time to rip it open and see what comes with the card.
Along with the video card, PowerColor has given us a red DVI-VGA converter, an s-video to composite video cable, a quick install guide, and two CD-ROMS. The top one, of course, includes the ATI Catalyst drivers and DirectX 9c. The second disc is a Cyberlink media suite:
- PowerDirector 3 (video editing, production, and burning program)
- MediaShow SE (slide show program)
- MusicMatch (audio jukebox)
- Power Backup (archiving utility)
- PowerDVD (DVD player)
- Power Producer 3 (turns images and videos into DVDs)
- Power 2 Go (disc burning and copying utility)
- PowerDVD Copy (DVD copy program)
Sadly, there are no games on the disc. Considering that they include a package of media applications instead of games, it seems promoted for media PC use and video enthusiasts. Of course that doesn’t mean it won’t tear up some video games too, or offer more than enough power for some gamers.
Next: Looking at the Video Card >>
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