Pixel filling power
Generally speaking, pixel-pushing power is still one of the more important theoretical measures of a graphics card's performance. Here's how the Radeon X800 XL compares to a crowded field of current graphics cards.

  Core clock (MHz) Pixel pipelines Peak fill rate (Mpixels/s)Texture units per pixel pipeline Peak fill rate (Mtexels/s) Memory clock (MHz) Memory bus width (bits) Peak memory bandwidth (GB/s)
GeForce 62003004120011200TBD128TBD
Radeon X30032541300113004001286.4
Radeon X600 Pro40041600116006001289.6
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra475419001190090012814.4
Radeon 9600 XT50042000120006001289.6
Radeon X600 XT500420001200074012811.8
GeForce 66003008*120012400TBD128TBD
Radeon 9800 Pro380830401304068025621.8
Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB380830401304070025622.4
GeForce FX 5900 XT400416002320070025622.4
Radeon X70040083200132006001289.6
Radeon 9800 XT412832961329673025623.4
Radeon X700 Pro420833601336086412813.8
Radeon X700 XT4758380013800105012816.8
GeForce 6800 3251239001390070025622.4
GeForce 6600 GT AGP5008*20001400090012814.4
GeForce 6600 GT5008*200014000100012816.0
Radeon X8004001248001480070025622.4
GeForce 6800 GT35016560015600100025632.0
Radeon X800 Pro4751257001570090025628.8
Radeon X800 XL4001664001640098025631.4
GeForce 6800 Ultra42516680016800110025635.2
Radeon X800 XT50016800018000100025632.0
Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition52016832018320112025635.8
Radeon X850 XT52016832018320112025635.8
Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition54016864018640118025637.8
* The GeForce 6600 GT has eight pixel pipes and four ROPs, so it can only write 4 pixels per clock when applying a single texture. The pixel pipes and ROPs are connected via a fragment crossbar, so they are very efficient.

The XL packs more punch than the Radeon X800 Pro that it supplants, and it's easily more powerful than the twelve-pipe GeForce 6800, NVIDIA's current $299 offering. In fact, most GeForce 6800 Ultra cards ship with 400MHz core clocks and sixteen pipes, just like the X800 XL. Only newer or "overclocked in the box" Ultras come at the 425MHz clock speed we've listed above. That puts the X800 XL in some pretty elite company.

How close does the XL get to its theoretical peaks in 3DMark's synthetic fill rate tests?

When only applying a single texture per pixel, few of the cards achieve anything close to their theoretical peak capabilities. When multiple textures are in the mix, as they often are in today's games, the X800 XL gets very close to its peak of 6.4 gigatexels/second. That puts it above the GeForce 6800 GT, at least in this synthetic test of fill rate.