After being quiet for a little while and letting main competitor NVIDIA release their next-generation part first, ATI has finally unveiled the new Radeon X800 series boosting 16 pixel pipelines and 6 vertex pipes (12 pixel pipes for the Pro version).

No doubt ATI has taken a little longer to show a solid product that can keep up with the impresive GeForce 6800, a more polished product as well, using a single-slot cooler, more stable drivers and as a matter of fact, ATI has announced the immediate availability of the X800 Pro in stores, the card will sell for $399, while the XT is expected to ship by the end of the month ($499).

Review links: Anandtech, TechReport, KHardware, Hexux, Neoseeker, HotHardware, GamersDepot.

It's going to be a very interesting race, both NVIDIA and ATI chips are running closely, especially in the performance department, with pros and cons going back and forward, it's my best guess that the final product package and price/performance value will ultimately define what's the best thing to get.

Does ATI take back the crown? or did they even loose it to the 6800 Ultra?

I say ATI keeps the crown this time around. The benchmarks show points in favor of each company, but in my opinion once all the factors are considered (price, performance, functionality, etc) ATI definitely wins, and the consumers win in the end.

ati looks like it can hang with nvidia's latest card so far. both ati and nvidia cards are fast although ati cards do somethings better than nvidia cards and vice versa.

it seems like nvidia always got to have some sort of exotic cooling requirements (massive cooling with two molex connectors) reminiscent of the FX5800. ati has their normal single-slot cooling solution.

it would be interesting to see what nvidia has up their sleeves for their super-super top of the line card (is it going to be more than $500 USD? yikes).

i will wait and see what the final product is for both companies before i will judge which card is better overall (even though both cards will be fast as heck).

The X800 even requires less power than the 9800XT!!!
Now thats an advancement rather than needing two molex connectors and a 480w PSU as recommended minimum

Whats that yellow connector on the card below the molex?

And when will the cards actually ship to stores? I cant wait, because I need a new V/C, and it should drop the prices of the 9800s and 9700s

The yellow connector is a video in.
I thought at first it was going to be a floppy size power connector but its not.

The cards are shipping now, or at least the X800 Pro is.
Do a search on pricewatch and you'll find them showing up for sale

If I am not mistaken, the XT may require two molex connectors.

I don't think so Rick. There have been pictures of both the Pro and XT reference boards which have been reviews and neither features a dual molex solution. Then again it might be possible. We'll have to wait until some "real" people get them in their hands

It looks like it has one molex connector & one floppy-power-like connector. I'm not sure if both need to be plugged in.

The floppy one is apparently a video in from what I've read....

Looks are indeed deceiving.

ati is making their cards smaller and less power-hungry.

nvidia is making their cards bigger and more power-hungry.

go figure.

As a sff fan, I will kiss the ati engineers on the behind and maybe even pony up the 500 bones if the new cards are actually more power efficient and dont require a heat sink the size of a Buick's engine block.

After reading the B3D review I must admit I am very tempted by the X800 XT PE... More than twice the performace of my 9700pro, and without the need for any PSU upgrades or anything...

Depending on my summer job (if I get one) I might pick one up this fall... Should be able to keep this machine current enough until I'm ready to take the plunge on BTX, PEG & the rest...
Or maybe I'll settle for an X800 pro...
(It all depends on summer job, and if I'll buy an LCD screen this year or next...)

Oh, and the [H]ard|OCP review was also quite a good read