These days it's pretty standard for a videocard to support TV-Output. With ATI's new support of the HDTV standard, we're now starting to see videocards based on the Radeon emerge with component output (y, Pb, Pr) instead of just the usually accompaniment of s-video and composite (RCA).

For comparisons sake we're going to show you the difference between traditional S-Video output of a computer desktop to a TV screen, and the higher quality component output. We're not going to go into all the detail of why component output is better, or what is supposed to be happening with HD TV, as that is beyond the scope of this review.

Suffice to say, below are two side by side screen captures which illustrate the potential of component output to an HDTV capable screen in place of the old videocard s-video output.

On the left is component output, on the right is S-Video. As you can clearly see the text and even image (look at the ATi logo) is much sharper and crisper because of the the use of the component output feature. Component is clearer, and the s-video equivalent is noticeably blurred.

Image Quality Comparison...

Image quality is one spot where ATi has really dominated nVIDIA the last couple of years, but with the release of the NV40, things are much closer. We're going to compare the AA and AF quality of the MSI RX800XT-VTD256E to an Albatron GeForce 6800GT. The fact that one card uses AGP, and the other PCI Express doesn't factor into IQ comparisons. To see an example, head on over to our recent review of the X800XT PE right here. Next, we'll tackle the overclockability of this MSI videocard!

Let's be frank here, the MSI RX800XT-VTD256E is already one of the most powerful videocards on the market, and it will easily run any game you throw at it. But, if you want to set some 3D speed records, you're going to have to overclock.

Seeing as how the Radeon X800XT core is clocked only 20 MHz slower than the X800XT PE, I immediately raised the core speed to 520 MHz. Without much surprise the MSI card had absolutely no problems running at that speed. It's like getting a free upgrade!

The overclocking seemed to hit the wall once we went past 526 MHz. Anything above that and the videocard would lock up the system. This is quite odd, since traditionally ATi cores start to artifact before they reach their maximum speeds.

Seeing as the RX800XT-VTD256E comes with Samsung K4J55323QF-GC20 (2ns) DDR3 DRAM, the memory is already clocked at 500 MHz (its theoretical maximum limit). Again, things just stopped working past 526 MHz - anything higher and 3D applications would simply lock up!

It's possible that ATi might be artificially limiting the overclocking speeds of the X800XT... but the company certainly isn't confirming or denying this. Anyhow, on with the benchmarks!

PCStats Test System Specs:

system 1 system 2 processor: intel pentium 4 540 intel pentium 4 3.0c clock speed: 16 x 200 mhz = 3.2 ghz 15 x 200 mhz = 3.0 ghz motherboards: gigabyte 8anxp-d, i925x gigabyte 8knxp, i875p videocard: gigabyte gv-rx60x128v gigabyte gv-nx57128d msi pcx5750-td128 albatron trinity pc5900 msi rx800xt-vtd256e ati radeon 9800xt ati radeon 9800 pro ati radeon 9700 pro asus radeon 9600xt msi fx5950 ultra-td128 msi fx5900u-vtd256 msi fx5900xt-vtd128 aopen geforcefx 5900xt albatron geforce 6800gt asus a800xt/tvd memory: 2x 256mb crucial pc4300 ddr2 2x 256mb corsair twinx 3200ll hard drive: 40gb wd special ed 40gb wd special ed cdrom: msi x48 cd-rw/dvd-rom nec 52x cd-rom powersupply: vantec stealth 470w vantec stealth 470w software setup windowsxp build 2600 intel inf 5.02.1012 forceware 61.77 windowsxp build 2600 intel inf 5.02.1012 catalyst 4.8 detonator 61.77 benchmarks 3dmark2001se codecreatures aquamark aquamark3 x2 the threat ut2003 doom 3 aa test, af and aa+af test 3dmark2001se x2 the threat ut2003

note: the agp and pci-e systems are different, but the results are being included for reference.gunmetal 2 benchmarks are not available for the geforce 6800 class videocards unfortunately. they would simply not run the benchmark.