ATI Radeon 8500
I was thinking of buying this card, as an upgrade from my actual GF2-MX400. I heard it's a very good gfx card on paper, but it's haunted by badly written drivers. Does anyone have any experience with it?.
I was thinking of buying this card, as an upgrade from my actual GF2-MX400. I heard it's a very good gfx card on paper, but it's haunted by badly written drivers. Does anyone have any experience with it?
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From the reviews, indeed the performance floats around the one of a GF3 Ti500. Considering the price is more attractive, it should make a good buy. I'm also interested in compatibility with a KT266 DDR mobo and an Athlon C @ 1.33 GHz.
I heard it had some problems with Athlons, were they fixed thru driver revisions?
@ THC: Does it really matter what games I'm gonna play on it? I'm sorry, but we're heading towards a ridiculous situation: swapping GFX cards because one performs better than the other in certain games. Bleah! I just read Carmack's article on Doom 3 and GF4-MX...I think the specs for the GF4-MX were made public to him quite a while back, I don't see the need of him blasting out in public right now, claiming that the GF4-MX is "no good" for Doom 3. After all, what is Doom 3 ???? Just another game...
I'm not gonna buy a graphic card just to get extra FPS or lighting effects in some singular game.
I heard it had some problems with Athlons, were they fixed thru driver revisions?
@ THC: Does it really matter what games I'm gonna play on it? I'm sorry, but we're heading towards a ridiculous situation: swapping GFX cards because one performs better than the other in certain games. Bleah! I just read Carmack's article on Doom 3 and GF4-MX...I think the specs for the GF4-MX were made public to him quite a while back, I don't see the need of him blasting out in public right now, claiming that the GF4-MX is "no good" for Doom 3. After all, what is Doom 3 ???? Just another game...
I'm not gonna buy a graphic card just to get extra FPS or lighting effects in some singular game.
If you're looking for a tried-and-true video card then the RADEON 7500 is great. I haven't run into any problems with it. And the drivers perform well. You won't get the speed of the 8500, or the DirectX 8.1 support, but for an overall card it's a good buy. I wish they had come out with the 7500DV earlier. I'd have picked one up. But I'm not about to change out a card that isn't even a year old just to have the TV turner functionality.
Had mine not died, I'd still be running an 8500. Very good card.
That's cuz they're never gonna release it, y'know. That game has been in development for how many years? 8 or something. If that's really true, they're gonna be hurting in the sales department.
I'm also a fan of the 8500. Just be careful what type you get.
The fastest best is a Real ATI 8500 Retail.
The OEMS, are pretty much all slower speed core and ram versions. They are now called (but not always) the Radeon 8500 LE, and there is also the unoffical LE version of the LE, making that a Radeon 8500 LELE
The retail has 275Mhz synchronous clock rates, followed by the LE @ 250Mhz, followed by the LELE @ 230Mhz. All have the same features, and pretty much perform just as good. You can flash the bios to make the LE's perform like the Retails.
Good card overall
The fastest best is a Real ATI 8500 Retail.
The OEMS, are pretty much all slower speed core and ram versions. They are now called (but not always) the Radeon 8500 LE, and there is also the unoffical LE version of the LE, making that a Radeon 8500 LELE
The retail has 275Mhz synchronous clock rates, followed by the LE @ 250Mhz, followed by the LELE @ 230Mhz. All have the same features, and pretty much perform just as good. You can flash the bios to make the LE's perform like the Retails.
Good card overall
Yes the new 128's sound nice, supposed to be out in March, but the G4 on the reviews i read for both, seems to have a fair amount more power then the 128 ATI's will have.
I want to wait too see how long till they make a 128mb all in wonder, from the email i sent to ATI, they did not seem as thoughit would be any time soon, i mean ATI has spit out like 5 diff cards over the last few months, getting to be a bit ridiculous.
And the new Gefore all in wonder cards seem to be a joke from the reviews..lol
I want to wait too see how long till they make a 128mb all in wonder, from the email i sent to ATI, they did not seem as thoughit would be any time soon, i mean ATI has spit out like 5 diff cards over the last few months, getting to be a bit ridiculous.
And the new Gefore all in wonder cards seem to be a joke from the reviews..lol
Catalyst isn't just for 8500 users, I think the drivers for all Radeon cards are called "Catalyst" now.
The price slash would be a good thing, except I wish they'd hold off for a bit so that they actually have some left [i wouldn't mind a 128MB 8500 AIW] when I can afford 1. However, I need a new HDD 1st, & by the time I've got that they'll probably have sold out - only just got my 64MB DDR ViVo before everyone had sold out. Maybe if I start saving now I might have enough for when the R300 gets reduced to make way for it's replacement.
The price slash would be a good thing, except I wish they'd hold off for a bit so that they actually have some left [i wouldn't mind a 128MB 8500 AIW] when I can afford 1. However, I need a new HDD 1st, & by the time I've got that they'll probably have sold out - only just got my 64MB DDR ViVo before everyone had sold out. Maybe if I start saving now I might have enough for when the R300 gets reduced to make way for it's replacement.
I think the catalyst drivers are kinda how the detanators are for the nvidia series video cards. I use the new catalyst drivers form ati's site and they perform admirably. Havent had a lockup or anything yet.
I recommend the 8500 (64 meg version) retail. The dual monitor display is seemless, hydravission is pretty slick, and the fact thats its cheaper than a gf3 ti500 is also cool. Just a note for the retail, another nice thing is getting all cables and the DVI-to-VGA adapter with it.
I recommend the 8500 (64 meg version) retail. The dual monitor display is seemless, hydravission is pretty slick, and the fact thats its cheaper than a gf3 ti500 is also cool. Just a note for the retail, another nice thing is getting all cables and the DVI-to-VGA adapter with it.
I used to buy ATI cards all the time, then switched over to GeForce2 MX, because ATI drivers sucked, now I need another video upgrade and am considering the Radeon 8500 128 MB Retail board, its price will be cut and should provide some good frame rates for my system thats getting a bit old, an Athlon 750, it should also keep me going when I get my new P4 in the fall or something.
