ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum user reviews (256MB, AGP)

Pros Very Robust

Cons needs 300 Watt Power Supply, AGP and PCI slot, download Catalyst

Summary This is an excellent graphics card. This is the one available at Circuit City and not the Platinum version. By the specs at the ati web site this looks slightly slower than the Platinum.
It installs easily. It needs the AGP slot and then the PCI slot below it. The PCI slot holds the fan and this exhausts externally through the slot.
It also requires a 300 watt power supply. (go to your PC manufacturers web site and look up the specs for your machine before buying this.)
It worked okay right out of the box but the performance was improved significantly after I downloaded the Catalyst suite and updated driver from 850XT page at the ATI web site. It did not come on the disc.
My old card was a Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB.
This new card made Microsoft Flight Sim have glorious scenery. Like a new game even though the settings were identical.
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 had some problems with the camera view riding the roller coaster at 1280x1024 but this improved with the Catalyst software and updated driver.
For me the best part of this card was the improved scenery and backgrounds in the games. Very captivating.