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PowerColor Radeon X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E Review |
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Written by Mavke
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Monday, 04 September 2006 |
Back in January this year we've looked at the Radeon X1600 XT and Radeon X1300 from PowerColor. We now have end of August and some of you've been curiously waiting for new middle class cards to come out of ATI. The card we have today is a PowerColor Radeon X1650 PRO. It's not a high-end product, more like a middle class GPU with newer, lower price tag. Just as the Radeon X1600 XT it's got the same pipeline configuration, 10MHz higher core clock, 20MHz higher memory clock and is manufactured using 80 nanometer process. No GDDR4 memory as we've seen on the Radeon X1950 series although it's technically possible. This RV535 uses 128-bit GDDR3 memory modules. - Bjorn3D
 PowerColor Radeon X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E Review
As with every new generation of GPU's the feature set becomes larger and more complex. The newly introduced Radeon X1K family of products is exactly what we are looking at. Most importantly, the Radeon X1K line now sports Shader Model 3.0 which has been available from NVIDIA for over a year now. The Radeon X1600 GPU is similarly designed as the Radeon X1800, with few important differences. It uses 128-bit memory bus and features different pipeline architecture. PowerColor utilizes ATI reference design cooling system for all their cards. Like the Radeon X1600 XT, there is no external power input, all is powered from PCI Express bus.
Unfortunately I was unable to overclock this Radeon X1650 PRO as no support yet in provided drivers. No support for this card either in the Catalyst 6.8 suite. I can only assume the GPU overclocks a tad higher than the Radeon X1600 XT due to 80nm fabrication process. So, what can be said about PowerColor's Radeon X1650 PRO? Well first of all, I'm not a fan of refresh products that bring nothing new in terms of performance. In fact, this product is nothing more than a Radeon X1600 XT in different pants. ATI has always been a bit behind when it comes to mid range products.
Although I haven't put it against the GeForce 7600 GS it's clear that the difference between the Radeon X1600 XT and Radeon X1650 PRO is marginal, next to nothing. Performance scales similarly across all modes. The Radeon X1650 PRO gains few frame rates here and there due to higher core and memory clocks, but overall it performs like the older part. The RV535 based Radeon X1650 PRO however brings you as well the ATI Rage Theatre chip which was not available in PowerColor's line of Radeon X1600 XT cards. Supposedly HDCP ready soon with a driver update.
One of the things that may lead you to buy this card is the retail price of $99. Pretty cool if you ask me, considering the price of Radeon X1600 XT holds tight at $110-140 depending on the vendor. If all goes well, you should be able to pick one of those boards in mid September.
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