We have to necessarily add a few more details about the soon to be launched X850 cards. They won't be cheap, they won't be cheap at all.
The X850 XT Platinum edition will be available for $549. ATI just manage to break all the limits of common sense with this pricing. I believe that they want to ensure that not many people will go out and buy them. Many people would like them, but only a few can afford them. ATI certainly wants to make some revenues from these babies.
The X850 XT will cost $499 when available, and just like X850 XT PE will have dual DVI slots, TV out and sixteen pipelines. Just a slightly different clock.
The X850 PRO and its twelve pipelines, DVI, VGA and TV-out connectors will cost $399.
ATI claims that X850 XT Platinum edition will end up twenty per cent faster than Geforce 6800 Ultra in 3Dmark05, almost forty per cent faster in Far Cry and around 55 per cent faster in Unreal Tournament 2004. Those numbers come from ATI.
The cards are expected to be on retail shelves and through distribution channels on the first working day of 2005. ATI partners have faith that ATI will ship these cards this time as they don't want to go through the unavailability pain again. I sense that 2005 won't chill down the graphic wars at all.
News source:
ieXbeta
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