Sapphire X800 GTO² Review

Ratchet · Feb 7, 2006, 02:20 PM

Sapphire has graced out pages once again in the form of an X800 GTO² review. Highly modable and with excellent overclocking, the GTO² has some serious potential for those looking for a cheap way to get into a high-end card. Does the modability provide enough power to make up for the lack of Shader Model 3.0 support? Read on to find out.

Since the summer ATI has released an entire series of next-generation parts in the form of their X1000 family that has helped ATI retake some mindshare back from NVIDIA’s 7-series. So, even though the X800 GTO is likely on its last legs now, and even though it’s decidedly last generation, it should still generate respectable sales from people looking for high performance at low prices.

DanaG · Feb 7, 2006, 04:00 PM

If I were to build a system right now, that's what I'd definitely go with. Then again, a 6800GS sounds nice too, but I have no experience with nvidia cards at all. Given a choice, I don't know what I'd prefer -- noise, heat, and driver support (including Linux) are important, but I wouln't want to give up the auto-clocking and OSD of ATI Tray Tools.

One note: Please don't do subpixel hinting (ClearType) on prerendered images (like the graphs)! It looks awful on BGR LCDs, such as the ones in my college's CSC lab, and has no effect on CRTs.

Ratchet · Feb 7, 2006, 04:37 PM

ClearType looks much better on my CRT, but I will look into your suggestion.

I'll be changing the charts soonish from what I've been using recently anyhow.

caveman-jim · Feb 7, 2006, 04:47 PM

Nice review! I like the modded testing

I'm looking to build a budget computer and a GTO² modded would be a major boost. Is there a 6800GS review (head-to-head/single test) anywhere in the future?

Spoon83 · Feb 7, 2006, 05:04 PM

ClearType on CRTs looks horrible. Basically simulates poor convergence.

Ratchet · Feb 7, 2006, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caveman-jim

Nice review! I like the modded testing

I'm looking to build a budget computer and a GTO² modded would be a major boost. Is there a 6800GS review (head-to-head/single test) anywhere in the future?

Yep, we did a 6800GS review in early November:
http://www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/nvidia6800gs/

Ratchet · Feb 7, 2006, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoon83

ClearType on CRTs looks horrible. Basically simulates poor convergence.

I like it better over aliased text. Personal preference I suppose.

KJ · Feb 7, 2006, 07:39 PM

Nice review as usual Ratch

I love the Candiens/Maple Leafs ending too

caveman-jim · Feb 8, 2006, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratchet

Yep, we did a 6800GS review in early November:
http://www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/nvidia6800gs/

Great, Thanks!

animekenji · Feb 10, 2006, 05:03 AM

Hop on over to Sapphires forums and you will see they are now shipping GTO2 cards with R430 cores. They are still unlockable to 16 pipes and some even ship already unlocked, but the R480 core has departed. The R430 core does NOT overclock as well as R480, obviously. Most people with the R430 cores are saying they do not overclock well at all and look to be pretty much set at or near max clock speed right out of the box. If you order one, and it does not have a power connector on board, then you have an R430. People are reporting the R430 cores come on blue Sapphire spec boards and say X800XL right on the chips (you have to remove the cooling unit to see this) and the R480 come on red ATi spec boards. So if you are looking for a GTO2, don't buy it blindly. Be sure you are getting a red ATi spec board with the R480 core on it.

Ratchet · Feb 10, 2006, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by animekenji

Hop on over to Sapphires forums and you will see they are now shipping GTO2 cards with R430 cores. They are still unlockable to 16 pipes and some even ship already unlocked, but the R480 core has departed. The R430 core does NOT overclock as well as R480, obviously. Most people with the R430 cores are saying they do not overclock well at all and look to be pretty much set at or near max clock speed right out of the box. If you order one, and it does not have a power connector on board, then you have an R430. People are reporting the R430 cores come on blue Sapphire spec boards and say X800XL right on the chips (you have to remove the cooling unit to see this) and the R480 come on red ATi spec boards. So if you are looking for a GTO2, don't buy it blindly. Be sure you are getting a red ATi spec board with the R480 core on it.

Thanks for the info animekenji
It seems that these are coming already unlocked now as well.

Feb 7, 2006, 02:20 PM	#1	Advertisement (Guests Only) Login or Register to remove this ad
Ratchet The Tool Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: The Rock Posts: 7,623	Sapphire X800 GTO² Review Sapphire has graced out pages once again in the form of an X800 GTO² review. Highly modable and with excellent overclocking, the GTO² has some serious potential for those looking for a cheap way to get into a high-end card. Does the modability provide enough power to make up for the lack of Shader Model 3.0 support? Read on to find out. Since the summer ATI has released an entire series of next-generation parts in the form of their X1000 family that has helped ATI retake some mindshare back from NVIDIA’s 7-series. So, even though the X800 GTO is likely on its last legs now, and even though it’s decidedly last generation, it should still generate respectable sales from people looking for high performance at low prices. __________________ 7

Ratchet's System Specs
Motherboard	Gigabyte MA790FX-UD5P
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Feb 7, 2006, 04:00 PM	#2
DanaG Newbie Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Luis Obispo Posts: 21	If I were to build a system right now, that's what I'd definitely go with. Then again, a 6800GS sounds nice too, but I have no experience with nvidia cards at all. Given a choice, I don't know what I'd prefer -- noise, heat, and driver support (including Linux) are important, but I wouln't want to give up the auto-clocking and OSD of ATI Tray Tools. One note: Please don't do subpixel hinting (ClearType) on prerendered images (like the graphs)! It looks awful on BGR LCDs, such as the ones in my college's CSC lab, and has no effect on CRTs. Last edited by DanaG : Feb 7, 2006 at 04:04 PM.

Feb 7, 2006, 04:37 PM	#3
Ratchet The Tool Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: The Rock Posts: 7,623	ClearType looks much better on my CRT, but I will look into your suggestion. I'll be changing the charts soonish from what I've been using recently anyhow. __________________ 7

Ratchet's System Specs
Motherboard	Gigabyte MA790FX-UD5P
CPU	AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE
Graphics	XFX Radeon 4890 XT
Memory	8GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC3-16000
Cooling Solution	CoolerMaster Hyper N520
Display	Dell 2407FPW 24" LCD
Soundcard & Speakers	AuzenTech X-Plosion 7.1 & Logitech Z5500 5.1
Power Supply	PCPnC Turbo Cool 750W
Case	Coolermaster Stacker
Input Devices	Microsoft Sidewinder X6 keyboard, Logitech G9
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Feb 7, 2006, 04:47 PM	#4
caveman-jim Deposed King of Rage3D Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 49,000	Nice review! I like the modded testing I'm looking to build a budget computer and a GTO² modded would be a major boost. Is there a 6800GS review (head-to-head/single test) anywhere in the future?

Feb 7, 2006, 05:04 PM	#5
Spoon83 Radeon R300 Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 176	ClearType on CRTs looks horrible. Basically simulates poor convergence.

Feb 7, 2006, 07:39 PM	#8
KJ Classic Gamer Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 6,170	Nice review as usual Ratch I love the Candiens/Maple Leafs ending too __________________ ASRock P67 Pro3 \| Core i5-2500K \| 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1600 \| 120GB OCZ Vertex 2 \| Radeon HD 3850 \| Lite-On 20x DVD-RW \| Earthwatts 500w PSU \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 AND IT'S *FOLDING FOR RAGE3D!*

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Feb 10, 2006, 05:03 AM	#10
animekenji Radeon R200 Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 52	Sapphire using R430 in GTO2 now. :-( Hop on over to Sapphires forums and you will see they are now shipping GTO2 cards with R430 cores. They are still unlockable to 16 pipes and some even ship already unlocked, but the R480 core has departed. The R430 core does NOT overclock as well as R480, obviously. Most people with the R430 cores are saying they do not overclock well at all and look to be pretty much set at or near max clock speed right out of the box. If you order one, and it does not have a power connector on board, then you have an R430. People are reporting the R430 cores come on blue Sapphire spec boards and say X800XL right on the chips (you have to remove the cooling unit to see this) and the R480 come on red ATi spec boards. So if you are looking for a GTO2, don't buy it blindly. Be sure you are getting a red ATi spec board with the R480 core on it.

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