Diamond ATI Radeon 128mb 9250 AGP Video Card

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006 | Reviews, Video Cards

If you seek a powerful video card sporting advanced functionality without breaking the bank, then look no further - ATI’s Diamond Stealth fits the bill. This 8X AGP video card incorporates some of ATI’s leading technologies, including SMARTSHADER, VIDEO IMMERSION, and FULLSTREAM. Of all the 128mb AGP video cards on the market, this is the only one in its class that sports a Visual Processing Unit (VPU) capable of supporting DirectX 8.1.

Don’t buy this card thinking that all of your games will be playable with graphic settings pushed to the max. While this video card provides competent game play at low and mid range levels, some of the more graphic intensive titles out there will test the Diamond Stealth’s capabilities. Some users have reported choppy images at max graphics settings while playing Doom III and Need for Speed II Underground, but there are no reported issues at low or mid quality. Other users have cranked down their resolution to 800 x 600 and cranked up the quality setting with no issues.

Let’s take a closer look at the technology built into the Diamond Stealth ATI video card.

SMARTSHADER
CPUs historically have played a leading role regarding graphical output due to their flexibility and programmable nature. The ever improving speed and versatility of graphics cards has lessened this burden, but an optimal graphical effect has still been challenging to develop. Enter SMARTSHADER. This technology allows programmers to model 3D objects and landscapes more fluidly than was previously possible. It is important to note, however, that since the release of SMARTSHADER, ATI has developed two subsequent versions; SMARTSHADER 2.0 and SMARTSHADER 2.1.

VIDEO IMMERSION
VIDEO IMMERSION, as you may suspect, is all about the video. ATI’s VIDEO IMMERSION technology provides advanced DVD playback. Like SMARTSHADER, a subsequent version of VIDEO IMMERSION has been released, V2.0.

FULLSTREAM
FULLSTREAM technology shifts gears from VIDEO IMMERSION. Rather than focus on DVD playback, FULLSTREAM’s function is to facilitate the viewing of streaming video. When streaming video does not have sufficient bandwidth, it becomes blocky and is affected by pixilation. FULLSTREAM steps in to detect the edges of these visual blocks and smoothes them over to provide a cleaner, crisper video stream.

Specifications:

GPU - RADEON 9250
Maximum Resolution - 2048 x 1536 @ 85Hz
Video Memory - 128MB
Memory Type - DDR SDRAM
Memory Bandwidth - 64bit
Interface Type - AGP
Interface Speed - 8X
Connector(s) - DVITV/S-VideoVGA

In the Box
It’s true that the Diamond ATI Raedon 128mb 9250 AGP Video Card comes with all the standard items you would expect. You may be pleasantly surprised however, to open the box and find a pretty decent game included. That’s right, the full version of Deus Ex: Invisible War comes standard. In addition to the game, you get the following:

Diamond Stealth S85 Radeon 9250 Video Card
S-Video Cable
Quick Start Guide
Warranty Card
Installation CD

In Sum
The ATI Raedon 128mb 9250 AGP Video Card is a sound purchase if you are looking for an economy card that provides a strong level of graphics quality. Though the Diamond Stealth 9250 does not support max graphics on some of the newest games, it will provide serviceable game play at lower and mid range settings.

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