How good is the Power Color X1950 pro?

[dvdbunny]

Hi guys

I just read on over clockers store that the Power Color x1950 pro 512MB is being released in early November for £188

Is this a really good card, i read a excellent review at guru3d here http://www.guru3d.com/article/content/386/

The 12 page review says it's a cracking card, and they hadn't even over clocked or ran the card in crossfire, every test was run in 16x AF and 4AA and it was capable of outputting 60+ frames per second.

Now this has been out for a short while in the USA but is it really that good.

It's a bit strange, it's called the x1950 pro but over clockers say it's as powerful as the x1900xt, so if it's as powerful as that card why do ati name it as a higher card the x1950 pro?

ram at 1.4gz which is 0.6gz less than the x1950xtx

GDDR3 ram compared to the x1950xtx GDDR4 ram


it has 36 pixel shaders which is 12 less than x1950xtx

and it has 8 vertex shaders where as the others have 12

So with all this less specs is it still worth it?

If i was to buy another card and run it in crossfire will i then get the speed of (1) 512MB X1950XT-X?

So what are your conclusions, i run most of my games at 1280x720p or even 1440 x 1600 and about 8x AF and 2-4X AA, so i should get 60fps+ in all the latest games right?

 

[ACESHIGH]

The X1900XT is the quicker card by all accounts.
Going by reviews its hard to judge just how close the X1950pro is to the XT, because the reviews are a little mixed. Having siad that the X1950pro runs cooler, costs less & is a cracking card for the price with performance above the X1900GT & sometimes close to the X1900XT (many say if overclocked the X1950pro will offer the same performance as the XT).

Generally from fastest to slowest for ATI you have ...
XTX
XT
PRO
GT
... also the X1950pro is a different generation to the X1900XT, thus the change to X1950.

Two X1950Pro cards should offer at least X1950XTX performance

 

[melbourne720]

In the reviews the X1950Pro is sometimes close to the X1900XT, but more often than not the X1900XT has a 10-20 fps lead on the X1950Pro.

If you were planning to get a X1900 GT, the X1950Pro is a step forward. I'd still go for the X1900XT though (in fact I am planning to build a system with one in). You just can't argue with that raw processing power.

 

[dvdbunny]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your replys

Hi melbourne720, these reviews you write of where can i find them? I would like to read up a bit more before i make a purchase.

The only problem with the x1900xt is the price, i have seen cheapest for 512MB £250 and the x1950 pro is £188. So the cool thing is if i get a x1950 pro that should hold well for 6 months and then i plan on getting another one when the price has dropped, if it drops within six months to £140 then i will get another one and run in crossfire. The thing is if i buy 2 x1900xt that's gonna cost me £500 where as if buy 2 x1950 pros then it's going to cost me £360, so that's a lot cheaper and i won't need a crossfire motherboard and master card.

The thing is i will be playing all my games in 1280x720p as my widescreen monitor only supports 1650x1050 and i have not seen many games with that monitor resolution. So i will be playing in 720p and probably only use 8 or 16x AF, and probably 2-4x AA. So the fps should be very quick. Is that good?

 

[Technofr3ak]

think about it you need more fps? the 1900xt 256mb is better than the 1950pro 512mb

so yes give me 1900xt 256mb any day over the 1950 pro

 

[ernysmuntz]

The gap is bigger with F.E.A.R because it is a shader intensive game.

Games these days are using more and more shaders, so expect the gap of performance to be more like the one with F.E.A.R (or worse), than the one with battlefield 2.

Prolly not a good idea to buy if you are going to be playing top end games that are being released now.

 

[z0mbi3]

The only problem with the x1900xt is the price, i have seen cheapest for 512MB £250

I was going to do exactly what your thinking on account of the price difference. However someone pointed me in the direction of the clearance section and my mind was made up.

Installed now and I'm so happy with it . I suggest you do the same.

 

[dvdbunny]

Hi z0mbi3,

So your saying i should get the 512MB X1900XT from the clearance section?

Which ones better, powercolor, ASUS or HIS?

Are the cards from the clearance section second hand or completely brand new in sealed boxes?

thanks in advance

 

[z0mbi3]

New. They'd be in b-grade if they were returns.

From looking at them all I went for the Powercolour. It's basically the same as the ATI packaged one.

Plus I read a round up and they seem to clock quite well ( I think this is true across the board though tbh).

I'm using mine now, and at stock it's a real show stopper. I haven't had to even think about clocking it yet.