Tech Report Previews Fatal1ty X800 XL 512MB
Editors impressed with tweakability and cooling

August 11, 2005 – Top hardware website Tech Report has taken a quick look at the new Fatal1ty X800 XL 512MB graphics card, and came away very impressed. The overall configuration and tweakability of our complete package left a vivid impression: "…get a load of ABIT's OCGuru utility, which offers more control over a video card's vitals than anything I've seen yet. Exposed are all of the things you'd want to access for some real overclocking fun, including core and memory voltages, fan speed thresholds, and temperature-based alert and shutdown options. You only get two options for core and memory voltage: "high" and "low." The "high" core voltage, for instance, is 1.39V, while the default is 1.30V. That's still more control than you'll get with most video cards, so I'm not going to complain. This is the kind of tweakability I'd like to see in more video cards, so ABIT gets credit for taking the steps it has."

The overclocking options leave Tech Report more than a little impressed: "Speaking of overclocking, the Fatal1ty X800 XL takes an unusual approach. Sticking out of the back of the PCI slot cover, just above the VGA connector …is a switch. This switch toggles between two BIOSes, one of which runs the card at stock Radeon X800 XL speeds (400MHz core/490MHz memory) and the other at overclocked (420/550MHz) speeds. Besides invoking a more frantic light show, pushing this button will raise the Fatal1ty X800 XL 512MB's 3DMark05 score from 4915 to 5220."

The value of a 512MB graphics card is usually seen in high resolution modes. Tech Report puts ABIT's Fatality X800XL 512MB through some preliminary tests and comes out smiling with the results: "As for the Fatal1ty X800 XL's 512MB of video memory, it does seem to help in certain cases. This card beats out the Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition at 2048x1536 in Far Cry, for instance."

If you enjoy a colorful solution with great overclocking potential and excellent cooling this is the VGA card for you: "The card comes with a fancy copper cooler that's very, very quiet and an array of flashing red LEDs that's quite loud indeed. In fact, I've made a short video of the LEDs in action, so you can see how they look. Had we gotten this card a month sooner, it would have been Christmas in July! Not only that, but the LEDs actually oscillate at a higher frequency (read: blink faster) when the card is overclocked. That right there will no doubt win you some street cred at the LAN party."

For the full review, go to:
http://www.techreport.com/onearticle.x/8653

For more information on the Fatal1ty X800 XL 512MB, go here:
ABIT Fatal1ty X800 XL 512MB

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