Today we are taking a quick spin with a new SKU that is already quite familiar to us, the Radeon X1900 XT 256MB graphics card. As the name implies the heart of the beast is the same R580 GPU that powers the Radeon X1900 and Radeon X1950 series. The clock speeds are identical to the 512MB version of the Radeon X1900 XT, which runs at 625MHz core and 1400MHz memory. The only difference between the two Radeon X1900 XT models are memory size, and of course the price. A quick around finds the Radeon X1900 XT with 512MB priced as low as $350, while the 256MB is set at $279. With just a reduction in memory it has the potential to be a potent performer with a mainstream price. - Legit Reviews

ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB PCI Express Review

Since this card is at a popular enthusiast price we took it upon ourselves to see what kind of overclock we could get out of our Radeon X1900 XT 256MB video card. Armed with just the Catalyst Control Center we enabled the Overdrive feature and let it find the optimal clocks for our card and what we ended up with was 668MHz core and 1.53GHz memory. It is a free and healthy bump in speed, and without adjusting the voltages. Taking the card higher than this resulted in artifacts or the dreaded GPU recover. With this minor overclocking, we are still able to gain some extra performance.

A drop in price is always good especially when it's at the cost of losing something that doesn't necessarily affect performance in current games. The performance difference between the 512MB card and 256MB card are in fact very small and represents a terrific compromise of price over performance. The Radeon X1900 line packs a very potent punch that gamers can rely on to give them a great experience and the Radeon X1900 XT 256MB doesn't change that one bit. In fact we saw more than a few times where the 256MB card still had enough punch to knockout the GeForce 7900 GTX.

The problems with the Radeon X1900 XT 256MB are mostly limited to heat and noise. The new heatsink included on the Radeon X1950 series would be a terrific fit here as it would resolve the noise problem and would also help out the heat that this card puts out. The final problem is that it's very difficult to find the card for sale. It's a great card and should sell pretty well if it makes it to the shelf. ATI seems to be having problems getting their launches together as this card was announced the same day as the Radeon X1950 XTX two and a half weeks ago. NVIDIA is trucking along and hold their cards until they are available for sale.

The real advantage of a 512MB video card is dealing with large textures and or very high resolutions. This should be music to the ears of those that game at these resolutions. Blistering performance at the resolutions most gamers play at, at a price that serious gamers can afford. The Radeon X1900 XT 256MB is a great card in that it will be able to run Windows Vista in full Aero Glass glory and still pump out great frames in the latest games. However, gaming on Vista is far from a fun experience at the moment. Our recommendation is not to wait for DirectX 10 video cards as there is really no reason to consider Vista.

If you are shopping in the price range of the Radeon X1900 XT 256MB you're likely not one of those people and should put off the DirectX 10 and Vista upgrade until both have some baking time. With the introduction of the X1900XT 256MB ATI brings high end performance and features to more of the masses with a sensible price tag.