Introduction

XGI is a relative newcomer to the GPU market. But unlike the likes of vapourware companies like Bitboys Oy, their graphics cards have actually seen the light of day and are available for purchase. In fact, they even offer GPUs for the mobile and server markets.

Here is a list of their current GPUs, arranged according to XGI's market definitions.

As you can see, they have quite a number of graphics processors in the market, from the low-cost Volari V7 meant for server and thin-clients to dual-GPU solutions like the Volari Duo V8 Ultra.

On November 9th, 2005, XGI launched a new GPU christened the XGI Volari 8300. This new GPU is XGI's latest offering for the entry-level 3D graphics market.

It's not designed to take on behemoths like the NVIDIA GeForce 7800 or even the ATI X1800. In fact, XGI seems to be touting its DVD playback quality as well as its ability to run without a fan, more than its capability to deliver high frame rates in 3D games.

But even though it may not be as sexy as a GeForce 7800 GTX, there's a lot to be said for low-cost alternatives to the supremely-expensive cards that NVIDIA and ATI are churning out. Therefore, we will be taking a look at this new GPU. Let's see just how attractive this alternative GPU is to the current slew of GPUs from NVIDIA and ATI!

Quick Comparison

Here's a quick comparison of the new Volari 8300 versus its older brothers. For a more detailed comparison, please take a look at our Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide.

As you can see from the table above, the Volari 8300 may be new, but it's certainly not the fastest XGI graphics solution by any means. In fact, just from the quick comparion table, you can see that the Volari 8300 fits in between the Volari V8 Ultra and the Volari V5 Ultra.