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Gigabyte Radeon X700 Pro Review |
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Written by Phyro
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Friday, 12 November 2004 |
Legion Hardware has
published a review on the Gigabyte Radeon X700 Pro. The current generation of graphics
technology has already marked one of the most competitive and exciting periods
in graphics card history. This does not just apply to the high-end graphics
cards, but rather the entire market. In the past the mainstream market segment
has been fought by previous generation technology. Rather than create an
entirely new product line from the ground up, manufacturers such as ATI and nVidia take a less costly
approach. Generally they develop the high end series for, example the Radeon
X800 or GeForce 6800 series, and then use the previous generation flagship
products as mid-range solutions.
 Gigabyte
Radeon X700 Pro Review
Both ATI and nVidia have done this once again
with the X300 and X600 graphics cards from ATI and the PCX series from nVidia. However, with so many new hardware and software
technological advancements, previous generation technology just won't cut it.
Therefore, nVidia launched the
GeForce 6600 series and ATI
counter attacked with the X700 series. These new series use current generation
technology in a cut down form, using lower clock frequencies and less pixel
pipelines.
The Radeon X700 series can be considered a mainstream product
as it carries a sub $200 price tag. Though they may not be as mainstream as say
the X300 series, these are certainly mid-range performance products. With the
typical price of a Radeon X700 being $200 or less, they certainly offer an
exceptional bang for your buck factor. This new Radeon X700 series will
virtually end all X600 graphics cards, leaving them for dead of a performance
vs. price ratio.
Since the Radeon X700 is still built on the RV410 GPU
using an 0.11-micron process, it has all the basic core features of the X800.
Furthermore the X700 supports all the latest Radeon features such as
SmoothVision HD, VideoShader HD and HyperZ HD. The pixel pipelines have been cut
down from 12 of the Radeon X800 Pro to 8. However, even with 8 the Radeon X700
easily out muscles the X600 series with double the pixel pipelines.
The
Gigabyte Radeon X700 Pro is an excellent product with many
impressive attributes. Without a doubt the most impressive feature of this
graphics card is the fanless design. However, this design method does have its
draw backs, the biggest being heat! Without directing any air flow over the
heatsinks, this graphics card turns into a 60 degree toaster in minutes when
playing games. The air between the front heatsink and the PCB measured 61
degrees during the testing phase. Temperatures at the rear of the card were
roughly the same at around 57 degrees during testing.
There are a few problems that a graphics card such as the Gigabyte Radeon X700 Pro will run into when operating at such high temperatures. First and
foremost is stability and although the graphics card did maintain absolute stability throughout the testing phase, an operating temperature of 60+ degrees is a concern. Such a high operating temperature can create a few obvious
problems for a computer. Keep in mind these temperatures were recorded on the test bed (out of a case) with a room temperature of 20 degrees. Therefore, imagine placing this 60 degree hot graphics card in your case. Already I see
this figure rising as it heats up the entire system.
The other issue with operating hardware at such high temperatures for extended periods is reliability. When installing a fan the operating temperature was reduced to roughly 30 degrees which is a much safer temperature. Running constantly at 60+ degrees will no doubt reduce the graphics cards life span and this is certainly something all users will want to avoid. Therefore, I highly
recommend making sure that this graphics card receives sufficient air flow to both sides.
Performance wise the Radeon X700 Pro makes for an impressive sub $200 graphics card. The X700 series provides the perfect middle ground between the X600 and X800 series. In the majority of the testing the Radeon X700 Pro slaughtered the Radeon X600XT. However, at the same time it was always a fair bit off the pace when compared to the high-end Radeon X800 graphics cards.
The Radeon X700 series in my opinion is far more impressive than the Radeon X600 series. The X600 graphics cards were overpriced Radeon 9600XT graphics cards for the PCIe bus. The Radeon X700 Pro is a cut down version of current generation technology, making it a much better product. The only concern I have for this graphics card is the fanless cooling design, with minimal air-flow it simply runs far too hot. Overall, for $200 the Gigabyte Radeon X700 Pro is easily the best value PCI Express solution reviewed to
date.
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Galaxy 9800GT PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
