Difference between Radeon boards and Fire GL boards

lowinor · Aug 25, 2003, 02:21 PM

In short, what is it?

So far, the Fire GL boards are the only ATI based boards that I've found that offer dual DVI output -- something I'd definitely pay a bit more to get on a video board.

eX-one · Aug 25, 2003, 02:42 PM

shitty drivers.

the catalyst team needs to make a trip to germany to teach the fgl team how to write drivers for r3xx hardware... it's the last thing keeping me from buying one myself.

mercid · Aug 25, 2003, 05:30 PM

Fire boards are for PRO use, not gaming. The drivers and the board in general is much more accurate when its rendering. Where in 3dgames "good enough" is just that good enough so it looks correct on your screen, it is not the case in pro boards.

tm2 · Aug 25, 2003, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by eX-one
shitty drivers.

the catalyst team needs to make a trip to germany to teach the fgl team how to write drivers for r3xx hardware... it's the last thing keeping me from buying one myself.

No.. ATI has supposedly unified their workstation and gamer card drivers.. just take a look at the latest FireGL driver, 7.88. I believe it's based on CATALYST 3.4.

Shloppy · Aug 26, 2003, 01:50 AM

Dual DVI, the cards DeviceID and the drivers are the only difference imho. The latest DX9 unified driverset are excellent for gaming, just not as reliable on the whole as their Catalyst brethren.

Contrary to popular belief FireGL X1/X2 cards on the whole make an excellent, albeit expensive, gaming solution. The cards are based on the (or should I say *are*) 9700 GPU core. Up until these recent unified drivers - games didn't run well at all unless you modifed the Catalyst drivers to add FireGL support. With the modified 3.6's installed the card runs all the latest games titles flawlessly - and with ease

I'm not alone in thinking ATI pulled a fast one to squeeze some extra cash from the product line.

lowinor · Aug 26, 2003, 12:33 PM

Thanks for the responses.

I'm running a 9800 Pro now, so I'm not in a hurry for an upgrade, but it's looking like I'll be grabbing a Fire GL of the next hardware iteration -- provided there are unified drivers.

arrrse · Aug 27, 2003, 07:57 AM

Dont forget the $$$$$$$$$$ difference

Aug 25, 2003, 02:21 PM	#1	Advertisement (Guests Only) Login or Register to remove this ad
lowinor Newbie Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 14	Difference between Radeon boards and Fire GL boards In short, what is it? So far, the Fire GL boards are the only ATI based boards that I've found that offer dual DVI output -- something I'd definitely pay a bit more to get on a video board.

Aug 25, 2003, 05:30 PM	#3
mercid Radeon R420 Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 248	Fire boards are for PRO use, not gaming. The drivers and the board in general is much more accurate when its rendering. Where in 3dgames "good enough" is just that good enough so it looks correct on your screen, it is not the case in pro boards. __________________ ------------- -mercid Pentium 4 3.0C @ 3.6 GHz ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 1 gig Corsair xms 3500 2 WD360 in raid-0 Abit IC7 Max 3 Audigy 2 this sig was automatically shortened to meet the 10-lines max rule

Aug 26, 2003, 01:50 AM	#5
Shloppy ATI FanBoi Join Date: May 2003 Location: Scotland Posts: 308	Dual DVI, the cards DeviceID and the drivers are the only difference imho. The latest DX9 unified driverset are excellent for gaming, just not as reliable on the whole as their Catalyst brethren. Contrary to popular belief FireGL X1/X2 cards on the whole make an excellent, albeit expensive, gaming solution. The cards are based on the (or should I say are) 9700 GPU core. Up until these recent unified drivers - games didn't run well at all unless you modifed the Catalyst drivers to add FireGL support. With the modified 3.6's installed the card runs all the latest games titles flawlessly - and with ease I'm not alone in thinking ATI pulled a fast one to squeeze some extra cash from the product line. Last edited by Shloppy : Aug 26, 2003 at 02:26 AM.

Shloppy's System Specs
Motherboard	Asus Sabertooth P67
CPU	i7-2600K / Corsair H60
Graphics	MSI 570GTX
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3
Display	Hanns.G HG281DJ 28in LCD Monitor
Hard-Drives	120 GB OCZ Agility3 SSD / 10 TB HDD storage
Optical Drives	Optiarc AD-7240S DVDR
Power Supply	Corsair TX 750W
Case	Corsair 700D
Operating System	Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1

Aug 27, 2003, 07:57 AM	#7
arrrse Radeon R520 Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 355	Dont forget the $$$$$$$$$$ difference __________________ Athlon XP 2000+ @ 1.7ghz Leadtek k7ncr18g pro nforce2 2*512mb ddr 333mhZ Radeon 9800np crappy cheap 17" monitor that only does 1280 @60hz

Aug 25, 2003, 02:42 PM	#2
eX-one Radeon R520 Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: passed out in the corner Posts: 483	shitty drivers. the catalyst team needs to make a trip to germany to teach the fgl team how to write drivers for r3xx hardware... it's the last thing keeping me from buying one myself.

Aug 26, 2003, 12:33 PM	#6
lowinor Newbie Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 14	Thanks for the responses. I'm running a 9800 Pro now, so I'm not in a hurry for an upgrade, but it's looking like I'll be grabbing a Fire GL of the next hardware iteration -- provided there are unified drivers.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
ATI's FIRE GL X1-128 MB and FIRE GL Z1 workstation boards ship to retail distribution channels	MrB	Front Page News	0	Nov 25, 2002 06:20 PM
Radeon boards, DVD performance	Ryo-Ohki	AMD Radeon Discussion and Support	1	Jun 27, 2002 02:33 AM
ATI's Fire GL boards???	Bizz	General Hardware	0	Mar 17, 2002 06:17 PM
ATI ships FIRE GL 8800 workstation graphics boards	MrB	Front Page News	0	Jan 3, 2002 06:00 PM