UT2003 performance with AA and AF gives acceptable frame
rates. You won't want to use anything higher than 2x AA + 8x AF though.
Conclusions: A Mainstream
Card with an Edge.
Experienced gamers know that
the videocard is the most important part in a killer gaming rig... probably even
more so than the processor. Why is that you ask? It's simple, there are a ton of
games out there that can make your system crawl if you're using the wrong
videocard.
That's why when people write in to ask what type of
components they should buy for a gaming system, we tend to recommend they skimp
on the processor, and splurge on the videocard!
While ATI's RV360 core is starting to show its age, if
you're looking for value, a Radeon 9600XT based videocard is hard to beat. And
PowerColor has done an excellent job with their Radeon
9600XT Ultra. It's certainly helped out by the 2.5ns Samsung memory (clocked
40MHz faster than stock speeds) too. We were able to garner a pretty decent
overclock out of the 9600XT Ultra, reaching speeds of 542 MHz (core) and 408 MHz
memory!
The software package includes a full version of Tomb
Raider TAOD to keep you fragging away for a good few hours. It was nice of
PowerColor to include all the necessary cables to take advantage of the
TV-Output feature on the videocard too. For the moderate gamer, or hardcore
gamer on a budget I'm sure the PowerColor Radeon
9600XT Ultra (R96T-C3) will keep you happy. With a retail price of just $216 CDN ($161 US), this card offers a
value in a compact package!
Find out about this and many other reviews by
joining the Weekly PCstats.com Newsletter today!
Related Articles
Here are a few
other articles that you might enjoy as well...
1. Albatron FX5900XTV Videocard Review
Unreal Tournament
2003
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