Sapphire X800 XL Ultimate, Page Four

: News
: Reviews
: Editorials

: Archives
: About
: Contact
: Advertising
: Privacy
: Links
: Forums

Sapphire X800 XL Ultimate

Silent but Deadly

by Josh Walrath

Commanche 4

This older title packs a lot of PS 1.3 shader effects, and is still fairly intensive for any video card. Settings were set at High Quality, and 4X AA and 8X AF were enabled.

Commanche 4	GeForce 6800 GT	X800 XL Ult	X800 XL OC
1024x768	79.15 fps	76.98 fps	79.49 fps
1280x1024	74.4 fps	72.32 fps	78.95 fps
1600x1200	63.94 fps	63.51 fps	76.97 fps

At the lowest resolution all three are fairly close together, with the 6800 GT having a small lead over the stock X800 XL. In the rest of the tests the overclocked X800 XL takes a significant lead over the rest. Still, at stock speed the 6800 GT and X800 XL are neck and neck with each other.

Morrowind

I decided to try something new here. I have enjoyed playing Morrowind for years now, and it is still a visually stunning title. It makes extensive use of DX 8.0 effects, and the complexity of every scene can make even the most robust computer slow down to a great degree. I did a manual walkthrough of Balmora following the same path and used Fraps to record the results. High quality settings were enabled along with 4X AA and 8X AF. I divided the results into Minimum FPS, Average FPS, and Maximum FPS.

Min FPS	GeForce 6800 GT	X800 XL Ult	X800 XL OC
1024x768	47	53	57
1280x1024	34	56	55
1600x1200	34	58	57

Yes, there are a few odd results here, but with a manual run-through it is to be expected. The main thrust of this result is that the ATI cards show a far better performance than the 6800 GT in terms of minimum frames per second. This can have a significant effect on overall game enjoyment, as the GeForce 6800 will have parts which may appear slow or jerky due to it dropping in framerate. The X800 XL is much more consistent with its performance.

Average FPS	GeForce 6800 GT	X800 XL Ult	X800 XL OC
1024x768	62.89	72.17	74.83
1280x1024	60.91	72.63	73.06
1600x1200	62.04	72.07	72.44

Again the X800 XL has a much better average framerate than the 6800 GT. While both run fairly smooth, the X800 XL just seems a bit silkier than the 6800 GT. When combined with the minimum frames per second results, the X800 XL enjoys a significant advantage over the 6800 GT.

Max FPS	GeForce 6800 GT	X800 XL Ult	X800 XL OC
1024x768	87	97	100
1280x1024	83	94	98
1600x1200	87	100	97

These results again show that the X800 XL has an advantage at every resolution over the 6800 GT. If you are a hard-core Morrowind player, then the X800 XL is the card for you. These results do seem a bit odd, as NVIDIA helped to write much of the shader code used in this game. One would expect the NVIDIA card to have a significant advantage here. I think this benchmark in particular really shows the strengths of the Catalyst suite of drivers.

Conclusion

I like this card. I like it a lot. It offers a great amount of performance for its price, and the addition of the Zalman fan keeps things nice, cool, and quiet. While the board design is strictly reference, the additional cooling seems to have helped with overclocking. While results will differ from board to board and chip to chip, the addition of this high performing, yet nearly silent cooler, should help in any situation.

The X800 XL Ultimate is not a terribly large card, especially compared to its sibling the X800 AGP above it. Note also that the X800 XL Ultimate does not need an external power connector to run.

Sapphire makes a pretty mean board, and their quality is second to none. The overall build and functionality of this card is simply excellent. 2D and 3D visual quality are top notch. The ability to utilize a HDTV is also a big plus, as the Home Theater PC concept is gaining a lot of ground. In fact, this might be the perfect card for a HTPC application.

Since ATI does such an amazing job with their Catalyst drivers, Sapphire just uses those instead of their own branded drivers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, as the Cat’s are very impressive. Sapphire includes their Redline overclocking utility, and it works exactly as advertised. Sapphire is soon to release their TRIXX overclocking utility, which is supposed to add another level of functionality. In between that and the increasing performance and functionality of the Catalyst drivers, the tweaker that resides in all of us should be very entertained by all the things we can do with this card.

While the addition of the Zalman fan may be a simple one, the results are still impressive. This is a card that will find a happy home in any enthusiast’s computer.

Overall Score: 93%