Driverheaven -- We have tested ATI's latest with a good cross section of games ranging from current first person shooters such as PREY to Microsoft's upcoming Flight Simulator X and we also pit the board against current ATI and Nvidia hardware to see if its worth an upgrade. We also have information on mixed crossfire configurations, CPU scaling (with a vapochill cooled extreme edition conroe running at 4ghz), as well as game tests running at resolutions up to 2560x1600 on a 30 inch Dell screen. We look at how the card handles against competing boards with optimisations off/HQ enabled. We also overclock the card to see what headroom you can expect.

 

t-break -- During the launch of ATI’s x1000 series of graphics card a year ago, one of the features that ATI was very excited about was the programmable and versatile memory controller found on the x1800 series. In their presentation, ATI informed us that in the future, their new memory controller would easily be able to work with GDDR4 once the pricing and availability for that is reasonable.

Driverheaven -- We have tested ATI's latest with a good cross section of games ranging from current first person shooters such as PREY to Microsoft's upcoming Flight Simulator X and we also pit the board against current ATI and Nvidia hardware to see if its worth an upgrade. We also have information on mixed crossfire configurations, CPU scaling (with a vapochill cooled extreme edition conroe running at 4ghz), as well as game tests running at resolutions up to 2560x1600 on a 30 inch Dell screen. We look at how the card handles against competing boards with optimisations off/HQ enabled. We also overclock the card to see what headroom you can expect.

Legit Reviews -- The X1950XTX is without a doubt the fastest card ever to wear the ATI badge. The extra memory helps it shine running AA or HDR games at higher resolutions. This is important for the longevity of the card and should give it a little more lifespan as more and more titles debut with HDR and advanced shaders. It hauls ass and keeps quiet which is exactly what ATI was lacking on their last few flagship video cards.

Nordic Hardware -- The X1950XTX comes with two new features, a new cooler and new memory. Is the new cooler as good as it looks? Stay tuned as we take a closer look at both and check out how increased memory bandwidth really will affect the performance. Earlier overclocking tests have shown that it's precisely what the R580, and not least the Crossfire, needs.

Bjorn3D -- On August 23, 2006, Bjorn Endre the founder and "Godfather" of Bjorn3D flew to Berlin, Germany and covered the launch of ATI Technologies then new line of graphics solutions which included the X1950XTX, the X1950XTX CrossFire™ Edition, the X1650 Pro and the X1300XT. You can read his launch coverage here. As with most events of this type there was enough information information to sufficiently wet the appetite of the computer enthusiast and product analyst alike. After reading Bjorn's review, I have been very anxious to review a CrossFire based graphics system.

The Tech Report -- PC GRAPHICS TECHNOLOGY HAS EARNED itself a reputation as a fast-moving locus of innovation, and that rep is certainly well deserved. Still, the much-ballyhooed talk of six-month product cycles and the breakneck pace of change is a little bit overheated. About 25% of everything that happens in PC graphics involves truly novel innovations, such as new GPU microarchitectures with features never seen before. The rest is mostly just dance remixes. Today is a day of dance remixes for ATI. You can hear the thump-thump-thump of the drum track throbbing in the background if you listen closely. Fresh off the announcement of its public engagement to AMD, the red team has cued up five new Radeon video cards, from the low end to the very high end, and they are all remakes of already familiar tunes. Fortunately, in the world of video cards, remixes actually bring improvements most of the time. They tend to offer more graphics horsepower at lower prices, not just a torrid, syncopated rhythm from a drum sequencer. The new flavors of Radeons range from the X1950 XTX at just under five hundred bucks to the X1300 XT at well under a hundred. In the middle of the pack is a potential gem for PC enthusiasts: a new $279 version of the Radeon X1900 XT that looks to redefine the price-performance equation. Keep reading for the info on ATI's revamped lineup, including our tests of the most appealing cards for enthusiasts.

Virtual-Hideout -- The graphics card in the crosshairs for this review is the Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950XTX. A bit of a mouthful, but it only gets better with some of the features. Like 512MB of GDDR4, HD AVIVO, Dual DVI ,VIVO, PCI Express x16 Lane 32bit Bus, ATI CrossFire Ready, and Windows Vista Ready.

NeoSeeker -- While a new cooler may not in itself be enough to herald a new SKU, the addition of newer memory running at significantly faster speeds evidently is. The X1950 XTX uses 512 MB of brand new GDDR4 memory and is the first graphics card yet to ship with this new memory. The focus of GDDR4 is increased bandwidth (at the expense of latency however) and lower power consumption and has been tested running at speeds up to 3.2 GHz DDR . Being the first product to market with the new technology, ATI have not pushed the envelope that far but still manage a whopping 2.0 GHz representing the fastest memory clocks of any shipping graphics card yet.