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PowerColor Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCI-E Review |
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Written by Mavke
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Monday, 24 April 2006 |
Overclockers Online brings us a review on the PowerColor Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCIe graphics card. It is not often that I get the chance to play with the most powerful video card on the market. It is also not often I get the chance to play with one of the newest video cards on the market. So when I was offered both of those luxuries in one small package I couldn't turn the opportunity down and sleep with myself at night. I guess the only way PowerColor could have sweetened the deal was to provide me with a Radeon X1900 CrossFire card but that would be spoiling me too much. The Radeon X1900 XTX is the latest and greatest ATI offering that is single handedly responsible for the equaling of NVIDIA and ATI offerings.
 PowerColor Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCI-E Review
The Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB is the king of kings. Make no mistake about it folks, this card is a beast that provides some incredible specifications at the same time demanding plenty of requirements. The biggest thing to note from the system requirements section is power supply requirements. Basically they have outlined that you need a real power supply with a dedicated 6-pin power connection. When spending this much on a video card, the last thing you want to do is under power it. You will need 450W power supply for single operation and at least a 550W for going CrossFire.
The PowerColor Radeon X1900 XTX can only be summed up by one word... Awesome. Simply fantastic performance out of a single card that is only rivaled by one other right now from the green camp. My focus today was to see if the extra $400 you would spend on this card versus my current Radeon X800 GTO, was worth it. On my large CRT at resolutions of 1600x1200, this card was like playing games all over again. Far Cry was stunning with full HDR support and frame rates to kill. If you are only running a 1280x1024 LCD then this type of card purchase has to be about mid-way up a list of system components.
Why only mid-way on your list, because you will want to have a solid 2GB system to let the card stretch its legs. That is all based on right now, the present. Going forward I can highly recommend making the jump at any time. Based on the results of F.E.A.R. I think it is safe to say that a power hungry card like this will be a requirement to max out details on an LCD, especially with LCD resolutions poised to increase at any time. At this point I need to say with ease the PowerColor Radeon X1900 XTX is the way to go. Only a CrossFire setup would be doing better in this category, which would be the best available currently.
The best at this time would be this card alongside a good Radeon X1900 CrossFire card, which PowerColor offers as well. That said, this Radeon X1900 XTX is one of the best single card solutions right now.
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