HIS RADEON X800 IceQ II TURBO 256meg GDDR3 memory - 910MHz (Turbo) HDTV and DUAL DISPLAY
Item Code viHIx_x800_iceq_turbo
HIS RADEON X800 IceQ II TURBO 256meg

# Powered by ATI Radeon X800 VPU - 398MHz (Turbo)
# 256MB-256bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory - 910MHz (Turbo)
HIS PRODUCT FEATURES
* Fast: HIS's intelligent Cooling technology automatically adjusts IceQII fan speed base on X800's loading and temperature to achieve best performance
* Quiet: Less than 20dB
* Cool: -11°C cooler than original cooling fan
* All Cool: Outstanding IceQII cooling performance extends the card life with UV Sensitive effect
* HIS iTURBO: Overclock the graphic card safety, with the balance of the best performance and cooling effect
* HIS delivers Faster, Cooler, Quieter plus the best quality product!
* Platinum packing with software bundle
* Professional customer service and technical support
Price $ 319

HIS RADEON X800-XL 256meg IceQ II TURBO quad-channel GDDR3 memory - 1GHz
Item Code viHIx_x800xl_iceq_turbo
HIS RADEON X800-XL 256meg IceQ II TURBO

# Powered by ATI Radeon X800 XL VPU - 432MHz (Turbo)
# 256MB-256bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory - 1GHz (Turbo
Price $ 519

Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 XT 256meg ViVo / DVI
Item Code viSAx800xt_vivo
Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 XT 256meg ViVo / DVI
Features:
* 256MB of 'Xtreme performance GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest cutting edge 3D applications
* 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
* Sixteen 'Xtreme parallel pixel pipelines
* Supports the AGP 8X and AGP 4x standard, providing a high-speed link between the graphics board and the rest of the PC (2.0 GB/sec)
* Six programmable vertex shader pipelines
* Full support for DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality
* New SMARTSHADER™ HD technology allows for support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 programmable vertex and pixel shaders in hardware as well as OpenGL® via extensions.
* SMOOTHVISION™ HD technology provides enhanced image quality by removing jagged edges and bringing out fine texture detail, without compromising performance
* 3Dc™ High quality 4:1 Normal Map Compression delivers beautiful scenes without the performance hit.
* Unique VIDEOSHADER™ HD engine uses programmable pixel shaders to accelerate video processing and provide better-looking visuals
* HYPER Z™ HD is optimized for performance at high display resolutions, including widescreen HDTV resolutions.
Price $ 599

GeCube 256M Radeon X800XL PCIe Video Card PRICE DROP! Save $50
Description:
GC-RX800XL-D3, Radeon X800XL PCI Express, 400MHz Core Frequency, 256MB DDR3 Memory, 256bit Memory bus, DVI, S/HDTV-Out
More Information: Manufacturer

Warranty: 2 years
$449

These nubs will initially be $1000aus+, but should offer some serious grunt, although depends on mhz as the 512mb of ram is effectively useless atm.

Btw, you can switch the 6800256 and 6600GT figures in the graphic, they made a mistake there.

IMO, one needs to be getting something like 50frames/sec at 10 x7 for the card to be considered as worthwhile, image quality takes a tremendous hit below 10x 7, but doesn't make that much difference above it, eg, Return to Castle Wolfenstein looked no better on my brothers P 3000, 2 gig, 6800GT box than it did on my AMD 1800, 512mb, GF4 440 box, even though he could crank the game up to 1600x 1200 with max IQ settings activated.

I've used D3 as a reference as it's pretty demanding, but bear in mind that as time passes games become more demanding therefore it's not a bad idea to over-commit for the current games in anticipation of newer more demanding games, IOW, buying a card that can run one of the latest games at 12x10 will give you a buffer and hopefully allow future games to run at the 10x7 sweet spot.

I hold the view that it's stupid to buy before a next gen card has been released and the price settled as the former gen cards drop in price as well as other components.

IMO an entry level gamers box is something like this...AMD 3000, I gig ram, X800{not x800pro}, and a good sensible and powerful system would be a AMD 3500, 2 gig ram, X800XL.


Here's list of cards and their grunt status in descending order{ex SLI}.

ATI.
1..X850XT PE{this card is not worth getting over the X850XT as it's quite hot and offers little extra grunt}.

2..X850XT{stable, powerful but threatened by X800XL for value}
3..X800XL{a real value champion, no heat issues either}

4..X850pro{should be faster and more stable than the X800pro but given the ass in performance and dollars by the cheaper to manufacture X800XL}
5..X800pro{not worth it unless offered at fire sale price, sux on Open GL games}.
6..X800{good entry level nub, $320aus from quality supplier and faster than 6600GT}
You don't want to go below the X800 if you want to play modern games IMO.

ATI's next gen is due out within a few months.

Nvidia.
1...7800ULTRA{comming soon, this card has serious potential, especially if they make 2 versions, one without the 512 ram, having said that, it may actually suit the cards grunt in the future to have the 512 but it's price will be exorbitant}

2...7800GTX{available now, but still overpriced IMO, needs to drop from typical $900aus to about $750, but seems like a great card overall, ie, stable, runs coolish and is generally 25-40% more powwerful than the X850XT}

3..7800GT,{Due August} will be about same pace as existing 6800Ultra, but more stable/efficient and COOLER, also has newer technology but is very taxing on performance when applied, should be a great card.
4..6800Ultra[basically crap, generally only 10% or so faster than 6800GT, but often $200 more+ plus is a fucking inferno....I wouldn't advise buying this card}

5...6800GT{one of the great cards, cool, quite and powerful and can be bought for just over $500aus}.
6..6800Vanilla{just ok, now overpriced, no heat or stability issues but I wouldn't buy this card today as X800XL is around}

7..6600GT{another great card but now aging, is faster than a 9800XT and can be bought for about $260-$280aus, but X800 better value IMO}

And the 6600GT is the entry level from Nvidia IMO, anything else will be too slow.

I use my computer for gaming, dling, DVD burning, email and obviously educating the vast masses of ignorant people across cyberspace.
At some of the PC forums I go to there are retards everywhere, ie, people with bizarre mentalities when it comes to buying certain parts for the PC, so I've decided to share some of my knowledge WRT gaming PC's especially and PC's in general.

The gaming box is the most demanding home PC there is, ie, games stress every aspect of the PC so you have to make sure that your entire system is properly component matched both in terms of performance and quality.
If you don't play games, that doesn't mean you can buy the cheapest POS and use that forever and a day, you should still match components and not skimp on quality.

Generally speaking, you should buy your PC after enough games are out AND within the proper timeframe of the GPU cycle, the most important apsect of the gaming PC, ie, ATI and Nvidia produce new GPU's{next generations} every 14-18 months, they then usually update them twice before releasing another new generation of GPU.

So, let's consider someone wanting to buy a gaming PC today....and on the assumption he wants to play the latest blockbusters, ie, D3, HL2, Far Cry, Riddick, FEAR, BF2 and so on, he'll need a PC that can deliver at what I call the gaming sweetspot, a resolution of 10x7 ideally with some image quality tweaks activated.

This resolution is the sweetspot because games don't look that much better at higher resolutions, but do look horrible at lower resolutions generally speaking, therefore you need to have enough grunt to achieve an average frame rate of 50-60 frames/second.
Just go to any of the top PC websites, ie, Toms Hardware, The Tech Report, X bit labs for various reviews of all the latest cards and the latest games to determine what GPU you need, and for ex, I can tell you that atm, the slowest GPU you'd want is a X800XL, which is a 6800GT equivalent.

Having said that, if you're planning to fork out 1000's for a box, you'd want to maximize the longevity of it, IOW, the difference between and entry level box, ie, AMD 3000, I gig ram, X800XL, and a top dog of sorts, AMD 3500, 2 gig ram, 7800GT, is about$800aus, however, the longevity is approximately twice, as the lower spec box is already obsolete in many ways, ie, not enough ram, BF2 and FEAR want 2 gigs to avoid stuttering, and I suspect Q4, Stalker and Prey will also want 2 gigs.

It also wouldn't surprize me if Q4 knocked the X800XL into 800x 600 territory, making it theoretically useless.

Atm in the Australian market, the 7800GT has just been released at approx $670-700aus, this is the latest gen card from Nvidia and is usually 15-30% faster than the former top dog it replaces, the 6800Ultra, BUT, if you look at prices, you'll notice that the 6800Ultra is often more expensive than the 7800, which is just crazy, so make sure you understand what you're buying, don't assume price equates to superior performance, as the suppliers and sales channels do plenty of stupid things for which the masses voluntarily comply.

IMO, a proper long lasting{if there is such a thing in the gaming world} PC is AMD 3500, 2 gig ram, and 7800GT....this will last you at least 2 yrs for games, and perhaps as long as 4-5 yrs as a PC, plus I think Longhorns applications will be ram hungry, so the 2 gig will enable you to update to Longhorn and get the benefits of what should be a little beauty{I'm fairly impressed with XP pro SP2}.

Now if you go looking at the benchmarks you'll notice that combo will always play every game at 10x7, and often at 1600x1200 with max eye candy{AA/AF}, so it might sound like overkill, but it's not as each new blockbuster comes along the demands on hardware are usually stretched, so you've given yourself some leway for the future, and FTR, there's new generation game engines being used to develop staggeringly realistic games, but won't be available till early 2007, so you'll be catered till then at least.

Now, there is a faster GPU available the 7800GTX, and there's faster CPU's to, FX 55, however, what you'll find happening is that for every dollar you spend you're getting only minor improvements over what I've specified, IOW, there's no value in spending another 400-500 dollars for only a 10-15% improvement in overall system power, the AMD 3500 and 7800GT are the current value points, and the 2 gig of ram is necessary and adding more won't help.

Atm and untill ATI and Nvidia drop prices on 6800Ultras and X850XT's, the 7800GT represents better value, although that would change if you could get a X850XT PE for $500 compared to $700 for the 7800GT, but atm the X850XT PE is about $650, and is often slower than the 7800GT, especially in openGL games such as D3, Riddick.

You do have the choice of buying a slowe system, say a AMD 3000, I gig ram and a X800, as it will cost nearly $800 less, but you'd only get a yr out of it for games, and that mainly to play the existing games, as the newer ones will gobble up that spec, but you could do it that way and get another box in 12months, just as long as you know what you're getting yourself into.

As for which brands to buy, well IMO you need to do some research here, as whilst most of the companies out there are ok, every now and again a top tier manufacturer will cock up a particular part for whatever reason, even if all their other parts are of good quality and performance, eg, the AGP 6600GT albatron has a noisy fan, whereas the PCIe version is fine....so actually take the time to google any specific product you have in mind and read a review about it.

I've always bought high end stuff from reputable manufacturers and rarely have any trouble with product failure or the dreaded incompatibility, so IMO you should do the same, IOW don't buy the cheapest product unless it's from a brand name at a discount.

I bought a AMD 1800, 512 ram, MMX 440 GPU, 60 gig HD, 19 inch Hitachi CM715{one of the great moniters, it's picture quality is sharper than newer model Mitsubishi that friends own}, in mid 2002, and I've played heaps of games, dled heaps of stuff and terrorised the internet with my various truths for 3 yrs....so I'm going to buy again shortly, but not before ATI release their next gen GPU{due sept/oct}, and prices drop and settle, allowing me choice and to maximize my value.

As we speak, my current computer is fine for everything except the latest games, so you can easily get 4 or more yrs from them as a net/email box, so don't be put off by the up front cost, as over 4 yrs, it's peanuts.

Ok that should probably do for now huh, LOL.

This is a relatively basic guide for the PC gamer/home PC user.
I’ve owned and been around PC’s for over 10yrs but I’m primarily interested in what makes the gaming box tick, and avoiding being ripped off as I don’t appreciate mediocrity or inefficiency, IOW, I don’t want anyone’s money going to those who least deserve it, but I will rave on endlessly when a company does the right/good thing.

The basics of this guide are critical when building a gamers box/system, they also apply to net/email boxes, but those boxes aren’t as demanding as the gamers box, nothing is more demanding for the home user than a proper gamers box.

Also, this guide is designed for those who are noobs/retarded when it comes to the PC, so don’t whinge about length or simplicity, as overall, I know what the hell I’m talking about and why I’m here, also, I’m mainly considering a new box rather than upgrading old boxes with newer GPU’s but keeping the slow CPU’s, mobo, ram, HDD.

Now this guide favours First Person shooters, but will cover any gaming category.
Ok, so you’ve decided you want to get into the gaming craze but don’t know where to start, well, part of the problem is that you have to learn/experience what you want, IOW, you could buy a budget system and arguably “play” Doom3, HL2, Far Cry and co and wonder why my specs are rather high, as Doom3 will run on a AMD 2400, 512 ram, 9600pro system, however, were you to compare it to my system specs{or higher}, you’d get a shock at how much better it looked and smoother it ran.

Now for a bit of a waffle from me about me…..I’m someone who likes good graphics, atmosphere, set design and ideally good gameplay, unfortunately, despite the hype, many games, Doom3 included, have some of those features, but not all, D3 was generally criticized as being underwhelming and lacking exciting gameplay to match it’s excellent graphics and game engine….well, that’s life kids, nothing anyone can do apart from dling the demo’s and reading the reviews.

So, once you’ve understood that a higher spec system gives you better everything, looks, sound, frame rates{no lag, no stutter, especially when the action heats up}, then you’ll be looking to properly match a system to handle the existing and anticipated software, ie atm we have these titles that FPS fans should play IMO, Far Cry, D3, HL2, Riddick, Fear{out in oct}, Q4, Stalker, COD2{all should be out within 2-4 months, but don’t count on it}.

Atm, I have Far Cry, HL2, D3+pack, Riddick, Punisher, Shadow Ops, Brothers in Arms 30, and will be getting FEAR, Q4, Stalker and COD2.
My own box was designed to run only the games of 04-mid 05, however, it does a great job with Fear and should handle all the blockbusters fairly well except that FEAR and co will lag slightly as I don’t have 2 gigs of ram, and I’m not even sure if I will bother with more ram…..time will tell.

FYI, I plan to buy a $5000 DX10 box if there are enough quality games out and about, otherwise will just get a budget DX10 and also use it a my media ctr, IOW, TV, DVD recording and so on.

Alright, now about buying the right hardware….not only must the hardware have enough grunt to do what you want, ie, play games at your prefered eye candy/frame rate level, it must also be popular and of good quality, ie, popularity generally maximizes your chance of having zero or few compatibility/stability issues…..my PC’s have been so reliable in terms of compatibility and stability that I lack a lot of knowledge that others may have from having to deal with various issues, as generally, my PC’s are stable and compatible as I never buy unknown/untested products or brands, as you can tell by looking at my system specs.

Now as far as knowing which brand is the best or most popular, that’s not always easy, but ASFAIK, Asus are one of the best and most popular mobo manufacturers and my last two PC’s have Asus, having said that, I also like ABIT and DFI, MSI, but regardless of what anyone else says, I would recommend that you buy one of those models as they’re good quality and popular….also, the mobo and PSU are the basis of compatibility and stability, cock either of those two up and you’ll know about it.

Don’t buy the lowest price ever, it just makes no sense, IOW, spend an extra $30 on an Asus mobo and reap the benefits of compatibility and stability.
Also, do go overboard with your PSU, exceed the mobo’s recommendations by at least 50watts, and yes, watts aren’t everything, but it helps and also helps you if you decide to upgrade later.
The PSU and mobo are essential items in any stable PC, so again, don’t buy any crap, get ANTEC, ENERMAX, OCZ and make sure you have heaps of PS grunt.

Btw, one of the ways you can decide which company to buy from is to learn how long they’ve been around, how many international awards they’ve won, and how they fair in website reviews….I’d rather support a longterm company that’s proven itself over the years, and Asus and Antec have done that, along with others.
Put plainly, don’t buy any dodgy parts at all, always spend a few dollars more for popular/quality stuff, including ram, although, you’ll need to review the websites to determine the value points.

Speaking of website reviews, it’s imperative that you read some of them to learn which product/company is currently performing, and to get various benchmarks for your requirements, I do it all the time, although my main interest is the GPU.

Now, more about value points,……each of your PC components usually has a value point, for example, CPU’s, atm, it’s AMD all the way if you’re a gamer, and even if you’re not, Intel generally are hotter/slower, so go AMD for now, especially for games, but in terms of deciding which AMD CPU to get, well that’s fairly easy, just look at the prices and the performance of the CPU’s starting at AMD 3000 939 and compare it’s price and performance to those above it.

The website called Tom’s Hardware has a CPU interactive guide, this enables you to compare performance of two CPU’s, IOW, you can compare a AMD 3000 to a AMD 4000, and you’ll see the 4000 has more power, but also costs more than twice, so it lacks value atm as a AMD 3500 is a lot cheaper, but not a lot slower, so it takes the price/performance crown for a 2 yr gamers box.

Now you repeat this process for all of your components and relate it to your demands as a gamer, IOW, if you want D3 to run at 1600X1200 with all settings maxed, you better get a fast CPU, however, and this leds me to an important point, and that’s games will look fantastic at 10x7 with IQ maxed, but not much better above it, so ideally you want enough power to run your games at that standard, along with a buffer for the future, so you should actually be able to play the most demanding games at 12x10 now, so that in the future, you’ll have enough grunt to fall back to 10x7.

So we now have a standard of measure to aim at, I simply call it the gamers sweetspot,{10x7}, as over and above doesn’t always make much difference, but will heavily impact on performance with IQ cranked up.
Also, you generally want at least 50 frames per second to avoid significant stutter, of course, 60+ is considered the gold standard.

So what machine will run D3, HL2, Far Cry and FEAR at 10x7 with the IQ settings very high-max?..... mine does, and that’s AMD 3000, I gig DDR 400 ram, X800GT 256mb, however, if you want to avoid lag, you must add a total of 2 gig’s to your system as FEAR will lag constantly.
Now having said that, my box was never even designed to run FEAR, I just got lucky, as it’s really a 12 month or so box till DX10, so a 2 yr gamers box meeting the gamers sweetspot should be AMD 3500, 2 gigs DDR400, and IMO 7800GT……now of course this is a guesstimate on my part, but I’m reasonably certain that this spec will give you 2 yrs worth of gaming at good quality settings, and will last as long as 4 yrs as a PC with any luck.

Some points to consider.

1…buy from name brands.
2…use price/performance criteria.
3….bookmark 2-3 reputable websites for benchmarking and general PC knowledge.
4…aim for gamers sweetspot to maximize gaming experience over 2 yrs.
5….don’t have excessive amounts of hardware or software on your PC, if it’s not needed, don’t install it, as it may cause problems.
6…be aware of GPU cycles.

GPU cycles are the timeframe in which ATI/Nvidia produce and sell their latest cards, we’re about to be in a next gen cycle with both companies, so DON’T buy last generation GPU at ridiculous prices, ie, don’t buy a 6800Ultra when a 7800GT is faster/better and the same price or even cheaper.

Also, don’t buy when things are just released as they’re 20% overpriced, and will drop within months, ie, Gigabyte/Ledtek 7800GTX $1000-$1050 at launch, now about $799.

Here’s some gamers combo’s.
2004-2005 box{not including Fear/BF2}=AMD 3000, I gig ram, X800GT, 400W PSU.
2004-2006 gamers box, AMD 3500, 2 gig ram, 6800GT/X800XL{at approx $420}, 450W PSU
2004-2007 gamers box option one, AMD 3800, 2 gig ram, 7800GT, 450W PSU.
2004-2007 gamers box option 2, AMD 3800x2, 2 gig ram, 7800GTX, 480 PSU.

No point going any higher than that for the average person, also be aware that both ATI and Nvidia are going to release 6800GT/X800XL equivalents, so I would hold off until ATI have released their new range, and then see what both companies do for the astute gamer.

Quick GPU rundown 27/09/05,….cards that I think are good value right now.

Nvidia.
7800GTX for $690-$700.
7800GT for $580-$600.{value champion}
6800GT for $440
6600GT for $240-$260{One yr box only, ie, games from 04-05}


ATI.
X850XT for $500 max.
X800XL for $410
X800/X800GTO for $290{one yr box}
X800GT 256 for $250{one yr box only}

I’ll probably update this thread over time, so keep an eye out around product launch times.

EDIT:

Just briefly about clock speeds and all that jazz,.... "generally" speaking, the more pipes, ie, 24 over 16, the more performance, this also includes core and memory speeds, but it's really a mixture of enough pipes at decent speeds that equates to performance....consider the 7800GT is faster than the X850XT PE, even though the 850 has faster core and memory speeds, but is knocked out by the extra 4 pipes{20 vs 16}.

Also don't buy a budget card with big ram, ie, 256mb and assume it's faster than a 128mb version, always go to any of a number of websites and find a GPU shootout and see exactly where a card's performance is.

Here's the grunt list in descending order.

7800GTX
7800GT
X850XT PE
X850XT/6800U
6800GT/X800XL
X800/X800GTO
X800GT/6600GT