This is one of the most anticipated cards in ATI's long history and unfortunately it comes as a bit disappointment. After seven+ months of delay the R600 can only fight the Geforce 8800 GTS as the GTX and Ultra are definitely outperforming this new part from ATI.
The highlight is that the card comes with a voucher that will get you a free copy of Half Life 2 episode two, whenever it comes out and three more steam based games.
The card is innovative and has HDMI via DVI, it can handle audio and it has a nice video engine. When it comes to 3D it will win in 3Dmark and a few other benchmarks, but it will also lose in many tests compared to a Geforce 8800 GTX and even the GTS.
The good thing is the price, but we didn't wait seven months to get a card that might faster than the seven month old Geforce 8800 GTS at the same price. The card is huge, two power connectors, extremely hot and kind of noisy, but it can still be overclocked to 11,600 points in 3Dmark06. The R600 really leaves a bitter taste, but it finally comes out on Monday, whether you like it or not.
$/ €399 price for +/- 8800 GTS performance
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