I’ve always wondered about the connotation of colors used in a company’s products. In the videocard business, there are only two worthwhile competitors: ATI and Nvidia. One is red, the other green. Strangely, a stoplight keeps popping into my head, but seeing that ATI is such a well-respected company, what color it’s represented with doesn’t seem to matter too much.

                                    Nice, red lettering at the venue...

Unfortunately, Nvidia’s been on the “go” for quite a length of time - while not dominating over ATI’s products (and certainly not in terms of market share), Nvidia’s “halo” products at the extreme high end of its product range kept grabbing headlines and making waves with the hardcore enthusiasts in the market. This translates to an aura of prestige for Nvidia, as well as an almost-subliminal message to consumers on who the “fastest” GPU chip maker is.

                                   That's a red sweater she's holding - no need to point out anything else...

ATI isn’t stopping anytime soon though – regardless of its product’s color. Powercolor’s ATI 2000 series product launching held at 1 Esplanade on August 14 is proof and was significant on many levels. ATI stakes it claim on the DX10 market brought on by the introduction of Windows Vista. Three main product lines cover the bases in the mainstream, gamer, and enthusiast markets.

Powercolor presented the 2400 Pro SCS3, 2600 XT, 2600 Pro and the 2900XT. I am unsure at the moment on whether these products were representative of what Axis Global (sole distributor in the Philippines) is intending to market. All the models above have 256MB of video memory, except for the 2900XT, which has 512MB. If you remember, ATI’s previous offerings were all based on the “1000” series – and also had “X” in their monikers. This time around, all model numbers are preceded with “HD” – to signify High Definition performance – perhaps in keeping with ATI’s reputation as to quality video playback and gaming.

                                      Only comes in one color.

Each model was matched up to its counterpart within Nvidia’s product line, with frame-rate capabilities, main features and general game performance showing each particular card outperforming its counterpart. These I take with a grain of salt until we are able to test these claims first hand. Not that I doubt the performance of these sizzling-red beauties. These cards will surely have power to spare for games and high definition video. From the numbers presented like core and memory speeds, and an explanation of better resource management in the form of a Unified Shader Architecture, it is obvious that ATI spent big research money on developing products that can wrest away the aura of “fastest videocard” from Nvidia.

                                   Our host wearing that shade we know and love...

All in all, it was an impassioned entry into the Philippines for Powercolor and ATI with the new 2000-series based products. There was certainly excitement, not just a dutiful showing from all of the parties concerned, which includes Axis Global Technologies, the local distributor, Mr. Jerry Peng representing AMD/ATI as the company’s regional head for the graphics, and Mr. Kevin HO representing Powercolor as the regional manager. Red was the dominant color of the night, from the general embellishments around the room to the host and the local celebrity Francine Prieto. No green could be seen, except perhaps at the salad bar.

ATI’s red-hot products will surely heat up the battle for videocard supremacy locally, while the number of ATI faithful waiting to buy these cards right at this moment may turn Nvidia green – with envy. I’m looking forward to testing out these beauties sometime in the near future. Watch out for reviews in HWM.