X-bit labs

ATI RADEON X800 XL 512MB Graphics Card Review. 512MB: Today’s Need or Reserve for the Future? (page 12)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Anton Shilov

[ 05/05/2005 | 02:10 PM ]

Far Cry

The scene recorded on the Pier map contains a flight on a hang-glider high above the water surface. The area that fits in the screen is huge and the performance in the “pure speed” mode depends on the speed of the system at large. That’s why all the tested graphics cards have almost identical results, although there’s some advantage on the part of the RADEON X850 XT.

Both RADEON X800 XL models are on the same level with the GeForce 6800 Ultra in the “eye candy” mode. As you see, 512 megabytes of graphics memory can’t give you any advantage in Far Cry.

The RADEON X800 XL 512MB doesn’t seem to profit much from its large memory even in extreme antialiasing modes. By the way, ATI’s RADEON X850/X800 cards are fast enough even here, while the GeForce 6800 Ultra/GT don’t provide for comfortable play in resolutions above 1024x768.

The demo on the Research map is the opposite of the one made on the Pier map. This one depicts a walk through an underground cave lit with numerous light sources. The RADEON X800 XL cards are both a little slower than the GeForce 6800 GT here.

In the “eye candy” mode (4x FSAA + 16x AF) the RADEON X800 XL are successfully competing with the GeForce 6800 GT, there still being no difference between the 512MB and 256MB versions.

There’s no difference in the 6x FSAA + 16x AF mode, either, but the RADEONs again prove their ability to ensure playable frame rates even in this, hardest mode.