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ATI Radeon X800 GTO Mini Roundup: Sapphire, Connect3D, and PowerColor

 by Josh Venning on December 26, 2005 12:05 AM EST
27 Comments | Add A Comment
27 Comments
Sapphire X800 GTO2

The X800 GTO2 (pronounced GTO “squared”) is a bit different. Considering the looks, the GTO2 looks a lot like an X800 GT except with a slightly different fan sink and a 6-pin power connector on the corner. The GTO2 is also slightly heavier than the GT.

The GTO2's box looks very similar to the GTO Ultimates, except that the weird looking girl has different skin and is making a “Charlie's Angels”-style gun with her hands. There's also the GTO2 logo in the corner with the words “Limited Edition”, which stands out somewhat.


Click to enlarge.

As far as the card architecture goes, the core for the X800 GTO is the same as the X800 GT, which makes sense given the similarity in name. The core is clocked lower on the GTO than the GT (400MHz as opposed to 475MHz), but the GTO has 4 more pixel pipelines than the GT (12 vs 8). The extra pipes will obviously give it an advantage, but there are other things here that make the GTO so special. Cards like these are made from parts that were originally going to be more powerful cards, but for some reason or other, it didn't quite pass the grade. These could have been intended for cards like the X800 XT or X850 for instance. The cores are then clocked down and sold to manufacturers like Sapphire who then produce their own variation at a much lower cost to the consumer. What’s interesting is that because these cores were intended for higher end cards, there is a lot of potential for user-overclocking, which we'll talk more about later.

Sapphire X800 GTO Ultimate Connect3D Radeon X800 GTO
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  • Zax - Saturday, December 31, 2005 - link

    I have a Fireblade edition gto..as mentioned, it TOTALLY smokes the others in overclocking!!
    The Fireblade edition should have been reviewed...NOT to ultimate version..

  • crusadersrealm - Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - link

    Why bother writing a review if you aren't going to do the proper investigation. The GTO2 uses the same chip (R480) as the X850XT PE . A simple bios update enables the other 4 pipes....he calls it too risky though "technically" possibe. I guess the quality of the reviews at this site have gone to the pits.

  • Sanctusx2 - Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - link

    vertical-align:super

    :P

  • Jimmdean - Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - link

    Personally, I feel the real strength of the x800GTO is its availability in AGP form.

    Since I'm still using AGP, the 6800GS isn't an option.

    My Sapphire X800GTO AGP is highly overclockable, and definately the best card value I've ever gotten...

  • Jimmdean - Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - link

    Well, looks like now there is 6800GS in AGP, my bad...

  • Avalon - Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - link

    My only problem is that they specifically mentioned unlocking in the article. It wasn't even just a single sentence afterthought, either, but it was several blurbs. Why mention it if you aren't going to try it?

    Did Anand mention the pencil mod for the DFI Ultra-D but not follow through? No! He pulled the HSF off the northbridge of his board and went and modded it, then reported it to us fellow users. That's the stuff I like to see.

    BIOS flashing is hardly more dangerous than overclocking as to justify doing one but not the other.

  • Brian23 - Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - link

    I have the X800 GTO2. It's a sweet card. It unlocked just fine to 16 pipelines, and it overclocks to similar speeds as a X850 XT PE. I didn't even need to replace the stock heatsink on it.

  • Wesleyrpg - Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - link

    Whats happened to Anandtech of late?

    Firstly the review is about 4 months too late! Then we get this guff about that bios modding/unlocking pipelines on your card is unsafe! Who cares! We come to this site to read about what happens when you mod and the performance increases/risks, not to read some lecture about how dangerous bios modding is!

    So its safe for you guys to 'overclock' the cards, but it's not ok to mod the bios to unlock pipes? In my view, both are equally dangerous, it must of come down to sheer lazyness on your reviewers part!

    C'mon guys, pull your finger out...

  • Beenthere - Monday, December 26, 2005 - link

    The review was for folks looking for mid-level graphics cards to plug and play. Sure some folks want to overclock everything, but most PC users aren't willing to risk damage to their hardware with long term overclocking. And spare me the dribble about O/C'ing being 100% safe as I've done it for years. The reality is if there were zero risk in overclocking, then all hardware would be clocked to the max.

    Besides the really important part of any Mobo, video card or PSU review is how cool the box is that the hardware comes in. Ya gotta give these hardware mfgs. credit, they know the hormone crazed kids will get off on the cyborg bimbos on the front of the box, the pretty colors on the box, and the all important heatsink shape and fan color. How the product actually performs ain't all that important as long as makes the hormones flow...

    Ya gotta Luv it !!!

  • BenSkywalker - Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - link

    "The review was for folks looking for mid-level graphics cards to plug and play."

    6800GS out of the box, under $200 at NewEgg right now and smacks any board in this review silly. No matter how you look at it, this review was lacking giving the most credit possible to it. Flat out misleading is closer to what it appears.
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