Conclusions
The Radeon X800 XL is a new product, but it's based on familiar technology. As such, it's a price cut and a performance boost all in one. The Radeon X800 XL is faster than the X800 Pro that it essentially replaces, yet at $299, it lists for $100 less. What's not to like?
As a reviewer, I'm sure I'm supposed to complain about something, but I'm kind of at a loss here. The Radeon X800 XL offers performance that rivals NVIDIA's fastest single card, the GeForce 6800 Ultra, for $200 less. Not only that, but the XL has a quiet, single-slot cooler and doesn't require an auxiliary power connection. This card should nestle neatly into a small form factor system without overheating the box or overtaxing the power supply. I suppose I'd like to see an AGP version of this card, but that's not a complaint so much as it is asking for more.
With the Radeon X800 XL, ATI has redefined the upper-middle class of the graphics market, and NVIDIA will have to respond by slashing the price of the GeForce 6800 GT or making an equivalent move. In fact, now that the XL has arrived, I fail to see the point of spending more than $299 for single-card solutions that offer incremental performance gains over the XL. Unless you really, really need dual DVI outputs and video capture capabilities in the same card, there's no reason to buy a Radeon X850 XT.
ATI says the Radeon X800 XL should be shipping in the next couple of weeks. Let's hope they can keep the supply of these cards flowing freely. So long as the Radeon X800 XL doesn't suffer from too many of the availability problems that previous X800 cards have, ATI has a winner on its hands.