Overall Rating: 
User Rating: No user ratings.
RRP: $
395 (time of review)
Check the latest prices.
A great budget alternative to the GeForce cards, and better once driver issues are cleared up.
The Radeon 7500 is the little brother to the Radeon 8500 and is essentially an enhanced version of the original Radeon card, an example of which was tested in this round-up as a yardstick and included in the performance graphs (pages 50-51). It features the Charisma Engine; ATIs equivalent of the T&L engine found in GeForce-based cards.
The Radeon
7500 is the little brother to the Radeon 8500 and is essentially an enhanced version of the original Radeon card, an example of which was tested in this round-up as a yardstick and included in the performance graphs (pages 50-51). It features the Charisma Engine; ATIs equivalent of the T&L engine found in GeForce-based cards.
Although the Radeon 8500 cards from both ATI and Australia IT are essentially the same, the
Bravura Evil Master 7500 is built on a different PCB to the ATI model. When installing the card, the Labs team attempted to use the same standard Radeon 7500 drivers used to test the ATI model. To our surprise, the drivers would not install due to incompatibilities. The card was tested with the drivers supplied instead and, as expected, put in a mid-range performance. This is not a problem with the Bravura; rather, the problem lies with ATIs handling of drivers.
In terms of hardware the Radeon cards are fine examples of bleeding-edge graphics technology, but their full potential is yet to be exploited. Driver issue aside, the Radeon 7500 is an excellent buy, with strong features such as support for two displays, provided the second is either a TV or digital display.
This article appeared in the January, 2002 issue of PC Authority.
Post your review online now and win 1 of 3 Lenovo laptops!
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment and win!
Be the first to comment on this article.