Performance: When we came to review the Radeon X1950XTX, we were not expecting it to give the GeForce 7950 GX2 a run for its money in quite the way it has in the games that we tested. It seems that the R580 was somewhat bandwidth limited when it was at the heart of the Radeon X1900XTX. The introduction of GDDR4 memory and its marrying with ATI's R580 GPU has unlocked a bunch more performance from the graphics chip.
The Radeon X1950XTX delivered arguably higher playable image quality settings than the GeForce 7950 GX2 in six of the twelve scenarios tested and it does so without the caveats that come with GeForce 7950 GX2. There are no such caveats with the Radeon X1950XTX, it will simply work in every motherboard that comes with a PCI-Express x16 slot.
Featureset: Things like support for HDR and anti-aliasing, along with ATI's awesome texture filtering algorithm make the Radeon X1950XTX a great proposition from a features perspective. It's simple, the Radeon X1950XTX is the most feature-rich video card on the market today. All that we could ask is for more games that make use of the R580's capabilities. Games that currently support HDR and anti-aliasing include Oblivion, Black & White 2 and Far Cry. The latter is nearly three years old now.
If you don't play those games, the simultaneous use of HDR and anti-aliasing is not an advantage for ATI at the moment. In that sense, we really need to see more games coming out with support for HDR+AA before it becomes a must-have feature. With that said, high quality anisotropic filtering is still as good as it was when R580 initially launched - just turn it on and forget about it. The image quality enhancements vary depending on the game, but you can be sure that you're going to see little, if any, texture shimmering.
CrossFire: One thing that we haven't really touched on in the article is support for CrossFire. Unfortunately, you are still going to require a CrossFire Edition video card and that dreaded dongle to connect the two cards together. Hopefully, we will have a look at the performance of Radeon X1950XTX CrossFire in the near future.
The great thing about the new CrossFire Edition card is that it runs at exactly the same clock speeds as the Radeon X1950XTX. Although ATI hasn't got rid of the dongle because of the current hardware limitations, the company does appear to be listening to our concerns. The fact that both the standard Radeon X1950XTX and the CrossFire Edition card run at the same speed removes all of the confusion that existed with the Radeon X1900-series.
The new cooling solution: In the past, ATI has had some great technology under the heatsink, but I have been turned off by the god awful noise emitted by the cards. So much, that I wouldn't consider putting one in my own system without a change of cooler. That worry is now gone, and I'd be more than willing to put a Radeon X1950XTX in my own system to replace my current GeForce 7800 GTX 512. That's a testament to how good the new cooling solution is.
Again, ATI has listened to our concerns and taken our feedback on board, coming back with a cooling solution that is pretty damn good. It isn't quite as good as the cooler on NVIDIA's GeForce 7900 GTX, but it is light years away from being a leaf blower. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, because I don't think I could subject myself to another one of the company's single slot, whine like a bitch specials.
There is also the question of whether you should buy now or wait for DirectX 10 hardware to arrive. Ultimately, that comes down to what video card you're currently using in your main system. If you've already got something like a GeForce 7900 GTX or Radeon X1900XTX, I would recommend sitting tight for the time being. However, if you're thinking about GeForce 7950 GX2 or Radeon X1950XTX as an upgrade, I would plump for the latter if you are looking for the best bang for buck.
ATI's new behemoth is not going to be available for a couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see whether NVIDIA responds between now and Radeon X1950XTX's scheduled availability date.
The Radeon X1950XTX delivered arguably higher playable image quality settings than the GeForce 7950 GX2 in six of the twelve scenarios tested and it does so without the caveats that come with GeForce 7950 GX2. There are no such caveats with the Radeon X1950XTX, it will simply work in every motherboard that comes with a PCI-Express x16 slot.
Featureset: Things like support for HDR and anti-aliasing, along with ATI's awesome texture filtering algorithm make the Radeon X1950XTX a great proposition from a features perspective. It's simple, the Radeon X1950XTX is the most feature-rich video card on the market today. All that we could ask is for more games that make use of the R580's capabilities. Games that currently support HDR and anti-aliasing include Oblivion, Black & White 2 and Far Cry. The latter is nearly three years old now.
If you don't play those games, the simultaneous use of HDR and anti-aliasing is not an advantage for ATI at the moment. In that sense, we really need to see more games coming out with support for HDR+AA before it becomes a must-have feature. With that said, high quality anisotropic filtering is still as good as it was when R580 initially launched - just turn it on and forget about it. The image quality enhancements vary depending on the game, but you can be sure that you're going to see little, if any, texture shimmering.
CrossFire: One thing that we haven't really touched on in the article is support for CrossFire. Unfortunately, you are still going to require a CrossFire Edition video card and that dreaded dongle to connect the two cards together. Hopefully, we will have a look at the performance of Radeon X1950XTX CrossFire in the near future.
The great thing about the new CrossFire Edition card is that it runs at exactly the same clock speeds as the Radeon X1950XTX. Although ATI hasn't got rid of the dongle because of the current hardware limitations, the company does appear to be listening to our concerns. The fact that both the standard Radeon X1950XTX and the CrossFire Edition card run at the same speed removes all of the confusion that existed with the Radeon X1900-series.
The new cooling solution: In the past, ATI has had some great technology under the heatsink, but I have been turned off by the god awful noise emitted by the cards. So much, that I wouldn't consider putting one in my own system without a change of cooler. That worry is now gone, and I'd be more than willing to put a Radeon X1950XTX in my own system to replace my current GeForce 7800 GTX 512. That's a testament to how good the new cooling solution is.
Again, ATI has listened to our concerns and taken our feedback on board, coming back with a cooling solution that is pretty damn good. It isn't quite as good as the cooler on NVIDIA's GeForce 7900 GTX, but it is light years away from being a leaf blower. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, because I don't think I could subject myself to another one of the company's single slot, whine like a bitch specials.
Pricing and Availability:
ATI has told us that the Radeon X1950XTX will be available to buy on or before September 14th with a €399/$449 MSRP - that translates to around £300 including VAT. Currently, the GeForce 7950 GX2 retails for as little as £355 including VAT - that's quite a bit more than the Radeon X1950XTX's suggested retail price. However, Overclockers UK is currently listing the Radeon X1950XTX on pre-order for just under £330 inc VAT. If this price is that the cards will sell for come September 14th, the question comes down to slightly higher performance versus a higher overall image quality. That decision is ultimately down to you.There is also the question of whether you should buy now or wait for DirectX 10 hardware to arrive. Ultimately, that comes down to what video card you're currently using in your main system. If you've already got something like a GeForce 7900 GTX or Radeon X1900XTX, I would recommend sitting tight for the time being. However, if you're thinking about GeForce 7950 GX2 or Radeon X1950XTX as an upgrade, I would plump for the latter if you are looking for the best bang for buck.
Final Thoughts...
The time I've spent with the Radeon X1950XTX over the last week or so has been a pleasure. ATI has listened to feedback we've given during our previous Radeon X1800 and Radeon X1900-series reviews and has taken some action for the good - it's about time, in that respect. The new cooling solution is fantastic and I'm seriously considering getting hold of one of these babies for my own system. Now if only I could sneak one out of the office door. Hmm....ATI's new behemoth is not going to be available for a couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see whether NVIDIA responds between now and Radeon X1950XTX's scheduled availability date.
ATI Radeon X1950XTX
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