Shamino's Full Review of The X1950XTX

[cantankerous]

As seen through this link.

http://www.vr-zone.com/index.php?i=3885&s=1

People will be much surprised to find out the X1950 actually uses 36W MORE than the current X1900XTX despite the rumours it would consume less power. It was believed this would be so due to a simpler PCB layout and one less mosfet on the X1950 over the current X1900 but I guess that was to be taken with a grain of salt.

Either way I wont ruin much more of the review as I would like you guys to enjoy it as much as I did while going through it. I am happy to say performance is much above the current X1900 cards and overclocked it gets even better.

Enjoy!

[SoF]

nicely written review, the card looks really promising.
Some improvements with the oc tools and it will fly.
Wonders me that this card outperforms a GX2 in games but it also uses more wattage

[perkam]

Wait for nda to expire on full oc results

Perkam

[OBR]

It is not about OC, but Power consumption... 70W more in CrossFire @ default ... it is crazy ...

[massman]

Wait for nda to expire on full oc results

Perkam

yes indeed, shamino using only air cooling for overclocking ... I didn't think so

[rpg711]

750watts should be enough to run one x1950xtx and also a future x1950xtx crossfire setup right?

[NoSinder]

Awesome, exactly what I wanted to see. Better performance in games at the exact resolution I play at! Can't wait to get one!!

[perkam]

750watts should be enough to run one x1950xtx and also a future x1950xtx crossfire setup right?

The 750W Silverstone ZF can achieve 900W continous max output.

Perkam

[milkcafe]

single X1950XTX vs 7950GX2

the X1950XTX lost in the 3Dmark test (lower score than 7950 in 06

but It won all the game test

X1950XTX 512MB 256bit 0.85ns GDDR4 @ 650/2000
$449

7950GX2 1GB 512bit 1.1ns GDDR3 @ 500/1200
$599-$699

the X1950XTX will be the fastest single card if it OC to this monster clock
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1911325

the 80nm ATi R580+ core and Samsung 0.85ns GDDR4 maybe rush to 1100/2300




and now the mainstream video card benchmark is

3Dmark03 & 05 benchmark (ranked by 05)

AMD Athlon FX55 , all in stock 1024x768 noAA noAF

card name --3Dmark03--3dmark05---clock---
X1950XTX -----24764-----13231 @ 650/2000
7950GX2-------29342-----12886 @ 500/1200
X1900XTX -----18492-----11065 @ 650/1550
7900GTX ------21412-----10522 @ 650/1600
X1900XT ------17598------9959 @ 625/1450
7300GT SLI----20364------9516 @ 550/1600
7800GTX512 ---19959------9509 @ 550/1700
X1900GT ------16044------9359 @ 575/1200
X1800XT ------13951------9203 @ 625/1500
7900GT -------16616------7930 @ 450/1320
7800GTX ------16373------7789 @ 430/1200
X1800GTO3-----13236------7356 @ 500/1000
X1800XL ------13522------7122 @ 500/1000
7800GT -------14589------6885 @ 400/1000
X1800GTO -----12636------6785 @ 500/1000
X850XT-PE-----13197------6574 @ 540/1180
X850XT -------12702------6351 @ 520/1080
X800XT-PE ----12484------6285 @ 520/1120
X800XT -------11842------5953 @ 500/1000
7600GT -------13163------5935 @ 560/1400
7800GS -------13280------5893 @ 375/1200
6800Ultra ----12985------5843 @ 400/1100
X850PRO ------10059------5426 @ 507/1040
X1600XT -------9034------5228 @ 590/1380
7300GT -------12187------5174 @ 550/1600
6800GS -------11134------5057 @ 425/1000
X800XL -------10192------4986 @ 400/1000
6800GT -------10865------4855 @ 350/1000
X800GTO3 -----10087------4754 @ 400/980
X800PRO -------9984------4733 @ 475/900
7600GS -------11846------4721 @ 500/1400
X1600PRO ------8277------4532 @ 575/1300
X800 ----------9306------4283 @ 400/700
X800GT --------8904------4052 @ 475/980
6800NU --------8354------3759 @ 325/700
6600GT --------8152------3427 @ 500/1000
9800XT --------6954------3195 @ 412/730
6800LE --------6752------2957 @ 325/700
5950Ultra -----6541------1453 @ 475/950

[rpg711]

3d mark is just something to bench... and brag about
actual game performance matters most
it seems like fear is the only game that utilized the 7950gx2 to its most performance

[G H Z]

Now that was one damn fine review, good job Sham

I love that cooler, quieter and the mem sink is just sick. Then I read what the projected retail cost is ATI seems to have really dropped the hammer with this card, I'll take a little more power consumption for everything else this beauty has to offer anyday.

[cantankerous]

im still skeptical on the so called launch price. I feel it will be much higher than predicted but only time will tell.

[bazx]

Now that was one damn fine review, good job Sham

I love that cooler, quieter and the mem sink is just sick. Then I read what the projected retail cost is ATI seems to have really dropped the hammer with this card, I'll take a little more power consumption for everything else this beauty has to offer anyday.

but will ya buy one or wait for the next

[Kunaak]

I love the independant solid copper ramsink.

that will be extremely useful for watercooling, so you can just use a Maze 4 or something, and not need to adhere heatsinks to anything.

[G H Z]

Definately buying, only drawback is whether or not you'll get one with no bug and big core clocks

[Okda]

single X1950XTX vs 7950GX2

the X1950XTX lost in the 3Dmark test

but It won all the game test

X1950XTX 512MB 256bit 0.85ns GDDR4 @ 650/2000
$449

7950GX2 1GB 512bit 1.1ns GDDR3 @ 500/1200
$599-$699

the X1950XTX will be the fastest single card if it OC to this monster clock

the 80nm ATi R580+ core and Samsung 0.85ns GDDR4 maybe rush to 1100/2300

don't always trust benchmarks released from one side

[rpg711]

im still skeptical on the so called launch price. I feel it will be much higher than predicted but only time will tell.

the x1900xtx costs so much because the same reason the 7900gtx costs so much, because people will buy them for that much
the x1950xtx costs so little because only the hard core gaming community will care about the extra 3 fps...
the enthusiasts mabee will just get one to brag about
all others will probably stay with their x1900xt's

[Joe Camel]

HOT damn!! and i do mean HOT...

and here i thought i was having a hard time keeping my 1900s' cool... now were going to have even MORE BTU's to move


are these single card only or are CrossFire editions just around the corner?


and here i just got CF working on the Conroe rig last week


PS GREAT review !!!!

[LardArse]

Thanks... this card surprised me in some areas, first when i expected it to draw lesser power it goes the other way around, then when i just expected alightly better numbers from 19xtx it made me rerun the tests again cos quite frankly i was quite skpetical the difference was like this. I know how it may look, bought review, but i wish it was bought cos if so now i'd have a x1950 cross-fire to play with
the card was passed back already, was like some rare gem i had only a short time with
i also woulda wished to test for cold bug, thats the whole world of importance for guys like me and maybe u

[rpg711]

crossfire editions are comming as well
it wont be as hot because it has better cooling than any other card on the market so far
and it definately wont be hot for me with a 265cfm fan intaking

[Kunaak]

sham....... dooooooooooooooooood.................

whats up with that thumbnail in the "back of the core temp reading" pic?
are you a werewolf?

[Joe Camel]

stock coolers stay on for about 1-2 days till the bugs are worked out in a rig then its time to move on...


(obviously, these are 1900's NOT 1950's!!)



(ViperJohn Ramsinks prohibit me going back to stock...so i ghetto-ed up some air cooling )



.

[cantankerous]

36w more power, and that is before oc. Looks like my 600w powerstream is yet again pushed along a little more. I hope it will keep up.

[rpg711]

my silverstone zeus 750 watt continuous peak 900watt will keep up

[charlie]

yeah, SHAM is my favorite review author... only thing I'm worried about is the "clock for clock" comparison with the x1900xtx...