ATI Radeon 64MB DDR

Conclusion

It is no question that ATI set out to produce a GeForce 2 GTS killer. At a suggested retail price of $399 for the 64MB version reviewed here and $279 for the 32MB DDR version, the Radeon cards are priced very competitively with NVIDIA's and 3dfx's latest offering. How does the Radeon hold up?

There is no question about it, the Radeon 64MB DDR is one powerful card. Arriving at a shelf near you starting today, ATI has eliminated one major setback of their previous products: the delays. By actually releasing the Radeon before the planned shipping date, ATI proved that they will not go down that easily. As a result of the early shipping date, the Radeon 64MB DDR is also one of the first cards that ATI has released that is able to keep up and occasionally surpass the fastest cards out there.

On top of finally delivering when promised, ATI also included many goodies into the Radeon 64MB DDR that make it very attractive to the home user. Not only does the Radeon ensure card longevity, as it features support for many of the upcoming DirectX 8 features, it also incorporates some extra toys that many will find useful. The video-in and video-out capabilities of the Radeon 64MB DDR are the first to be found on a card with this much gaming power. Also, the incredible DVD playback from the integrated IDCT will be loved by many, especially thanks to the included composite and S-Video out ports.

With all it has going for it, the Radeon most definitely still has some problems. By far the biggest let down of the Radeon 64MB DDR is its poor 16-bit performance. ATI argues that people are really not playing in 16-bit anymore, and this could very well be the case for many out there, however it would be nice to know that if you need it, 16-bit performance is there. Radeon owners will most likely find themselves always running in 32-bit color primarily as a result of the poor 16-bit rendering. This is fortunate due to the fact that the Radeon's 16-bit speed is essentially the same as its 32-bit speed.

The compatibility problems with some VIA chipsets may cause headaches for some users; luckily there are ways to solve the problem. Also, the drivers are still not up to par with the rest of the competition. Finally, more FSAA options would have been nice so that the user could find the best image/performance setting. Too bad that we are limited to FSAA 4x.

Is the Radeon 64MB DDR for you? Well, that depends on what you want to do. If you want a fast, full featured card, it seems that the Radeon is the best thing out there. It offers many of the advanced video features that we have come to expect from ATI while giving us some unexpected performance. The Radeon is also for those out there who are sure that high resolution 32-bit color is the only way to go. In a way it is nice that the Radeon scores top card at these settings, as scenes do look best here. The only downside is that if newer games come along that may be too powerful for the Radeon, one would be stuck playing the game about the same speed regardless of color depth. This is unlike other video cards out there, that show substantial performance increases when switching from 32-bit to 16-bit color.

The production and shipping of the Radeon as well as the move to a 6-month product cycle most certainly shows that ATI is still in the running as a top video card manufacturers. Long gone are the days of poor performance and broken promises. With the release of the Radeon, ATI no longer targets OEMs only, but rather they are winning a spot in the retail consumer's heart. Look like Carmack was right: "ATI may give nvidia a serious run for their money this year."