Sapphire X1950 Pro Dual
Conclusion
Published: 3rd May 2007 | Source: Sapphire | Price: |
The Sapphire X1950 Pro Dual is one of the last new SKU's that ATI's AIB's are going to produce and it is actually pretty good. The performance is not quite up to that of an 8800GTS although in most games you can play at similar level of settings.
I did experience some problems with the card in Oblivion when Crossfire was enabled, but all of the other games I tried worked perfectly and overall the experience was a good one. The performance of the Pro Dual was the same as the X1950 pro in crossfire but without taking up two slots. In future the potential is there to have two of these cards in crossfire although this is not currently possible.
Sapphire have to be commended for adding to an ATI lineup that is looking rather frail with the dominance of the 8800 series cards in the market. However at $350 it is competing with the lower range 8800GTS 320mb which is a card that beats out the Pro Dual. Also another thing that is likely to put off even the most steadfast ATI fans is the impending (this time!) release of the ATI r600.
At this time I could not find the Sapphire X1950 Pro Dual for sale in the UK, but as mentioned previously Sapphire have priced this up as $350.
The X1950 Pro Dual is an innovative solution to the lack of ATI refreshes, as well as being a superior solution to the 7950 GX2, with only 1 PCB. With this in mind I am giving it the "Innovation Award" and "Recommended"
Pro's
+ Good performance for an ATI GPU
+ Keeps up with the 8800 series
+ Innovative solution for a dual GPU card
+ Decent pricepoint
Con's
- Absolutely huge - may not fit in some cases
- Out-ran overall by 8800GTS
- Requires a large power draw
Thanks to Sapphire for supplying the review sample
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Most Recent Comments
For an ATI card I am impressed with the performance!
I am not an ATI fan but that it pretty.
Nice review!
I am not an ATI fan but that it pretty.
Nice review!
Dunno about pretty
Pretty huge maybe?
Pretty huge maybe?
Pretty nasty point drop at high res in 3Dmark tbh
Ye which was strange as gaming it didn't do too badly. 3DMark I always take with a pinch of salt but it is a bit disappointing
UPDATE:
Sapphire have said that the retail version comes with 3DMark06 and more importantly 4 DVI outputs for a 4 monitor setup.
Pretty cool.
Sapphire have said that the retail version comes with 3DMark06 and more importantly 4 DVI outputs for a 4 monitor setup.
Pretty cool.
Good review, seems like a cool product, just a little late in the game. Hate to nit pick but on page 3 under Test Setup and Notes it says "To test these high-end nVidia cards I set a PC that gives as little of a bottleneck as possible." Again sorry to be annoying.
Oops
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
UPDATE:
Sapphire have said that the retail version comes with 3DMark06 and more importantly 4 DVI outputs for a 4 monitor setup. Pretty cool. |
And 4 monitors on one card, thats pretty damn good!
But who uses 4 monitors!? :eh:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Toxcity'
But who uses 4 monitors!? :eh: |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='XMS'
Someone with 4 eyes?
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The review is decent, as always.
Personally, I think the product is weak. It is dx9, overpriced (almost as much as a GTS but fails to perform as well, again, it is not dx10 either) stupidly large and... Almost pointless. IMO.
Look forward to seeing the HD2900XT
Would u think again if they have an inside inclin that Dx10 might not be with us til Q4.2008 ?
(not a fact, just speculation)
Still pricey imo, I`d still lean the 8800 way if I`m looking to spend around $350.
(not a fact, just speculation)
Still pricey imo, I`d still lean the 8800 way if I`m looking to spend around $350.
Wouldn't touch it with the 8800GTS 320mb beating it in benchmarks and having DX10. The only thing nVidia has to do to really put the grind into ATI is make SLI usable with 2 or more monitors. The dual GPU thing just doesn't do it, ATI needs to come out with DX10 GPU's, and make the cards smaller not bigger. If I were ATI and wanted to come out swinging against nVidia, that would be priority #2--- a smaller video card. Priority #1 would be making the GPU less power hungry while still making faster/powerful cores. With the AMD merger, I don't know whats keeping this from happening because they're pretty much giving up on a market they once ruled but are repeatedly losing sight of.
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