X1950PRO review - its FAST.

ACESHIGH · 17 Oct 2006 at 09:31

We took a look at the 512MB model and that definitely has an advantage over the 256MB models but still, the X1950 Pro manages to position itself above the GeForce 7900 GS and even is darn close and sometimes faster than the GeForce 7950 GT. The difference can be explained by the 36 Pixel shader cores on the Radeon card, obviously the more shader intensive games will benefit from it greatly which most games these days are. So that is very impressive performance.

Playing games at 1600x1200 with high IQ settings enabled is simply not at all an issue, everything plays silky smooth in terms of way above average framerates. You just do not need to compromise on image quality which is great. Do look a little outside the box though and realize the card is more than just am item to play games with. It's also a media encoder and accelerator as well. This means your CPU does not have to decode a HD movie, nope your graphics card will do that for you and with the new AVIVO functionality you can bet it's at very high quality. The card is H.264 at 1080P ready. Fantastic stuff if you decide to hook up the card to a HD screen for example, that's magic on your screen man. Stability then... okay this might be a refresh product, but not once did we experience a hiccup in the form of a crash or even freeze, impressive. The Radeon series come with a rock-solid driver package, they are well developed (although BIG) and working fine.

Also, the new 80nm fabrication process shows off some good result with the X1950 Pro, power consumption is at an all-time low (for a graphics card).

Obviously there will be many reviews covering Crossfire with this card, we didn't but I have to applaud ATI for finally making a "SLI" like bridge connector which can be found at the top of the card. That's a big thumb up from me for that.

So yeah, there you have it. I was pleasantly stunned by the performance of this card considering it's pricing level. It obviously has all the Series X1000 features one can mention yet offers a fantastic gaming experience for not a lot of money. I can recommend the X1950 Pro 512MB card greatly.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/386/1/

So the card matches & occasinally beats a 7950GT.
Looks like this will be one very nice card.

My prediction was correct.

gt_junkie · 17 Oct 2006 at 10:05

Trying to convince myself not to get one and wait for DX10 - but that sounds pretty impressive! :cool:

gt

Raikiri · 17 Oct 2006 at 10:13

Has anyone else noticed the cooler on the Gecube card? TEC and dual 80mm fans :eek:

. Very similar to the titan Amanda cooler just on a smaller scale. The review was the 512mb version but fairly impressive, think I will stick with my 7800GT until the R600/G80 though.

Gibbo · 17 Oct 2006 at 10:35

Hi there

We have both the HIS and GeCube 256MB versions.

ACESHIGH · 17 Oct 2006 at 10:37

Raikiri said:
Has anyone else noticed the cooler on the Gecube card? TEC and dual 80mm fans .

Thats the card that i like.

And so now we are starting to see the relaxation that ATI has allowed with coolers on thier cards. With some very distinct coolers on the Gecube card sold here at OcUK, the HIS card & the Powercolor card in the review. Its nice to have these extra choices.

Raikiri · 17 Oct 2006 at 10:43

Gibbo said:
Hi there

We have both the HIS and GeCube 256MB versions.

Where do you think I saw it

IMO you should guarantee the overclocks to a certain point (say, 640mhz core and 1500 mhz mem). Would probably help sales a fair bit same as BFG and Evga clocked versions. Not that this has ever bothered me though

jrodga2k5 · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:00

but the 1900xt is faster and cheaper still is it not?

LoadsaMoney · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:13

Doesn't look to bad, doubt it would be faster than my x1800 XT 512mb though, but im considering 2x of em in Crossfire, seen as the price for them is a cracker, and its Crossfire2 with the bridge, no masters, have to try and find some reviews of them in Crossfire now.

That GeCube cooler looks like its gona take about 4x slots up, how big :eek:

easyrider · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:22

LoadsaMoney said:
Doesn't look to bad, doubt it would be faster than my x1800 XT 512mb though, but im considering 2x of em in Crossfire, seen as the price for them is a cracker, and its Crossfire2 with the bridge, no masters, have to try and find some reviews of them in Crossfire now.

That GeCube cooler looks like its gona take about 4x slots up, how big

Cant do Xfire with a DS3! :eek:

Gibbo · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:25

HI there

GeCube 512MB version now added.

Shall get some benchmark results posted!!

The GeCube one can hit insane speeds, that cooler really rocks. I aint joking when I say one of these pushed up towards 700MHz core and with the memory over 1600MHz as they use 1.2ns for RAM can perform close to the X1950 XTX.

Also some very nice for AGP users also added.

Gibbo · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:28

jrodga2k5 said:
but the 1900xt is faster and cheaper still is it not?

HI there

The STD X1900 XT 256MB is fractionally quicker in 90% of games, when I say this I mean 2-5fps. However the X1900 XT 256MB is now no longer in production, it was just a stop gap product. Plus the X1950 Pro is cheaper.

The X1950 Pro has far superior overclocking headroom. New fabrication core, only 80nm capable of 700MHz when overclocked and higher. Plus cards like GeCube have 1.2ns memory which can hit 1600MHz-1800Mhz when overclocked.

So overclocked the X1950 Pro's destroy the X1900 XT cards, especially the GeCube and HIS due to have superior coolers on them to keep things cool, GeCube's is particulary special.

LoadsaMoney · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:43

easyrider said:
Cant do Xfire with a DS3!

Oh ***** yeah forgot about that, ill stick with my x1800 XT then for my Conroe.

gt_junkie · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:49

Hey Gibbo - great looking card!

Think i've pretty much been convinced! Need to upgrade my x850xt sooner or later!!!

If i pre ordered one now when will the money be extracted from my account? Will it be charged immediately or when the item comes into stock and is despatched?

Also, if the price drops before release (that would be nice

) will the original charge be adjusted to reflect the new price?

Sorry for all the questions! Always a bit twitchy when buying a new graphics card!

Thanks in advance!

gt

Gibbo · 17 Oct 2006 at 12:59

Hi there

OcUK charges pre-orders when they are placed.

gt_junkie · 17 Oct 2006 at 13:04

Okey dokey! Thanks for the lightning response there Gibbo! :cool:

Finger's presently hovering over the 'add to order' button! Maybe i should check with the girlfriend first!

gt

jimmyjimmyo · 17 Oct 2006 at 13:13

Hi Gibbo I have 2 HiS x1900xt cards on order with you guys for crossfire do you think I would be better cancelling that order and getting 2 of these 512mb cards instead for a conroe system? obviously I would still spend the difrance in price with overclockers so you guys would not be losing any cash.

Oh and I am looking to run games @ 1920x1200 on the new BenQ 24" monitor also on order from here so at that res are these viable?

Gibbo · 17 Oct 2006 at 13:15

jimmyjimmyo said:
Hi Gibbo I have 2 HiS x1900xt cards on order with you guys for crossfire do you think I would be better cancelling that order and getting 2 of these 512mb cards instead for a conroe system? obviously I would still spend the difrance in price with overclockers so you guys would not be losing any cash

Hi there

If your not overclocking the X1900 XT combo should have a slight performance edge.

If your overclocking then X1950 Pro looks to be winner but I've not seen any benchmarks yet.

Also if you go X1950 your gonna have to wait until stock arrives.....

jimmyjimmyo · 17 Oct 2006 at 13:19

I'm waiting on a monitor anyway so an extra week or 2 won't kill me M8 and if all I need to do is overclock to save £100 then count me in

.

Will there be enough clearance for the coolers on a asus P5w in crossfire?

Gibbo · 17 Oct 2006 at 13:20

jimmyjimmyo said:
I'm waiting on a monitor anyway so an extra week or 2 won't kill me M8 and if all I need to do is overclock to save £100 then count me in .

Will there be enough clearance for the coolers on a asus P5w in crossfire?

Hi m8

Unknown these are very new and not even on any website yet. As usual OcUK is first and on this one exclusive with GeCube.

gt_junkie · 17 Oct 2006 at 13:21

Can anybody tell me how that GeCube cooler works? It states that it uses the cool air inside the case and then exhausts the warm air 'outwards'! Does that mean out of the case?

Can't tell from the picture - just looks like it blows directly down onto the heatsink to me!

Like the addition of the TEC/Peltier too! :cool:

gt