Conclusion

Well, we have just tested PowerColor X800 GTO 16 graphics card positioned by the manufacturer as an inexpensive 16-pipeline graphics solution that can compete with GeForce 6800 GS. Has this product succeeded in its task?

Having studied the obtained testing results we can state that in some cases PowerColor X800 GTO 16 does outperform GeForce 6800 GS and sometimes this performance difference is quite big. However, the competitor is still leading in most games. Moreover, in some games, such as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Age of Empires 3, you can now get much better image quality due to Shader Model 3.0 support, which is unfortunately unavailable for solutions based on Radeon X800 architecture. And PowerColor X800 GTO 16 is one of these solutions. In fact it differs from Radeon X800 XL only by the name and pricing. And unfortunately, we have to admit that the time of Radeon X800 architecture is little by little passing by.

As for the positioning for hardware enthusiasts, the situation is also twofold. On the one hand, an inexpensive graphics card with 16 pixel pipelines looks pretty attractive, and you will not need to mess around with unblocking the additional 4 pipelines like in case of Radeon X800 GTO2. On the other hand, this baby will never become as popular as Radeon X800 GTO2 on R480 GPU, because of the low overclocking potential and higher price point. Note that at the same time, GeForce 6800 GS overclocks pretty well and has much more promising future than PowerColor X800 GTO 16 thanks to such prospective technologies as Shader Model 3.0, HDR, PureVideo, etc. So, in case of comparable pricing it looks like Nvidia’s solution will still look as a better buy.

As for the PowerColor X800 GTO 16 graphics card itself, it made a pretty good impression, although we didn’t discover any specific features that would be typical of this only model: everything is pretty standard for the graphics cards from this maker. The only thing I would like to specifically stress is the great package design: PowerColor X800 GTO 16 box does look very stylish.

I have to confess that we were slightly puzzled by the second power supply connector, because it is not really needed as the features of the PowerColor X800 GTO 16 are absolutely identical to those of Radeon X800 XL. As for overclocking, it is also hardly needed there as well: additional power supply didn’t affect the overclocking potential of the graphics card based on R430 GPU at all. However, I cannot say that having an extra power supply connector is a drawback as well.

So, if we would prefer the ATI solution in case of Radeon X800 GTO against GeForce 6800, then in our today’s situation when we have PowerColor X800 GTO 16 and GeForce 6800 GS, the preferences will stay with ATI’s rival. The reasons are the higher overall performance as well as more promising future prospects.

Highs:

• 16 active pixel pipelines;
• Two DVI-I connectors;
• Low noise level;
• Low price.

Lows:

• No Shader Model 3.0 support;
• Lower performance in modern games than that of GeForce 6800 GS;
• No contact between the memory chips on the front side of the PCB and the heatsink;
• No overclocking potential.