ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum AGP

The ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum AGP is a single-slot, end-of-life graphics card built on the 130 nm process at TSMC, housing 160 million transistors on a 281 mm² die. It targets the AGP 8x interface, a legacy platform for which it remains a relevant option. The card’s memory runs at 560 MHz, translating to 1120 Mbps effective, and its 16 TMUs and 16 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 8.320 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 8.320 GTexel/s. With a TDP of 63 W, it is a modest power consumer for its era, but the data requires careful interpretation when planning a system build.

Power and Cooling

The Radeon X800 XT Platinum AGP draws a maximum of 63 W under load, as indicated by its TDP rating. This is a low figure by modern standards, but for an AGP-era system, it still demands attention. The suggested PSU rating is 250 W, which is the minimum recommended for a stable configuration. A quality 250 W unit can handle this card, provided the rest of the system—CPU, drives, and fans—does not exceed that headroom. The card requires a single Molex power connector, so the PSU must include at least one such cable. The slot width is single-slot, meaning it occupies only one expansion bracket, leaving adjacent slots free for other peripherals. Cooling is handled by a reference design that dissipates the 63 W without excessive noise, but the data does not specify a heatsink size or fan type. For a system with a higher-wattage CPU or multiple hard drives, a PSU with a bit more capacity than 250 W is a practical choice, though the spec sheet only guarantees operation with that figure. The 130 nm process and 63 W TDP suggest the card runs relatively cool for its performance class, so airflow within the case should be adequate with a standard rear exhaust fan. The AGP 8x bus itself does not add significant power draw, but the Molex connection is mandatory—do not attempt to power the card solely through the slot.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK lists no nearest rivals, no benchmark scores, and no percentile deltas for this card. Consequently, direct numerical comparisons against other GPUs are impossible from the available data. The card’s percentile rank against all GPUs is 50, which places it exactly at the median of the entire database—a neutral position indicating it is neither a standout performer nor a laggard in the historical pool. Without rival names or deltaPct values, the analysis must rely on its absolute specifications and architectural features. The absence of rival data means the X800 XT Platinum AGP should be evaluated on its own merits: its 16 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and 256-bit memory interface define its capability. In an AGP system, it competes with other cards from the same era, but the FACT PACK does not provide those comparison points. Therefore, the card’s 50th percentile rank is the only positional reference available, suggesting it sits in the middle of all GPUs ever benchmarked on this site, which is a broad and mixed group.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

This card has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, as those technologies did not exist in the R400 architecture. The feature set is limited to the APIs supported: DirectX 9.0b (with shader model 9_2) and OpenGL 2.1. There is no Vulkan support, which is expected for a 2004-era product. The lack of RT and tensor hardware means the X800 XT Platinum AGP is purely a rasterization engine. It can handle DirectX 9.0b titles with the 9_2 pixel shader profile, which covers early shader-based games, but it will not run games that require DirectX 9.0c or higher (shader model 3.0). OpenGL 2.1 support allows for some older OpenGL applications, but modern OpenGL titles are out of reach. The 16 TMUs and 16 ROPs are the workhorses for texture filtering and pixel output, respectively, and they operate at the pixel rate of 8.320 GPixel/s. This is a fixed-function pipeline with no programmable shading beyond the 9_2 spec. For users seeking ray tracing or advanced compute features, this card offers none—it is a pure legacy product for period-correct gaming.

Who Should Consider It

Given the 50th percentile ranking and the absence of benchmark scores, the X800 XT Platinum AGP is best suited for a retro build or a system that must use an AGP 8x slot. The card’s 256 MB of GDDR3 memory and 256-bit bus width provide a solid foundation for 1024x768 or 1280x1024 resolutions in games from its launch era (2004). At those settings, the 16 TMUs and 16 ROPs can deliver playable frame rates in DirectX 9.0b titles, but the data does not specify exact frame rates. For 1600x1200 or higher, the 35.84 GB/s bandwidth becomes the limiting factor, and performance will drop. Users with older motherboards that lack PCIe should consider this card if they need a drop-in upgrade for an AGP system, provided the PSU meets the 250 W requirement. However, the card is end-of-life, so new purchases are unlikely; this is for collectors or those maintaining legacy hardware. Gamers expecting modern performance will be disappointed, as the card cannot run DirectX 9.0c or later titles. The 50th percentile rank means half of all GPUs in the database are faster, and half are slower—a true middle-of-the-road position that fits a secondary or backup machine rather than a primary gaming rig.

Benchmark Performance

The FACT PACK contains no benchmark entries for this card, and the average benchmark score is 0. This is an unusual data point, indicating that no standardized tests have been recorded for the X800 XT Platinum AGP on this database. The percentile rank of 50 is derived from the full GPU population, but without individual scores, it is impossible to state how it performs in specific workloads. The nearestRivals array is empty, so there are no deltaPct values to cite. What can be inferred comes from the raw specifications: the pixel rate of 8.320 GPixel/s and texture rate of 8.320 GTexel/s are identical, which is typical for a balanced architecture where each ROP pairs with a TMU. The memory bandwidth of 35.84 GB/s, calculated from a 256-bit bus at 1120 Mbps effective, is sufficient for the pixel and texture rates—there is no obvious bottleneck. In practice, this card would likely excel at fill-rate-bound scenes, but that is speculation, not data. The 50th percentile rank is the only quantitative comparison available, and it suggests that across all GPUs, this card sits at the midpoint. For a 2004 product, that is a respectable position, but it cannot be broken down into multi-core or single-core metrics because those concepts do not apply to a fixed-function GPU. The absence of scores means no percentage deltas can be computed, so the benchmark section must rely on the architectural balance described above.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem consists of 256 MB of GDDR3, a 256-bit bus width, and a bandwidth of 35.84 GB/s. The memory clock is 560 MHz, with an effective data rate of 1120 Mbps due to double-data-rate signaling. This configuration is well-matched to the 16 ROPs and 16 TMUs. At 8.320 GPixel/s, the pixel rate requires 8.320 GB/s of bandwidth if each pixel is 1 byte, but with 32-bit color and depth buffers, the actual requirement is higher. The 35.84 GB/s bandwidth provides roughly 4.3 times the raw pixel rate, which is ample for most scenes. However, at high resolutions such as 1600x1200 or 1920x1080, the fill rate and bandwidth become strained. The 256 MB capacity is a limitation for texture-heavy games from later years (2005-2006), as larger textures will exceed the frame buffer, forcing the card to swap data over the AGP 8x bus. AGP 8x has a theoretical maximum of 2 GB/s in each direction, but real-world effective bandwidth is lower, so the 35.84 GB/s on-card bandwidth is the primary resource. The GDDR3 type offers lower latency than older DDR, which helps with random access patterns in games. For 1024x768 and 1280x1024, the 256 MB and 35.84 GB/s are sufficient, but for higher resolutions, the bus width and capacity will cause performance to degrade. The 256-bit bus is a key strength—it allows the card to move 35.84 GB/s, which is competitive for its era, but it is not a future-proof amount. Users should keep textures and resolutions moderate to avoid exceeding the frame buffer. The memory subsystem is balanced for the card’s intended use, but it is the first component to show age in demanding scenarios.