Introduction

Tul kindly provided the test sample. Thank you.

What started with the X800 GTO now continues with the X1800GTO. Furthermore, the GT/GTO line looks like its here to stay: recently, ATI launched its X1900GT series.

So what are ATI's aims with GT/GTO chips? Basically, nothing less than affordable gaming performance. Most GTOs are within the "middle" price range (the X800 can be bought for around 120 USD, the X1800GTO for around 200). Another thing worth mentioning is that GTO cards usually feature cut down versions of high end GPUs, so unlocking the missing features is not out of the question.

Today, our "test" subject will be Powercolor's X1800GTO. Below is a summary of the various X1800 flavors:

Product	Pixel Shaders	Vertex Shaders	Core Clock (MHz)	Memory Clock (MHz)
Radeon X1800XT	16	8	625	1500
Radeon X1800XL	16	8	500	1000
Radeon X1800GTO	12	8	500	1000

We will be looking at the latter - and most of you have spotted that the X1800GTO is unsurprisingly similar to the X1800XL, pixel pipelines being the only difference.