xX00 vs x1X00

what exactly are the differences between the two generations and which cards are comparable in terms of performance?

 

Well the x1k generation is simply an improved xX00 generation. All they have done is add more pipelines, support for 3.0 shaders, AVIVO technology and increased the clocks... the comparison is as follows:
x1300/x1400 -> x300/x600
x1600 -> x700
x1800 -> x800/x850/x800XT

Mind you... cards above and including x1600 are high-end cards whereas including and below x700 are "performance cards" and are one step below... Although the x1k generation is replacing the previous cards, they have also moved up in class.
Contravertially, the x850/x800XT will beat including and below x1600... unless x1600 is overclocked.

any of the x1k generation cards are better for working with video formatting and latest games because of the AVIVO and 3.0 sahders...

 

thanks for the info i've been wondering exactly what the difference was, that'll be helpful for upgrading my desktop since i can't do that for my dell.

 

That's a somewhat loaded question there. But the general difference between say the x850 series and the x1800 (and all the other derivatives) is the inclusion of Shader Model 3.0. It allows for HDR(google it) along with several other effects. Other than that an x850xt comes in @ around $180 and will give about as good of performance as the x1800gt($230 last time I looked). The x1600 in a price to performance ratio doesn't even come in on the charts as it is planely overpriced and underperforming. The best under $200 card with SM3 is the 7600GT which is also has a nice price to performance ratio. If your looking for lower end comparison go ahead and google or ask again as I or one of the other very knowledgable people here can explain further.

 

I read that the x1400 is 128 dedicated video memory and 128 chared. If this is true, what exactly is the x1300...Is it simply 128mb dedicated?

If this is true, is there much of a difference?

 

There's different versions of the X1300 (different amount of dedicated memory).
General rule of thumb is to take the amount of video memory and divide by two if it is advertised with HyperMemory, so if it is advertised having "128MB HyperMemory" then it's most likely 64MB dedicated/64MB shared.

The X1400 is simply an overclocked X1300.

Chaz

 

With 64 Mb of more dedicated video Ram and 64 Mb of Virtual Ram

 

so how do you go about overclocking a card with hypermemory? are the xX00s even supported by catalyst yet? i thought i read something about that somewhere...