ATI X1600 Cards

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SchoolTech

Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:

Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
out, DVI Dual head NZ$272


Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85

Pricing from ascent.co.nz

Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
junk out there?
 
Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
Gigabyte.
 
SchoolTech said:
Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:

Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
out, DVI Dual head NZ$272


Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85

Pricing from ascent.co.nz

Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
junk out there?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing your buying this for a wee bit of gaming (yes?).

Assuming your budget is in the $300 NZD range, and that you'd prefer to
buy from Ascent (which is entirely understandable), then would not
something like a 7600GS or 6600GT be a better option?
 
SchoolTech said:
Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:

Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
out, DVI Dual head NZ$272


Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85

Pricing from ascent.co.nz

Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
junk out there?
Click to expand...

I would be happy with Asus or Gigabyte.....gigabyte actually produced a
4 sli motherboard months back running 4 graphics cards.....so they are
serious players to my mind. So I would be happy with Gigabyte as my
choice as they seem to do hi performing kit and a good price point
beating Asus so for my myself....Gigabyte.

regards

Thing
 
First said:
Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
Gigabyte.
Click to expand...

Good point 512Meg is worth a wee bit more, all else being equal.....

regards

thing
 
First said:
Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
Gigabyte.
Click to expand...

The additional frame buffer memory is somewhat of a gimmick IMHO.

Unless he's going to be doing some high resolution FSAA gaming
(1600x1200 and higher) then 256MB should be fine. Plus if he was going
to do gaming at those resolutions, he's looking at the wrong card (and
certainly the wrong price range).
 
First said:
Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
Gigabyte.
Click to expand...

Looking at the Asus and the gigabyte, the extra price of the gigabyte
seems to be the passive cooling solution, which it is normal to pay
extra for from what I can determine.....

From bitter experience over the last 5~6 years a fan on a hi-end
graphics card cannot actually be replacedd easily, if at all....so I am
all for passive cooling if possible. think I have lost all three of my
hi-end video cards due to this....

regards

Thing
 
Daniel said:
I'm guessing your buying this for a wee bit of gaming (yes?).

Assuming your budget is in the $300 NZD range, and that you'd prefer to
buy from Ascent (which is entirely understandable), then would not
something like a 7600GS or 6600GT be a better option?
Click to expand...

pp.co.nz is a good place to buy as well IMHO....as is aquila.....and yes
I would tend to the nvidia myself as well.

tomshardware had a recent review on cards so I would suggest reading it.

regards

Thing



regards

Thing
 
SchoolTech said:
Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:

Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
out, DVI Dual head NZ$272


Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85

Pricing from ascent.co.nz

Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
junk out there?
Click to expand...

To clarify
The card is to be used for high end presentation software - not gaming.

The DirectX9 capabilities with larger amounts of video memory are being
used by developers these days to design software that can do fancy
presentation effects, like motion backgrounds and live video with text
superimposition etc etc.
 
SchoolTech said:
To clarify
The card is to be used for high end presentation software - not gaming.

The DirectX9 capabilities with larger amounts of video memory are being
used by developers these days to design software that can do fancy
presentation effects, like motion backgrounds and live video with text
superimposition etc etc.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... I'm interested.

What software are we talking about? Can you provide a link please?
 
You... don't replace the fan if it seizes. You replace the entire heat sink
/ fan unit with an aftermarket one. High-end cards tend to have a myriad of
replacement cooling options available.

Passive coolers aren't magical. They become finger-burning hot under load
and are extremely dependent on good case airflow.
 
First of One said:
Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
Gigabyte.
Click to expand...

But are they doing the old trick of giving more RAM but its slower RAM than
the other models with less RAM......
 
[email protected] said:
Looking at the Asus and the gigabyte, the extra price of the gigabyte
seems to be the passive cooling solution, which it is normal to pay
extra for from what I can determine.....

From bitter experience over the last 5~6 years a fan on a hi-end
graphics card cannot actually be replacedd easily, if at all....so I am
all for passive cooling if possible. think I have lost all three of my
hi-end video cards due to this....

regards

Thing
Click to expand...

Have a look at the Zalman heatpipe passive heatsinks. Around 50-60 bucks.

http://www.ascent.co.nz/ProductSpecification.aspx?ItemID=117445

I put one on my graphics card just to cut the noise from that horrid cheap busy
little fan. This sucker is huge (covers both sides of the card, and provides
extra heatsinks for the ram chips, and it barely gets warm to the touch.
I DID have to remove the oem cooler, obviously. The model I use has two
heatpipes between top and bottom layer, I think it's the 50-D from memory, but
I am not sure.

-P.
 
First said:
You... don't replace the fan if it seizes. You replace the entire heat sink
/ fan unit with an aftermarket one. High-end cards tend to have a myriad of
replacement cooling options available.

Passive coolers aren't magical. They become finger-burning hot under load
and are extremely dependent on good case airflow.
Click to expand...

Nice that such options are becoming available....for older cards not the
case in the past..... Also NZ can be a bit short of such 3rd party
bits....I ended up with a crappy DSE cooling unit as it was all I could get.

regards

Thing
 
XPD said:
But are they doing the old trick of giving more RAM but its slower RAM than
the other models with less RAM......
Click to expand...

Spec below.
Does that address that? Is the RAM in this thing pretty fast?
The Gigabyte spec doesn't give any comparable info unfortunately.

Specification

Graphics Engine
ATI Radeon X1600PRO

Video Memory
512M

Engine Clock
500MHz

Memory Clock
540MHz(270MHz DDR2)

RAMDAC
400MHz

Bus Standard
16 lanes PCI Express

Memory Interface
128-bit

Max Resolution
2048x1536

TV Output
Yes

VGA Output
Standard 15-pin D-sub

DVI Output
DVI-I

2nd VGA Output
Yes, via DVI-to-VGA adaptor

Adaptor/Cable bundled S-Video & composit cable
DVI-to-2nd VGA adaptor

3D game bundle
Hottest game: King Kong Special Edition
Stylish CD leather Wallet
 
SchoolTech said:
MediaShout is an example
www.mediashout.com

SongShow Plus (V7)
www.songshowplus.com

I guess even addons to Powerpoint / ActiveX stuff in Mediaplayer can do
it as well.
Click to expand...

Okay, I see where you're coming from now.

In that case I think something like an X1600pro is perhaps a wee bit
overkill.

As for MediaShout and SongShow Plus, I'd definitely recommend you
investigate a couple of Open Source alternatives - they do exist (I
think OpenSong was one of them).

Seriously. For all the features that MediaShout has - and are never
actually used, I think you'd be better placed to forge ahead with an
Open Source solution.

A gfx card for half the price would easily do what you're after.
 
Daniel said:
Okay, I see where you're coming from now.

In that case I think something like an X1600pro is perhaps a wee bit
overkill.

As for MediaShout and SongShow Plus, I'd definitely recommend you
investigate a couple of Open Source alternatives - they do exist (I
think OpenSong was one of them).

Seriously. For all the features that MediaShout has - and are never
actually used, I think you'd be better placed to forge ahead with an
Open Source solution.

A gfx card for half the price would easily do what you're after.
Click to expand...

No we are sticking with tried and true, professionally developed and
supported. We believe in excellence.

The X1600 is actually what they recommend - the cards are good value and
for some capabilities they recommend even higher end gear.

Don't tell me to buy a crap Radeon X300!
 
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