|
GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCI-E Review |
|
Written by Mavke
|
|
Thursday, 20 April 2006 |
X-Bit Labs brings us a review on the GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCIe graphics card. At this time ATI's Radeon X1900 graphics processor is one of the fastest solutions in the field of consumer 3D graphics. A modern high-end graphics card is an extremely complex device not only because of the immense number of transistors the graphics processor consists of. Developing the printed circuit board for such a card is a challenging and resource-consuming task as it has to provide for stable operation of the GPU and graphics memory at frequencies above 500-600MHz. This gets even more complicated due to the 256-bit bus the GPU and memory communicate through.
 GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCI-E Review
The graphics card doesn't differ from the reference sample and is an exact replica of the ATI Radeon X1900 XTX board. They even left intact the picture of Ruby on the coolers casing and the ATI logo on the fan motor card. Eight Samsung 1.1ns GDDR3 chips are installed on board. The total amount of graphics memory is 512MB and it is clocked at 1550MHz exactly as described by the Radeon X1900 XTX specifications. As usual, the memory contacts the coolers base via rubber like heat conductive pads. The graphics processor works at 650MHz as described in the official specifications, too.
The graphics card from GeCube is at the very top of the current Radeon X1900 series, so we didn't expect it to be any good at overclocking. That was indeed so, the maximum frequencies the card was stable at were 675MHz GPU and 1600MHz memory. This review is about practical and inexpensive rather than extreme overclocking, so we only added a 120mm fan to blow alongside the card's PCB. This is why we didn't achieve any wonders, but you should be aware that the potential of the GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX, and of any high-end graphics card, is almost exhausted even without any overclocking.
Having tested GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX graphics adapter we have every right to say that it boasts all the advantages and drawbacks of an ATI R580 based graphics card. It is one of the today's most powerful graphics accelerators that is especially efficient in high resolutions with enabled FSAA as well as in those applications that deal with simultaneous processing of numerous complex pixel shaders. Like any other Radeon X1900, GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX is often defeated by the GeForce 7900 GTX, especially in those OpenGL games that require high fillrate.
However, just like any other Radeon X1900 solution, GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX has more promising long-term prospective than GeForce 7900. The main reason for us to think so is the overall tendency that we have been observing in the today's gaming world towards more numerous and more complex instructions in the gaming pixel shaders. Therefore, Radeon X1900 with its 48 pixel processors looks much more confident in this environment. As for the actual solution offered by GeCube, we cannot make any specific conclusion about it, it is an exact copy of the reference board.
To be more exact, the card itself is manufactured together with all other Radeon X1900 products and doesn't really differ from what most other vendors have to offer. The accessories bundled with the card are not very numerous, which is slightly disappointing, because this product belongs to the high-performance graphics solutions. But at the same time it doesn't have anything excessive that could have affected the price of the GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX. From this standpoint, our hero is a complete opposite to what ASUS has to offer, they pack their top-notch graphics solutions with all sorts of accessories.
So, the GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX is a pretty attractive buy for those computer users who need the ultimate performance and do not really care about the far not free-of-charge goodies they get together with the card.
Related Articles
Diamond Viper X1900 XTX 512MB PCI-E Review
Connect3D Radeon X1900 XT/XTX Series Review
ATI could do HDMI on Radeon X1900 XTX cards
|
ASUS 9800GTX+ (DK) PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
