HighTech have created another very, very good ATI Radeon-based video card here, that is more than capable of satisfying your gaming needs for a good while yet. We've always been fans of HighTech's video cards, and most certainly their range of video cards featuring the IceQ cooling technology.
Silence is becoming more and more important with many consumers looking towards the digital home cinema and Media Center based PCs for their living room. With the introduction of High-Definition TV's in America, and their imminent arrival in to the UK, we will soon be able to experience games at high resolution on a big screen without compromising the quality of the game play because of the generally poor quality display output delivered by a conventional television set.
When HDTV's are more widespread and high end gaming PC's start to appear in the consumer living room, silence is going to be more important than ever before. Consumers do not want the noise of fans to affect their digital cinema experience.
With the exception of the GeForce 7800 GTX, this is one of the fastest video cards on the planet and you will not be disappointed by the performance that it is capable of delivering. We were impressed by its performance and with the exception of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the image quality was on a par with what the GeForce 6800 Ultra could deliver. In many cases, its playable image quality surpassed the GeForce 6800 Ultra thanks to its superior fill rate and memory bandwidth.
This HighTech Radeon X850 XT iTurbo video card costs around £305 including VAT here in the UK. That puts it around £65 cheaper than the cheapest GeForce 7800 GTX, and nearly £100 cheaper than a typically priced GeForce 7800 GTX. GeForce 6800 GT built up some incredible branding for NVIDIA's GeForce 6 series, and it was a very successful generation for the boys in green.
However, that goes without saying that this is one mean video card that will deliver a gaming experience as good as, and in some cases arguably better than, GeForce 6800 Ultra.
One thing that makes this video card out is the fact that HighTech are giving something away for nothing. While we didn't find a great improvement in performance and no increase in image quality across all but one title that we tested from the increased clock speeds, we do believe that the 'free' MegaHertz that HighTech are giving away would suggest that this Radeon X850 XT might overclock much better than other brands.
You will be hard pushed to find a video card that delivers this kind of performance in relative silence for a little over £300.
The only thing that worries us about this video card is the lack of Shader Model 3.0 support. If many other developers follow Ubisoft Montreal's lead with only two shader profiles in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - namely Shader Model 3.0 and Shader Model 1.1 - we will find that Shader Model 2.0-based video cards will die an early death.
We believe the likelihood of that happening is fairly minimal, and it really depends on how hard NVIDIA push developers to miss out a Shader Model 2.0 profile. The fact that NVIDIA don't have a capable Shader Model 2.0 architecture after the failure of GeForce FX might make them want to push developers on their TWIMTBP program even harder. We guess that only time will tell. By the time that happens and if it ever does, we believe that you will be looking towards another video card upgrade before then.
If you do not have the money for a GeForce 7800 GTX, and don't fancy saving some extra pennies for a month or so, we don't think you will be putting a foot wrong by considering HighTech's Radeon X850 XT iTurbo for your next video card upgrade. If you don't have £300, or £400 for that matter, it is definitely worth having a look at the Radeon X800 XL and GeForce 6800 GT. That decision is all down to a matter of personal preference though. If silence is important, it's worth considering HighTech's Radeon X800 XL IceQ in the £200-£250 price bracket.
Silence is becoming more and more important with many consumers looking towards the digital home cinema and Media Center based PCs for their living room. With the introduction of High-Definition TV's in America, and their imminent arrival in to the UK, we will soon be able to experience games at high resolution on a big screen without compromising the quality of the game play because of the generally poor quality display output delivered by a conventional television set.
When HDTV's are more widespread and high end gaming PC's start to appear in the consumer living room, silence is going to be more important than ever before. Consumers do not want the noise of fans to affect their digital cinema experience.
With the exception of the GeForce 7800 GTX, this is one of the fastest video cards on the planet and you will not be disappointed by the performance that it is capable of delivering. We were impressed by its performance and with the exception of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the image quality was on a par with what the GeForce 6800 Ultra could deliver. In many cases, its playable image quality surpassed the GeForce 6800 Ultra thanks to its superior fill rate and memory bandwidth.
This HighTech Radeon X850 XT iTurbo video card costs around £305 including VAT here in the UK. That puts it around £65 cheaper than the cheapest GeForce 7800 GTX, and nearly £100 cheaper than a typically priced GeForce 7800 GTX. GeForce 6800 GT built up some incredible branding for NVIDIA's GeForce 6 series, and it was a very successful generation for the boys in green.
However, that goes without saying that this is one mean video card that will deliver a gaming experience as good as, and in some cases arguably better than, GeForce 6800 Ultra.
One thing that makes this video card out is the fact that HighTech are giving something away for nothing. While we didn't find a great improvement in performance and no increase in image quality across all but one title that we tested from the increased clock speeds, we do believe that the 'free' MegaHertz that HighTech are giving away would suggest that this Radeon X850 XT might overclock much better than other brands.
You will be hard pushed to find a video card that delivers this kind of performance in relative silence for a little over £300.
The only thing that worries us about this video card is the lack of Shader Model 3.0 support. If many other developers follow Ubisoft Montreal's lead with only two shader profiles in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - namely Shader Model 3.0 and Shader Model 1.1 - we will find that Shader Model 2.0-based video cards will die an early death.
We believe the likelihood of that happening is fairly minimal, and it really depends on how hard NVIDIA push developers to miss out a Shader Model 2.0 profile. The fact that NVIDIA don't have a capable Shader Model 2.0 architecture after the failure of GeForce FX might make them want to push developers on their TWIMTBP program even harder. We guess that only time will tell. By the time that happens and if it ever does, we believe that you will be looking towards another video card upgrade before then.
If you do not have the money for a GeForce 7800 GTX, and don't fancy saving some extra pennies for a month or so, we don't think you will be putting a foot wrong by considering HighTech's Radeon X850 XT iTurbo for your next video card upgrade. If you don't have £300, or £400 for that matter, it is definitely worth having a look at the Radeon X800 XL and GeForce 6800 GT. That decision is all down to a matter of personal preference though. If silence is important, it's worth considering HighTech's Radeon X800 XL IceQ in the £200-£250 price bracket.
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