Today we have for you the long anticipated R520 and its brethren. As you know, the X1000 family consists of the X1300, X1600, and X1800 lines. Today we have a hands on preview covering the X1800XT flagship, the X1800XL high end, and the X1600XT midrange cards. We bench these cards against the 7800GTX, 7800GT, 68GT, and X850/X800XL cards to get an idea of whether the long wait was worth it.

"With the X1000 series of boards, ATI have done something that Nvidia doesn't have currently - a top to bottom line-up of cards that feature the same high end features from the least expensive card to the most. Though not all cards are available immediately, ATI have a full lineup ready in time for Christmas that should be able to service anyone in the market for a video card.

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Price and availability are ultimately what will sell these cards, as the potential for performance is there, the cards right now are just missing a few pieces to allow them to match consistently the numbers that Nvidia is posting. As it stands, ATI has an extremely solid product line up ready at the gates, but whether or not they will be able to leverage that with cards in the channels will have to be seen. "



Link: Neoseeker