ATI setting the High mark for Video-for now...Will x8 AGP for Ti4200 make a difference?

ATI's Radeon 9700 PRO is currently the king of fps, and it appears the drivers for their new offerings while not great, are decent (imo). Something that hindered previous Radeons upon their release. There have been some reports of x8 AGP having some problems with certain motherboards. This x8 AGP issue seems to be a issue with the motherboards, and not ATI's fault.

the ATI 9700 Pro looks quite nice in 2d. which is not surprising to me, as i think ATI has always had this advantage. Then again the reason for this card is 3D! and there it does what ATI said it would. while i dont feel the 9700 Pro is any quantum leap over what has been available, it does out perform nVidia's flagship, and looks good doing so.

the Radeon 9700 Pro:

•128MB DDR memory accelerates the latest 3D games
•256-bit memory interface removes hardware performance bottleneck and provides end users with faster 3D graphics
•Industry's first 8-pixel pipeline architecture, providing twice the rendering power of any currently competing product.
•Supports the new AGP 8X standard, providing a high-speed link between the graphics board and the rest of the PC (2.0 GB/sec)

the Radeon 9700 (and all the 97xx-ATI has now stated the 9000 series only support DX 8.1) support DirectX 9.0 as well as the latest OpenGL. something nVidia will not have until the NV30, but then again, its not essential as of now as DirectX 9.0 is still not available, and there are no titles that require it.

While nVidia is currently without their NV30 chipset, ATI has an opportunity to further enhance their claim to the speed crown. There seems to be a RV350 chipset in the works from ATI as well in the near future. For the 1st time in some years nVidia has found themselves not able to immediately counter ATI's product with a "Radeon Killer". not even a new Detonator driver to boost performance of their existing product line.

nVidia will be offering higher clocked Ti 4200/4600 chips, that will also support x8 AGP. The main difference over existing Ti 4200/4600 chips is in clock speeds, and the additional support for the newest AGP standard. It will be interesting to see what the gF4 Ti series will perform like once they are x8 AGP capable. Most are of the belief the difference will be much the same as the increase obtained when x4 was introduced over x2 AGP. For now its wait and see...

the Radeon 9000/9700 series are impressive chipsets, one can only wonder what the NV30 will actually deliver once nVidia gets the fab process going, and can deliver the new chips to manufacturers as well as ATI's eventual release of its RV350. While the current 6 month product cycle means the latest-greatest video card is soon replaced by a faster sibling or rival, the competition is certainly good for end users.

It is always a good idea to remember that early adoption will have certain pitfalls, that usually will be resolved in later silicon. Certainly 3d video capabilities of these latest chips is impressive, and makes for some enjoyable gaming. while i have not personally encoutered any problems with the Radeon 9700 and x8 AGP, it is suggested you research your components prior to purchase/assembly.

Ray Griffith