Remember the Gemini 3 from GeCube? If not, let us refresh your memory. The Gemini 3 is the second dual GPU card from GeCube, the previous one was the Gemini 2 and it was based on a pair of Radeon X1650 XT's. The Gemini 3 features a pair of Radeon HD 2600 XT GPU's and they're clocked at 800MHz. Each GPU is paired with 256MB of 1000MHz DDR2 memory effective. This might not sound like anything all too remarkable so far, but it seems like GeCube will beat all the other AMD partners that are working on dual GPU cards, by simply being the first to market. GeCube is expecting the Gemini 3 to be available in retail some time next month, but no exact date is given. - TweakTown

GeCube Radeon HD 2600 XT Gemini 3 Board Preview

Another cool feature is of course that you can output to four displays from the Gemini 3, and all four ports are DVI as well. Unlike some other designs we've seen, GeCube have done a really neat job of the four connectors by adding a small PCB which is connected to the card itself. Since the cooler is double width, this means that you’re not wasting any rear space on your system either. You might wonder how hot this card runs, as dual GPU cards in the past have been running really hot. Well, even after several hours of benchmarking the card was just warm to the touch although it was quite noisy.

The memory chips on the sample board we got were rated at 2.5ns, but production boards will use 2.0ns chips. This should allow for some overclocking, although we're still hoping for a version with GDDR3 or GDDR4 memory in the future. Another thing you'll notice is that this card doesn't have any CrossFire connectors like the Sapphire card, so Quad CrossFire is a no go with the card. The trick of this card is the PLX PCI Express switch chip, this allowing the two GPU's to work in CrossFire mode. It's actually quite amazing how compact this card is compared to some of the other samples we saw.

As the benchmark and gaming results show, the Gemini 3 offers some pretty good performance increases in CrossFire mode compared to single GPU mode. It's not an amazingly fast card but in this case there are two issues, first of all the CPU we used is not as fast as the one we normally use, and secondly we have a feeling that the DDR2 memory is holding back the full potential of this card. With the right price and slightly tweaked drivers this should be an appealing solution for those that don't have a dual PCI Express system but still want to enjoy the benefits of running CrossFire.