ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum

The ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum, released on December 20, 2004, is a high-end PCIe graphics card built on the R480 chip. Fabricated on a 130 nm process at TSMC, the R400 architecture packs 160 million transistors into a 297 mm² die, achieving a density of 538.7K transistors per square millimeter. The card carries a launch MSRP of 549 USD and is now end-of-life. It succeeds the Radeon R300 and precedes the Radeon R500 PCIe, marking a transitional point in AMD's Radeon lineup. With a dual-slot cooler and a 256-bit memory bus, this card was positioned at the top of the product stack in its generation, yet its 50th percentile rank across all GPUs in the database indicates that it now sits exactly at the median of the entire performance spectrum.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK provides no nearestRivals entries for this card, meaning no direct score-to-score comparisons against specific competitors are available in the data. Instead, the card's standing is defined by its 50th percentile rank across all GPUs in the database, placing it exactly at the median. This suggests that in a field of GPUs, half are faster and half are slower, a balanced position for a card from late 2004. The absence of rival scores means any analysis must rely on the card's own metrics and its position within its own lineage.

Within its own family, the X850 XT Platinum sits between the Radeon R300 and the Radeon R500 PCIe. The R300 predecessor introduced the R300 architecture, while the R500 successor brought a new generation. The X850's R400 architecture is a refinement of the R300, sharing the same 130 nm process and 16 TMU/ROP configuration. Its 256-bit memory bus and GDDR3 memory are consistent with the high-end segment of that era. The 50th percentile rank is a notable data point because it implies that, despite being a flagship at launch, the card has been surpassed by a large number of subsequent GPUs, yet it still outperforms a comparable number of older or lower-end parts.

Given the lack of rival scores, the comparison must focus on the card's own theoretical throughput. The pixel rate of 8.640 GPixel/s and texture rate of 8.640 GTexel/s indicate a balanced fill-rate pipeline, where each of the 16 TMUs and 16 ROPs operates at the same effective frequency. The memory bandwidth of 37.76 GB/s, derived from a 590 MHz (1180 Mbps effective) GDDR3 memory clock on a 256-bit bus, provides the data throughput needed to sustain those fill rates. This balance between pixel, texture, and memory throughput is typical of a well-designed fixed-function GPU from the DirectX 9 era, and it explains why the card holds a median position rather than a lower one.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The X850 XT Platinum has no dedicated ray tracing cores (rtCores: null) and no tensor cores (tensorCores: null). This is expected for a card from 2004, as hardware-accelerated ray tracing and tensor operations were not part of the R400 architecture. The feature set is defined by the fixed-function pipeline, with 16 TMUs and 16 ROPs handling texture and pixel processing. The absence of these cores means the card cannot accelerate modern ray-traced workloads or AI-based tensor operations, which are now standard in contemporary GPUs.

The card's API support includes DirectX 9.0b (9_2) and OpenGL 2.1. Notably, DirectX 9.0b corresponds to Shader Model 2.0, which was the standard for that generation. OpenGL 2.1 provides a baseline for legacy OpenGL applications. Vulkan is not supported, as it was not yet developed at the time of release. The absence of Vulkan and the limited DirectX version mean the card is not compatible with modern APIs, but it is fully functional for its intended era. The 256 MB of GDDR3 memory on a 256-bit bus, running at 590 MHz with an effective data rate of 1180 Mbps, yields a bandwidth of 37.76 GB/s. This configuration is adequate for the fill rates, though the relatively small 256 MB capacity may limit texture-heavy scenes in later DirectX 9 titles, especially those with high-resolution textures.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark array in the FACT PACK is empty, and the average benchmark score is 0. This means no synthetic or game-specific scores are available for this card in the database. However, the theoretical throughput is quantified by the pixel and texture rates. Both the pixel rate and the texture rate stand at 8.640 units per second, indicating that each of the 16 ROPs and 16 TMUs is clocked identically. This balance suggests that the card is unlikely to be bottlenecked by either texture fetch or pixel output in most workloads, a hallmark of a well-tuned design.

The memory bandwidth of 37.76 GB/s is a critical factor. At the time of release, this bandwidth was typical for high-end cards, but it is modest by modern standards. The 50th percentile rank places it exactly in the middle of all GPUs in the database, which is a reasonable position for a card that was top-tier in late 2004 but is now outpaced by every modern GPU. Without benchmark scores, we cannot compute percentage deltas against rivals, but the theoretical rates provide a baseline for legacy DirectX 9 games. The lack of FP32 or FP16 figures in the pack means shader compute performance cannot be quantified, so the card's performance is best described by its fill-rate and bandwidth numbers. Given the 50th percentile, it is neither a low-end nor a high-end part in the global database; it is a median performer, which aligns with its position as a high-end card from a specific generation that has since been surpassed.

FAQ

Q: What is the memory size and type of the X850 XT Platinum?

A: It has 256 MB of GDDR3 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 37.76 GB/s.

Q: What is the TDP of this card?

A: The TDP is 67 W, with a suggested PSU of 250 W.

Q: What process node is the R480 chip built on?

A: The R480 chip is fabricated on a 130 nm process at TSMC, with 160 million transistors on a 297 mm² die, achieving a density of 538.7K transistors per square millimeter.

Q: What is the bus interface?

A: It uses a PCIe 1.0 x16 interface.

Q: What APIs does the card support?

A: It supports DirectX 9.0b (9_2) and OpenGL 2.1. It does not support Vulkan, and it has no ray tracing or tensor cores.

Q: What are the pixel and texture rates?

A: The pixel rate is 8.640 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 8.640 GTexel/s, both driven by 16 ROPs and 16 TMUs.

Power and Cooling

The X850 XT Platinum has a TDP of 67 W, a relatively low power draw for a high-end card of its time. This low TDP means that a 250 W power supply is sufficient, as suggested in the FACT PACK. The card requires a single 6-pin power connector to supplement the PCIe slot power. The dual-slot cooler design is necessary to dissipate the heat generated by the 160 million transistors, but the modest TDP suggests that the cooler runs quietly and does not require an aggressive fan profile.

The physical dimensions are 186 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 41 mm in width (7.3 x 4.4 x 1.6 inches). This makes it a full-length dual-slot card, requiring adequate clearance in a case. The 1x 6-pin connector is standard for that era, and the 250 W PSU recommendation is conservative, leaving headroom for other components. The card's end-of-life status means that no new units are produced, but the power requirements are well-documented and easily met by any modern power supply. The combination of a 67 W TDP and a dual-slot cooler indicates that thermal management is straightforward, with the cooler providing ample surface area for the low heat output.