ATI Radeon 8500 Reviews

by Maarten Goldstein, Oct 17, 2001 7:33am PDT

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31 Threads* | 116 Comments*

#108

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By: stiki figgaz x Show Full Post

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if your getting a radeon on pricewatch you should know that some of the lower priced oem versions are clocked at 250mhz instead of 275mhz, I'm not sure what the memory speed differences are. Since Ati has allowed 3rd parties to manufacture there own oem boards, so you might be better of spending and extra $20 and getting a retail board

Oct 17, 2001 3:12pm PDT

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if your getting a radeon on pricewatch you should know that some of the lower priced oem versions are clo... : stiki figgaz
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- Thanks for the headsup : elementZen

#52

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By: ease_one x Show Full Post

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damn this really sucks, i was hoping the new ATI card would have good drivers this time and they coudl compete with nvidia, maybe even get more card for your money. but nope, cheaper cards perform as well as this card at the moment. looks like we have to let nvidia be the evil king a little longer

Oct 17, 2001 10:19am PDT

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damn this really sucks, i was hoping the new ATI card would have good drivers this time and they coudl co... : ease_one
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  what cheaper cards, you can get the radeon 8500 for $214 on pricewatch. : Turd Ferguson
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    YOu can get the GF Ti200 for even less, and apparently better performance/drivers. Not only that the GF : indeego
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      uhm, i havn't seen much about the radeon and overclocking but it is .15u as opposed to .18 like the gef... : Turd Ferguson
      
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      the german article talks about overclocking and shows scores : ease_one
      
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      25Mhz on the core and 70Mhz on the ram is pretty good. when your card is running at 300Mhz core and 620M... : Turd Ferguson
      
      not to mention the fact that ati does not have ANY COOLING ON THE RAM! : Turd Ferguson

#80

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By: TheTick x Show Full Post

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its really weird that tomshardware has the 8500 beating the geforce 3 in just about everything but anandtech doesnt...am i reading it wrong?

Oct 17, 2001 1:14pm PDT

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its really weird that tomshardware has the 8500 beating the geforce 3 in just about everything but anandt... : TheTick
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  yes i was reading it wrong...it only beat it in q3 and the non-game benches...well i hope it does better... : TheTick
  - SPOON!!!! : twoztwo

#116

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By: cold_40 x Show Full Post

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The best review so far, taking the 8500 into some good detail:

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/r8500.new/index.html

Oct 17, 2001 5:02pm PDT

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The best review so far, taking the 8500 into some good detail: http://www.digit-life.com/articles/r850... : cold_40
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- "The RADEON 8500 has an undoubtedly best performance in the DirectX, and is slightly edged out in the Op... : Jimbo Ro
- that's the best review I've ever read. Not because it compliments ATi, it just covers a ton of informati... : Sniper21

#31

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By: elementZen x Show Full Post

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Post your ATI Radeon 8500 reviews here - maybe we will find an ubiased one :)

Here's mine:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=816
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1349/
http://gamespot.com/gshw/stories/flat/0,12880,2804040,00.html

Oct 17, 2001 8:22am PDT

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Post your ATI Radeon 8500 reviews here - maybe we will find an ubiased one :) Here's mine: http://www... : elementZen
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- Yes, Radeon 8500 reviews seem like rush jobs, only focusing on game preformance...everyone getting their... : cold_40

#111

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By: cold_40 x Show Full Post

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WooWee it all comes down to the drivers....go figure. I was going to get a new system with an 8500...and I probably still will since playing games isnt the only thing I do on my computer (which is practically the only plus an nVidia card can offer)...but Im going to wait an extra month now...wait til the more mature drivers come out since this seems kinda rushed IMO...

Everyone that buys hardware/software right on its release date are called beta testers IMHO.

=)

Oct 17, 2001 4:06pm PDT

WooWee it all comes down to the drivers....go figure. I was going to get a new system with an 8500...and : cold_40

#47

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By: indeego x Show Full Post

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My history:
1999 Nvidia Newbie Fanboy
late 99 Nvidia Stockholder
2000 Nvidia Extreme Fanboy And Extremely happy stockholder
2001 Nvidia Happy Stockholder
Summer 01 Nvidia Fanboy pissy about 2d image quality
Fall '01 Need money, Sells some Nvidia stock at 300% profit
Today ATI pre-fanboy
Tomorrow 8500 in pocket at about $90 less than a GF3, with almost equal GF3 fps, and much better 2D quality, and Dual support.

:)

Oct 17, 2001 9:38am PDT

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My history: 1999 Nvidia Newbie Fanboy late 99 Nvidia Stockholder 2000 Nvidia Extreme Fanbo : indeego
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  that very much resembles my graphics card history aswell, after 3dfx started it all... : afrochops
  - could be mine too ASS = Ati Saves Souls : RiNgMaStEr

#78

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By: SERIOUSly the SAMe x Show Full Post

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Wow Kodiak (sorry forgot your elite -= symbols) takes this 8500 bashing REALLY serious.

Card seems good but it probably shouldn't have these driver quirks & disabled features like smoothvision.
I just hope the Madden2002 not loading bug is an isolated incident & isn't something that will effect more games.

-The SAMe

p.s. If ATI can remedy the small Win2k/XP driver quirks (or a non bloatware tweak program can fix them) I will buy a 8500 in the near future.

Oct 17, 2001 1:08pm PDT

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Wow Kodiak (sorry forgot your elite -= symbols) takes this 8500 bashing REALLY serious. Card seems go... : SERIOUSly the SAMe
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  hey its just how i am... i own a radeon and i really dont care what people say... but this is just how i... : -=kodiak=-
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    I'm not sure how long you've been reading Anandtech but one thing you'll find with him is he really ... : SERIOUSly the SAMe
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      wow holy shit an intelligent reply... something missing from the other thread... well ive been readin : -=kodiak=-
      
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      why is using a Pentium4 for the test a bad thing? Tom's stated that the current driver has problems with... : .spanky.
      
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      well i cant speak for 8500 drivers but the latest drivers for the radeon now are fine in win xp and im u... : -=kodiak=-
      
      no, you CAN'T speak for the 8500 drivers, both Tom's and Anand's say the drivers have problems and need ... : .spanky.
      
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      Yeah I can understand part of where your coming from. The P4 benchmark probably should have been pai... : SERIOUSly the SAMe
      
      uug i remember having to change the 16 bit dithering reg key on the old 128 cards EVERY goddamn time you... : -=kodiak=-
      
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      "like how the new radeons acctually have some damn good 16bit fillrate at 640x480 (something older ati c... : Jimbo Ro
      
      even they all play in 32 bit : ease_one
  - well he says its not worth it because his benchmarks show that a card $100 cheaper gets about the same p... : ease_one
- oh yea also like i said... people are just sheep and refuse to look deeper into shit and just accept the... : -=kodiak=-

#34

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By: The_FrO x Show Full Post

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"You better believe that NVIDIA isn't sitting around idle while the Radeon 8500 begins to encroach on their territory."

lovely...

Too bad nVidia has basically been sitting on their asses since the Geforce3 line came out.

and they also sat on their asses when the Geforce2 came out.

Basically, all nVidia has done to sell more boards is make the memory faster. That increases performance enough to make every tweak gamer drool over their fastest card.

Bah...

I want more features dammit

Oct 17, 2001 8:34am PDT

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"You better believe that NVIDIA isn't sitting around idle while the Radeon 8500 begins to encroach on the : The_FrO
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#18

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By: -=kodiak=- x Show Full Post

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i think people should just dissregard anand tech reviews when it comes to any other video card that isnt manfactured by nvidia

my god
all i have to say is what a fucking moron

here you have a card that is as fast as a gforce 3 and not only has a far better ramdac and visual quality and fucking amazing tv output and dvd
and yet thats not good enough for anandtech.... what fucking idiots

Oct 17, 2001 7:55am PDT

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i think people should just dissregard anand tech reviews when it comes to any other video card that isnt ... : -=kodiak=-
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#29

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By: galvatron x Show Full Post

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Gentlemen,

At present, I have a 1.4GHz Athlon T-Bird with 256MB Pc133 and a Radeon 64MB DDR card. After reading the poor / middling reviews of their "next-gen" product, I have decided that to look at the "nVidia" option. I do a lot of graphic design work using Quark (PC) and Photoshop, and enjoy playing games and viewing DVDs. Can anyone recommend the *best* vendor who offers a GF3 Ti200?

Thanks

Oct 17, 2001 8:21am PDT

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Gentlemen, At present, I have a 1.4GHz Athlon T-Bird with 256MB Pc133 and a Radeon 64MB DDR card. Afte... : galvatron
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  wow you just bought into the bullshit that was the anandtech review congradulations!!! : -=kodiak=-
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    yeah, i'd take that review with a grain of salt cause you never bite the hand that feeds you : ariakaz
    - Firstly, I hold no loyalties, I simply want a fast, feature rich and stable product. Fandom has no place... : galvatron
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    kodiak, i've come to respect your opinion about ati, and i do think the review (or the shack news item?) : dodob
    - hehehehe sorry =P i dont bother checking shit like that i know people are anal about it and it somew... : -=kodiak=-
- Why upgrade? You have a fantastic processor, a bunch of ram (might want to upgrade that if you do a lot ... : nomaad

#88

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By: archon x Show Full Post

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Should be interesting to see how the 8500 stacks up when its' improved drivers get released. Maybe it can beat the GeForce 3 Ti500 in benchmarks then.

Oct 17, 2001 1:44pm PDT

Should be interesting to see how the 8500 stacks up when its' improved drivers get released. Maybe it can... : archon

#15

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By: freak! x Show Full Post

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I'm using Doom3 to guage my next upgrade... I'm happy with my GF2 pro right now.

Oct 17, 2001 7:50am PDT

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I'm using Doom3 to guage my next upgrade... I'm happy with my GF2 pro right now. : freak!
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- ditto : yoggoth

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By: x Show Full Post

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Dec 31, 1969 4:00pm PST

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- asus is releasing an 8500 card so are a couple other companies i think visontech is as well : -=kodiak=-

#8

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By: The_FrO x Show Full Post

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"...but for now it's just not worth it."

why do people think that the only thing that matters is performance?

Personally, I'd take a hit in performance to get better features (ex: better DVD playback).

Oct 17, 2001 7:38am PDT

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"...but for now it's just not worth it." why do people think that the only thing that matters is perfo... : The_FrO
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- agreed... : afrochops
- NO you can't do that, you must have a card that displays more FPS than any other and melts your eyeballs... : DjSix22
- .... dual monitor output, better 2d quality. : Sander Pilon

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Dec 31, 1969 4:00pm PST

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:
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- but will that be before or after then GF4 is out? : Jimbo Ro

#60

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By: Jimbo Ro x Show Full Post

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umm i see alot of people calling the reviews bs and what not. what is bs about benchmark scores? gf3 = gaming card (even though the anand review has a big add for the 8500 as the best *$&*$#& 3d gaming experence or somthing) and the 8500 = bust all around card if you are too cheap to buy a dvd player or decoder and need ti run in 1200 1600 or higher.

Oct 17, 2001 11:58am PDT

umm i see alot of people calling the reviews bs and what not. what is bs about benchmark scores? gf3 = ... : Jimbo Ro

#43

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By: aerelorn x Show Full Post

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God fucking dammit ATI. Get your head out of your ass and get some decent drivers out on RELEASE. They're never going to improve their reputation this way.

I was so looking forward to this card. If it doesn't have better performance by January, I'm going to have to go with a GF3.

Oct 17, 2001 9:11am PDT

God fucking dammit ATI. Get your head out of your ass and get some decent drivers out on RELEASE. They'... : aerelorn

#42

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By: judge x Show Full Post

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hmm, the original reviews I read of this showed it beating the regular geforce 3 barely at high resolutions.

Important since it costs much less than the geforce3, and looks better 2d style

Oct 17, 2001 9:11am PDT

hmm, the original reviews I read of this showed it beating the regular geforce 3 barely at high resolutio... : judge

#24

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By: dn__ x Show Full Post

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ATI is on the right track, but they obviously still have some work to do.. Until then, I'll stick with nVidia..

Oct 17, 2001 8:08am PDT

ATI is on the right track, but they obviously still have some work to do.. Until then, I'll stick with n... : dn__

#19

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By: afrochops x Show Full Post

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anyone curious about performance on an athlon should look here.
http://www.rivastation.com/r8500_1.htm

Oct 17, 2001 7:56am PDT

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anyone curious about performance on an athlon should look here. http://www.rivastation.com/r8500_1.htm : afrochops
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#22

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By: ariakaz x Show Full Post

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Hmm, no tests on 2D image quality. For the most part, I'm not playing games 24-7.
One of the main reasons I went from a GeForceDDR to a Radeon64 for my 21" Mitsubishi monitor is cause I wasn't too happy with 2D image quality. Reading around I saw that the Geforce2 image quality wasn't that great either. Now the Geforce3 had much improved 2D but I wasn't about to spend $400 for a video card.

Oct 17, 2001 8:07am PDT

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Hmm, no tests on 2D image quality. For the most part, I'm not playing games 24-7. One of the main reaso... : ariakaz
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  http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1544&p=15 : pyrotek
  - * removes foot from mouth * fuck, i didn't make it all the way to the end. : ariakaz

#10

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By: afrochops x Show Full Post

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I'm disappointed that anand didn't test using an athlon system as well. the 8500 does much better on athlon platforms....

Oct 17, 2001 7:43am PDT

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I'm disappointed that anand didn't test using an athlon system as well. the 8500 does much better on athl... : afrochops
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  LIES! : [4 |337 h4x0r]
  - look around. there are other reviews of this card...(tom pabst preferred benching on a p4 too for whatev... : afrochops

#

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By: x Show Full Post

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Dec 31, 1969 4:00pm PST

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  If ati can get its drivers fixed... it will no doubt beat geforce 3. The geforce has gone through so man... : johndwango
  - ati releasing GOOD drivers? WHAT YOU SAY? : OverBurN
  - If ATI can get their drivers fixed... dude, you've been under a rock for a while haven't you. ATI f... : KinetiK

#5

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By: warren x Show Full Post

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i'll stick with my elsa gladiac 920 thank you.

and then upgrade to a GF4 next year :)

Oct 17, 2001 7:35am PDT

i'll stick with my elsa gladiac 920 thank you. and then upgrade to a GF4 next year :) : warren

#4

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By: DjSix22 x Show Full Post

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IT SAID 10!!!!!

Oct 17, 2001 7:34am PDT

IT SAID 10!!!!! : DjSix22

#2

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By: OverBurN x Show Full Post

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this is not first post! :(

Oct 17, 2001 7:34am PDT

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this is not first post! :( : OverBurN
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- dat is correct : redian

#1

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By: Odoyle x Show Full Post

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* O D O Y L E R U L E S *

Oct 17, 2001 7:34am PDT

* O D O Y L E R U L E S * : Odoyle

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