Conclusion

The performance of the RADEON X700 XT in synthetic tests doesn’t allow us to make a final verdict about it. It is worse than the GeForce 6600 GT in simple multi-texturing tests and at executing pixel shaders that actively use textures. On the other hand, ATI’s new GPU has six vertex processors against three in the GeForce 6600 GT and outperforms the rival in tests where the speed of processing vertexes and executing vertex shaders is paramount. The RADEON X700 XT is also better than the GeForce 6600 GT when executing “calculations-heavy” pixel shaders. We might say that the new mainstream chips expose more clearly all the advantages and weaknesses of the respective top-end architectures, NV40 and R420.

The newcomer looks excellent against the top-end product of the previous generation, the RADEON 9800 XT. Despite its narrower 128-bit memory bus, the RADEON X700 XT delivers an overall higher performance, mostly due to the high frequencies of the graphics core and memory.

Of course, we will have a fuller view of the capabilities of the RADEON X700 XT only after getting it through gaming tests. We are going to dedicate a separate review specifically to that.