
Both Hard OCP and Tech Reports report that the x1900 XTX sports 48 pixel pipelines, a 650 Mhz processor, and 512MB of 1.5GHz RAM. The Xbox 360 also has 48 pipelines, a 500MHz processor, and 512MB of 700MHz RAM. It looks like ATI may have just one upped the custom GPU design they just sold to Microsoft.
The problem with computer games tends to be that only a couple games even try to take advantage of monster cards like this one; most of them go for the lowest common denominator, opting to build an engine that is scalable enough to look great on all manner of systems.
Here's the real kicker: the x1900 XTX commands a whopping $500 plus! For that price, you could get an Xbox 360 and have enough left over for a game and a Live membership!
[Via b Xbox 360]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-26-2006 @ 10:53PM
John said...
You can�t compare the two. The xbox360 has a Unified Shader Architecture for those 48 pipelines and a sister core for anti-aliasing. Both of which may never become standard on its PC counterpart.
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1-26-2006 @ 11:00PM
Brian said...
and the 512 ram is shared with the proc its not unified VRAM
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1-26-2006 @ 11:10PM
Tim said...
Calm it down fanboy, we all know that xbox will look better for a long while. It's okay.
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1-27-2006 @ 10:12AM
SickNic said...
NewEgg.com is already selling these cards for $579:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142065
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1-27-2006 @ 10:22AM
C. Grant said...
Not worried about it being obviated, just shocked at how expensive the alternative is. The graphics don't mean the world to me anyhow; it's Live that makes the 360 what it is.
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1-27-2006 @ 4:43PM
MA360 said...
Well, it does seem VERY like the Xenos in the 360, with the 48 pixel shaders, using the same kind of RAM, etc. It might seem more powerful but also you got the fact that the PC is a VERY unoptimized platform, unlike consoles. That is due to the fact that not everyone has the same hardware, everyone has different processors, motherboards, sound cards, etc. and also drivers, OS upkeep, etc. can play a roll too.
And if your getting a new computer, it would get allot more expensive. First $600 for this card, then $300 for a motherboard and processor, $40 for RAM, and more for a case, monitor, mouse and keyboard, etc. Or if you get a OEM computer (like a Dell), you pay $350-$750 and then $600 for this card.
You also got the fact that PC games are developed for the "lowest common demoninator" of consumers, meaning there isn't going to be games that will use this GPU fully for quite some time.
The 360 will present graphics that are similar to this card due to its MUCH better optimization and it doesn't have to worry about drivers, OS upkeep, and/or applications running in the background (besides the guide).
The 360 is also not being used to its fullest at the moment (its like that for every launch console) but developers don't have to worry about making it for the "lowest common denominator" since everyone has the same hardware.
I would recommend the 360 over this card, you would get the same graphics for $200 cheaper, and you get the whole setup ready to play games. You also get games and features that won't be available on the PC.
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1-27-2006 @ 7:54PM
Xbox 360 Maniac said...
Don't forget about the 3 CPU cores. Once leveraged properly by developers, that will distance the platform even more.
I doubt PC developers will seriously consider dual core possibilites any time soon, let alone more than 2.
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1-28-2006 @ 4:18AM
John said...
But you seem to forget the console's "lowest common denominator," the Nintendo Revolution. Besides a few 1st party and exclusives titles, most will be released on all three consoles.
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1-28-2006 @ 7:32PM
MattTS said...
The r580 does NOT have 48 pixel pipelines. It has 48 ALUs - 3 per pipe. 1 scalar, 1 vector and 1 general. It only has 16 pipes.
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1-29-2006 @ 11:15AM
B.P. said...
This is really the primary reason I went with the Xbox 360 vs trying to get my sub-par gaming computer up to par ... the final cost. Microsoft is losing money on the hardware so we'll spend money on the other stuff (peripherals, games and Live).
Of course the other reason I did it was to be able to play my games on a big screen in HD and surround sound.
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1-29-2006 @ 11:17PM
nizzy1115 said...
#5 "The graphics don't mean the world to me anyhow; it's Live that makes the 360 what it is."
I agree with you 100%. I love the new live service. It is truely addicting.
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1-30-2006 @ 2:53PM
Patrick Martin said...
This article is bull. PC graphic cards of today can produce graphics better looking than the Xbox 360. Just go look at games like FEAR or Half-life 2: The Lost Coast or FarCry with the 1.3 update. Nothing on the Xbox 360 or PS3 will compare to that. All Microsoft and Sony have done is add support for their respective GPUs to display games at a resolution of 1280 by 720 or 1920 by 1080. PC graphic cards have been able to do this since the Ati 8500 was introduced. Current graphic cards from ATI and Nvidia support a max resolution of [email protected]
Furthermore console GPUs are different from PC GPUs, The Architecture is completely different. Therefore a comparison of the two really can not be made.
PCs are optimized. All PCs follow the Intel X86 standard. This means that all CPUs, Graphic cards, Sound Cards, Networking Cards, and etc will work with all motherboards that support the hardware. For instance AGP graphic cards will work with all AGP Motherboards and All PCIE graphic cards will work with all PCIE Motherboards.
Next time do a little research about PCs before making such outlandish claims
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1-30-2006 @ 4:34PM
Black Guy said...
Patrick Martin:
"PC graphic cards of today can produce graphics better looking than the Xbox 360."
Man what r u smoking? None of the games on the X360 now r taking any advantage of the hardware. In fact, launch games have never been indicative of the true performance capabilities of a system so how can u compare anything on the X360 now w/ PC games like FEAR?
As much as u would like to believe the article is bull, the fact is that both the X360 and PS3 will eclipse anything on the PC front for at least a year. Of course, this is not in consideration of overclocked or extreme modified components; those items r not standard.
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1-31-2006 @ 12:47AM
C. Grant said...
Wait a minute Patrick, so your computer has a triple core processor running at 3.2 GHZ, with a high-end graphics card that is selling for $500, and no operating system overhead at all?!
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2-01-2006 @ 4:58AM
Me said...
Wonder if the PC card compatibility is limited to only twenty current games like the 360...
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2-01-2006 @ 5:31AM
mike said...
this is a pointless arguement
the reality is the 360 is $400 all in.
We all know you can always get better if you are willing to pay but i honestly think that we are getting tot a point where the current graphics quality of the xbox 360 and ps3 is more than good enough
very very few games on the pc actually take advantage of these new cards (maybe 4 games a year at most)
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2-01-2006 @ 6:22AM
Syl said...
The X1900XT is *far* superior to the xbox360 graphics card. It's probably a good 3 or 4 times as fast.
The extra mhrz combined with the *massive* increase in ram speed are what make this possible the X1900 series of graphics cards are made to run a game with absolutely everything on max, including 16xAA/32AF at over 1600x1200.
The xbox360 graphics card isn't made to run anything over 720p (1080x720 i believe) at 4xAA
Of course, the main difference is that you're paying for a graphics card for more than it takes to pay for the entire xbox360 system.
The X800 or 6800series is more comparable to what the xbox can actually put out, except the xbox has lower resolution. (Mainly due to the ram speed).
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2-01-2006 @ 11:11AM
Barrett said...
What I think people are forgetting here is that there is virtually no way to get an xbox360 for its stated price right now. I need to pay 999 at amazon for the system and 7 games - do the math and we're looking at 600 for an xbox system stated to be worth 400 bucks. so the price arguments are all invalidated.
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2-01-2006 @ 11:15AM
Barrett said...
What I think people are forgetting here is that there is virtually no way to get an xbox360 for its stated price right now. I need to pay 999 at amazon for the system and 7 games - do the math and we're looking at 600 for an xbox system stated to be worth 400 bucks. so the price arguments are all invalidated.
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2-02-2006 @ 8:18PM
DA360 said...
Well, true this card is more powerful than the 360's GPU. But look at what the original Xbox did on its GPU, which was supposedly a GeForce 3 equivalent GPU, which was also weaker at the time as well, and a very weak GPU now. It did some pretty good looking games, games I was suppressed that kind of hardware could do, like Forza Motersport, Ninja Gaiden, DOA, Halo 2, etc.
But I do agree, PC optimization is getting better, which is why you see things in games saying "Runs best on Intel Pentium 4" or "Runs best with ATI video cards" or something like that. But the thing is, though those cards are powerful and can get some good anti-aliasing and whatnot, there isn't many games that will use them for all the horsepower that�s truly behind them beyond games such as UT2k7, ESIV: Oblivion, etc (which both are coming to 360). So personally, it�s better off at the moment just to get a far cheaper video card that will run most of the games out there just fine.
Also, games like Half Life 2: Lost Coast and FEAR could be done on the Xbox 360 hardware and run pretty well (heck, Monolith did develop both FEAR for PC and Condemned for Xbox 360), so I don't know where that comes into play.
But also, comparing PC to consoles is a very hard thing to do, almost like comparing apples to oranges. Both of them are completely different animals, aspects of them are very different, and coding for both of them is pretty different. Yes, they both have CPUs, GPUs and RAM, but that�s where the similarity ends. They use very different motherboard and hardware build architectures, very different code bases, different kernels/BIOSs, different runtimes, etc.
But it is kind of a tradeoff, as PC hardware keeps on getting more powerful and better, the graphics on console games get better. So if you�re a gamer on either realm or on both, you should be pretty happy with whatever you might get.
Just as long as you can play the games you want, and whatnot. Which both 360 and PC are getting some very good games coming out in the next few months.
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