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ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB

23 Aug 2006

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HWZ's Overall Rating: 9.0

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			<h2 class="header-green">ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB DDR4</h2>
		<span class="byline">Reviewed by Vincent Chang on Wednesday, 23 Aug 2006</span>
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		 		<h2 class="page-title">It Ain&#039;t Over Till the Fat Lady Sings</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">It Ain't Over Till the Fat Lady Sings</h3>
<p>Today marks the release of three new ATI reinforcements spanning all three major price categories. These new cards represent ATI's hopes of getting the final say in the clash between its latest generation of Radeon X1K graphics processors with NVIDIA's GeForce 7 series. While the performance between the flagship processors from both sides were comparable, ATI has arguably emerged worse in the retail market due to the higher manufacturing cost of its larger and more complex architecture. This has allowed NVIDIA to seize the price performance advantage. However, ATI hasn't given up the fight yet by getting its engineers to work on improving existing cards. Besides developing the next generation R600 core, they've apparently had the time to revise its existing lineup and plan new products that are better placed to compete against NVIDIA in both technology and price. Here then are the newcomers:</p>
<p class="rtecenter">
<table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1" align="center">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Model</th>
            <th>ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB</th>
            <th>ATI Radeon X1650 PRO</th>
            <th>ATI Radeon X1300 XT</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <th>Transistor Count</th>
            <td align="center">384 million</td>
            <td align="center">157 million</td>
            <td align="center">157 million</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Manufacturing Process (microns)</th>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Core Clock</th>
            <td align="center">650MHz</td>
            <td align="center">600MHz</td>
            <td align="center">500MHz</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Vertex Shaders</th>
            <td align="center">8</td>
            <td align="center">5</td>
            <td align="center">5</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Pixel Shader Processors</th>
            <td align="center">48</td>
            <td align="center">12</td>
            <td align="center">12</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Memory Clock</th>
            <td align="center">2000MHz DDR4</td>
            <td align="center">1400MHz DDR/DDR2/DDR3</td>
            <td align="center">800MHz DDR/DDR2/DDR3</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>DDR Memory Bus</th>
            <td align="center">256-bit</td>
            <td align="center">128-bit</td>
            <td align="center">128-bit</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Ring Bus Memory Controller</th>
            <td align="center">512-bit (for memory reads only)</td>
            <td align="center">256-bit (for memory reads only)</td>
            <td align="center">256-bit (for memory reads only)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Multi GPU Technology</th>
            <td align="center">Yes (CrossFire)</td>
            <td align="center">Yes (CrossFire)</td>
            <td align="center">Yes (CrossFire)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>DVI Output Support</th>
            <td align="center">2 x Dual-Link</td>
            <td align="center">1 x Single Link 1 x Dual-Link</td>
            <td align="center">1 x Single Link 1 x Dual-Link</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Street Price</th>
            <td align="center">US$449</td>
            <td align="center">USS$99</td>
            <td align="center">US$89</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>
</p>
<p>Our main focus in this article is the Radeon X1950 XTX and its R580+ core, which is exactly the same as the original R580 in terms of architecture, features and specifications. However, the crucial difference performance-wise seems to be banking on support for GDDR4 memory type in the new flagship product with a staggering debut clock speed of 2.0GHz DDR. Thermal and noise output are also predicted to be lower as well, thanks to a newly redesigned cooler. Before we get to that, here's a look at its technical specifications compared to the rest of the high-end alumnus.</p>
<p class="rtecenter">
<table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1" align="center">
    <caption>ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB DDR4 Technical Specifications</caption>
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Model</th>
            <th>ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB</th>
            <th>ATI Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB</th>
            <th>ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB</th>
            <th>NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 1GB</th>
            <th>NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 256MB</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <th>Core Code</th>
            <td align="center">R580+</td>
            <td align="center">R580</td>
            <td align="center">R580</td>
            <td align="center">G71</td>
            <td align="center">G71</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Transistor Count</th>
            <td align="center">384 million</td>
            <td align="center">384 million</td>
            <td align="center">384 million</td>
            <td align="center">2 x 278 million</td>
            <td align="center">278 million</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Manufacturing Process (microns)</th>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
            <td align="center">0.09</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Core Clock</th>
            <td align="center">650MHz</td>
            <td align="center">650MHz</td>
            <td align="center">625MHz</td>
            <td align="center">500MHz</td>
            <td align="center">650MHz</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Vertex Shaders</th>
            <td align="center">8</td>
            <td align="center">8</td>
            <td align="center">8</td>
            <td align="center">2 x 8</td>
            <td align="center">8</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Rendering (Pixel) Pipelines</th>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">2 x 24</td>
            <td align="center">24</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Pixel Shader Processors</th>
            <td align="center">48</td>
            <td align="center">48</td>
            <td align="center">48</td>
            <td align="center">2 x 24</td>
            <td align="center">24</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Texture Mapping Units (TMU)</th>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">2 x 24</td>
            <td align="center">24</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Raster Operator units (ROP)</th>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">16</td>
            <td align="center">2 x 16</td>
            <td align="center">16</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Memory Clock</th>
            <td align="center">2000MHz DDR4</td>
            <td align="center">1550MHz DDR3</td>
            <td align="center">1450MHz DDR3</td>
            <td align="center">1200MHz DDR3</td>
            <td align="center">1600MHz DDR3</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>DDR Memory Bus</th>
            <td align="center">256-bit</td>
            <td align="center">256-bit</td>
            <td align="center">256-bit</td>
            <td align="center">2 x 256-bit</td>
            <td align="center">256-bit</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Memory Bandwidth</th>
            <td align="center">64.0GB/s</td>
            <td align="center">49.6GB/s</td>
            <td align="center">46.4GB/s</td>
            <td align="center">76.8GB/s</td>
            <td align="center">51.2GB/s</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Ring Bus Memory Controller</th>
            <td align="center">512-bit (for memory reads only)</td>
            <td align="center">512-bit (for memory reads only)</td>
            <td align="center">512-bit (for memory reads only)</td>
            <td align="center">NIL</td>
            <td align="center">NIL</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>PCI Express Interface</th>
            <td align="center">x16</td>
            <td align="center">x16</td>
            <td align="center">x16</td>
            <td align="center">x16</td>
            <td align="center">x16</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Molex Power Connectors</th>
            <td align="center">Yes</td>
            <td align="center">Yes</td>
            <td align="center">Yes</td>
            <td align="center">Yes</td>
            <td align="center">Yes</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th align="center">Multi GPU Technology</th>
            <td align="center">Yes (CrossFire)</td>
            <td align="center">Yes (CrossFire)</td>
            <td align="center">Yes (CrossFire)</td>
            <td align="center">Yes (SLI, Quad SLI)</td>
            <td align="center">Yes (SLI)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>DVI Output Support</th>
            <td align="center">2 x Dual-Link</td>
            <td align="center">2 x Dual-Link</td>
            <td align="center">2 x Dual-Link</td>
            <td align="center">2 x Dual-Link</td>
            <td align="center">2 x Dual-Link</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Street Price</th>
            <td align="center">US$449</td>
            <td align="center">~ US$429 - 499</td>
            <td align="center">~ US$369 - 399</td>
            <td align="center">~ US$549 - 609</td>
            <td align="center">~ US$429 - 485</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>
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