ASUS has delivered the first graphics card based on the reference design of the ATi HD RADEON 2900XT. Although they look alike, the package has more in house applications bundled and the game Stalker is given as part of the package.

In terms of performance, this card is run on a standard 965P board and found to be performing well in areas of synthetic benchmarks. When it comes to real games, running them with AA/AF at high resolutions, the card gave some better results when compared to the NV's 8800GTX. This is probably due to a 512 bits memory controller instead of 384bits on 8800GTX.

On the other hand, this card requires a better PSU to power it. ATI will be putting up a recommended list of PSU on its site. As it is based on a 80nm manufacturing process, the GPU is quite hot. Although we are unable to detect the actualy GPU temperature, measurements made around the card in the previous page shows that it is estimated to be around 50-60 deg on load.

For the HDTV buffs, this card simplifies the cabling or requirement of an addtional graphics card for sound output. The bundled DVI-HDMI connector is able to deliver the audio through the DVI-HDMI interface to your LCD TV.

During our test, DOOM3 failed to run with driver 8.37, we have to go back to ver 8.361 provided to get it working.  Drivers are most likely to be in the works to rectify some bugs with 3Dmark05, 3Dmark06 and some games. We would expect the final driver to get all these fixed.

Overall, the EAH2900XT should most likely be priced around the price range of USD 399 (for OEM cards). That is cheaper than the 8800GTX. If you are one that goes for the best image quality, the ASUS EAH2900XT based on Radeon HD 2900XT would be a good choice not only for your 3D games at high resolutions, but also for HDTV guys who wants the ease to playback HD DVD and Blu Ray in the near future.

For a technical perspective of the ATi HD Radeon 2900XT, please visit this page.

Price ~ NA

Pros

• UVD / AVIVO
• DX10 support
• SM4.0
• Integrated audio controller
   

Cons

• Hot
• New drivers required
• Fan is loud

Ratings

Here are my ratings out of 10 stars.