A first-rate value solution
Written: Nov 11 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast, Inexpensive, Stable.
Cons: Minor artifacting in some games. Ugly.
The Bottom Line: A definite buy, faster than a Radeon 9000 Pro, and cheaper too.
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| dvpierce's Full Review: ATI RADEON 8500LE 128MB DDR AGP Graphics Card |
Quick technical overview:
Company - ATI
Chipset - Radeon 8500LE GPU (LE - low-cost version)
On-board memory = 128 MBs DDR SDRAM
Manufactured - Made in Canada
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When we got Grand Theft Auto III, the old Rage 128 Pro in my brother's computer just couldn't cut the mustard, so we bought a Radeon 8500LE 128 MB online.
We ordered the OEM version, so although it came with a driver CD, we were pretty much on our own in terms of instructions. Also, there were no bundled games, which wasn't a big deal to us anyway.
Nonetheless, installation was easy - I used the directions that came with an old video card. Remove display adapter drivers, shut down computer, remove old video card, install new video card, and boot the computer. Windows XP detected the new hardware and asked for the CD, which we had. In a few minutes, my brother was playing GTA3.
In any of the games we tried over the next few days, performance was incredible. High quality textures were enabled, higher screen resolutions were possible, jitters or stutters were gone, and frame rates in Unreal Tournament were nothing short of obscene. Even at 1024x768 with high-quality skins, the Radeon 8500LE was throwing frames faster than the display could refresh. A pleasant surprise from a $130 card, to be sure. Also, there was no crashing during gameplay, which we had trouble with in the past.
The 2D quality of the card was excellent. The display is clear and crisp. High refresh rates are available, and screen-redraw is very snappy, in spite of the measly 700 MHz and paltry 256 MBs of RAM behind it. :-)
I would definitely recommend this card to anybody who wants to put together a decent gaming system on a budget. Folks for whom money is no object can go ahead and get a Radeon 9700 or GeForce4 Ti4600, but the Radeon 8500LE is a zippy card, inexpensive, and outperforms ATI's newer-but-same-price-bracket Radeon 9000 and 9000 Pro. Geforce4 Ti 4200-based cards are a bit faster, but also cost about 40% more.
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There are two minor quibbles I have with this card.
First, there are some goofy reflective artifacts which show up in GTA3. They don't effect gameplay and don't look all that bad, but they are there and they shouldn't be. However, it's only that one game, which means it's probably a patch-fixable problem.
Second is that the card is kind of ugly. Unlike Hercules' signature blue, MSI's red, or Chaintech's black & gold "special edition" video cards, this ATI is a pedestrian green with a square black heatsink/fan. Kind of a downer, but it doesn't effect performance any. :-)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 130
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Epinions.com ID:
dvpierce
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
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