ATI Radeon X1650 XT 256MB CrossFire Evaluation

Reviewer: Jason Hambly
Date: October 30, 2006
Manufacturer: ATI
Model: Radeon X1650 XT 256MB
Supplied By: ATI
Category: Midrange
Price: ~$149 (~?117)
Grammatical and Spelling Editor: Sean Kalinich

As Vista?s launch gets nearer and the talk about DX10 video cards coming to market, manufacturers have started releasing cards numbered as though they are only a half step towards a next generation of cards. These refreshes are being marked by a 50 in the name, with ATI this is the X1x50 series of cards.  Are these new cards a marketing move to sell a bunch of new cards leading up to the Christmas rush or are they a legitimate  new improved line of cards? Perhaps they are both.  Today we are looking at one of the newest cards from ATI, the Radeon X1650 XT. Will these cards be stocking stuffers this Christmas or will they be stuck stocked on shelves, let?s take a look.

{mospagebreak title=Specifications and Features}
Features

- 24 pixel shader processors
- 8 vertex shader processors
- Up to 128-bit GDDR3 memory interface
- Native PCI Express? x16 bus interface
- Plug-and-play (native) CrossFire?

Shader Technology
- Support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 programmable vertex and pixel shaders in hardware
- Shader Model 3.0 vertex and pixel shader support:
    – Full speed 32-bit floating point processing
    – High dynamic range rendering with floating point blending and anti-aliasing support
    – High performance dynamic branching and flow control
- Complete feature set also supported in OpenGL 2.0

Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering
- 2x/4x/6x Anti-Aliasing modes:
- Sparse multi-sample algorithm with gamma correction, programmable sample patterns, and centroid sampling
- New Adaptive Anti-Aliasing mode
- Temporal Anti-Aliasing
- Lossless color compression (up to 6:1) at all resolutions, up to and including widescreen HDTV
- 2x/4x/8x/16x Anisotropic Filtering Modes:
    – Up to 128-tap texture filtering
    – Adaptive algorithm with performance and quality options
- Improved rendering with higher subpixel precision and LOD computation levels
- New rotational high quality rendering mode

3Dc+ Advanced Texture Compression
- High Quality 4:1 compression for normal maps and luminance maps
- Works with and single-channel or two-channel data format

New Ring Bus Memory Controller
- Programmable arbitration logic maximizes memory efficiency, software upgradeable
- New fully associative texture, color, and Z cache design
- Hierarchical Z-Buffer with Early Z Test
- Lossless Z-Buffer Compression (up to 48:1)
- Fast Z-Buffer Clear
- Z Cache optimized for real-time shadow rendering
- Optimized for performance at high display resolutions, up to and including widescreen HDTV

Avivo Video and Display Engine
- New advanced video capabilities, including high fidelity gamma, color correction and scaling
- Dual independent display controllers that support true 30 bits per pixel throughout the display pipe
- Full symmetry on both heads
- Each display interface supports display resolutions beyond 2560×1600
- Advanced DVI capabilities, including 10-bit, 16-bit HDR output
- YPrPb component output for direct drive of HDTV displays
- Seamless integration of pixel shaders with video in real time
- MPEG 1/2/4 decode and encode acceleration
- DXVA support:
    -Hardware motion compensation, iDCT, DCT and color space conversion.
- All-format DTV/HDTV decoding
- Adaptive per-pixel de-interlacing and frame rate conversion (temporal filtering)

CrossFire Support
- Multi-GPU technology ready
- Four modes of operation:
    – Alternate frame rendering for maximum performance
    – Supertiling for optimal load-balancing
    – Scissoring for compatibility
    – Super AA for maximum image quality
- Native CrossFire support simplifies setup by requiring no dedicated slave or master hardware
- 24-bit CrossFire connection enables high resolutions and refresh rates
- Supports the broadest range of platforms for both Intel and AMD

Features: 4.5/5

{mospagebreak title=Overview}
Overview

 

 

Upon first glance the X1650 XT is similar to previous X1600 series cards.  It has a single slot design and a small cooler that covers most of the top of the card. There is still no need for an additional PCI-Express power connector. The only thing that does stand out is the two connectors residing at the top of the card. These are very similar to the other guy’s SLI bridge connections except that there are two instead of one.

Next up there are two DVI ports included instead of one DVI and one 15-pin D-Sub connector which is nice in this flat panel era. Included between the two DVI ports is the Video out port, this port is a combination port which will vary depending on the cable/dongle that you use, S-Video, composite, or component.

 

 

After pulling the HSF off we get a closer look at the card. Four screws and a fan power connector later, the HSF is off and we can see everything.  Underneath we get to see the shiny GPU with its specific information coded onto it.  There are only four RAM chips on the front side of this card; there are none on the back side. This is nice to see because it means fewer chips to cool.  However the HSF does not contact these RAM chips at all.  ATI has decided to use Infineon HYB18H512321AF-14 GDDR3 chips on the X1650 XT.

 

There is little to see on the back side of the card considering there is no RAM located here. All that you will find on the back is the mounting bracket for the HSF and a label sticker with the card information, unless of course you can make sense of all the circuitry.

 

The heatsink itself is made of copper and quite heavy.  The underside is covered in a plastic sticker except for the area where it comes in contact with the GPU.  I found this odd but since it doesn?t contact the card anywhere else it doesn?t make much difference. I?m sure it has some reason, possibly to prevent shorting anything out on the card if it came in contact with something.

Overview: 4.5/5

{mospagebreak title=Performance} 
Performance

To test the performance of the X1650XT I choose to run the standard game tests that I usually run; including Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 2, F.E.A.R., and Half-Life 2: Lost Coast.  Each game was run at several different resolutions at high quality with 4xAA enabled in each game.

To add to the game tests I also ran 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 to give an additional idea how this card performs.

Test System:
DFI LanParty UT RDX200 CF-DR
AMD Athlon64 3000+ Venice @ 2.5Ghz
1GB Corsair TwinX PT PC3200
Seagate 7200.9 500GB SATA3G w/16MB cache
Antec TruePower 2.0 550w
Driver: Catalyst 6.10 (Driver version 8.301)  

{mospagebreak title=Half-Life 2/Call of Duty 2}
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
In Half-Life 2: Lost Coast frame rates were recorded from the time you go through the gate at the bottom until you get into the old chapel at the top. The settings were set at 4xAA, 4xAniso, everything else was on high, water was set to Reflect All, and Full HDR.

Call of Duty 2
In Call of Duty 2 I used the second part of the Winter War level called Domination.  This level has some indoors and outdoors parts to the level so it gives you a good feeling of how the game will play. Settings were; 4xAA, Anisotropic filtering. During Crossfire tests the Optimize for SLI option was changed to yes.

{mospagebreak title=Battlefield 2/F.E.A.R.}

Battlefield 2
Battlefield is a beast on even the best PC?s. To test Battlefield 2 I ran the Daqing Oilfields level to get a good idea how the game would play while on foot as well as in different vehicles. Settings were on High with 4xAA.

F.E.A.R.
For FEAR I ran through the section of the first level from the time you get out of the car until you get to the roof where you are knocked out by the guy with the board.. Computer and Graphics setting were both set to High with 4xAA enabled.

FPS, higher is better.

{mospagebreak title=3DMark06/3DMark05} 

3DMark06

The standard 3DMark06 tests were run to get the following scores.

3DMark05

The standard 3DMark05 tests were run to get the following scores.

{mospagebreak title=Temps/OC’ing/Performance Overview} 
Temperatures:
The ATI X1650XT idles around 48?C and recorded a top temperature of 69?C during testing.  With the cards overclocked the temperatures raised ever so slightly to 50? at idle and 72? under full load. 

	Idle	Load
Stock	48?	69?
Overclocked	50?	72?

Performance Overview
The very first time I turned on the PC with these cards the noise was unbelievable, I had to turn off the PC and pull out the cards to make sure that there wasn?t something stuck in the fan.  There was nothing, so the cards got put back in and I tried again.  The same noise was present so I dealt with it and installed the Catalyst drivers.  As soon as the drivers were installed the cards ran almost completely silent. This is even true during boot from that point on. When gaming and under load the cards stayed very quiet.

Gaming with one or two of these cards will give anyone lots of options. Most people buying a $150 video card are not expecting to be able to game at 1600×1200, much less at 1600×1200 with AA on and everything set to high. In some games they will be able to. Other games will require settings to be turned down a bit but the resolution can stay up if wanted. Compared to the X1600 Pro that we reviewed sometime ago, the X1650 XT is in a completely different class.

Avivo is a great feature that ATI added a year ago when the X1xxx line of cards were released. It works well provided you are only running a single card. Unfortunately Avivo still doesn?t work when CrossFire is enabled. Hopefully a driver update in the future will allow this to work in CrossFire mode. The video quality from a single card is excellent.  Using HQV benchmark I was able to see the benefits between no Avivo when in CrossFire mode to what Avivo is capable of with a single card.  The difference is very clear in almost every HQV test.

Performance: 4.75/5

{mospagebreak title=Price and Warranty}
Price and Warranty

ATI is setting the price point on the X1650 XT at $149. Their partners may decide to add features and sell for more or less.  So expect the price to vary around this point.

ATI warranties their hardware for a period of one year.  Warranties offered by ATI?s partners will vary from partner to partner.

Price and Warranty: 4.75/5
{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:

There aren?t too many bad things that you can say about a $149 video card that allows you to play all current games at high resolutions and with lots of detail turned up including AA. Not to mention the video quality that this card provides and its ability to run almost silently.  Can you say Home Theater PC? The card is short with a single slot design, perfect for those cramped HTPC cases. Pair it up with a second one and you can enable or disable CrossFire as needed for gaming or watching a movie.  Hopefully soon you will be able to keep CrossFire enabled and still benefit from Avivo.  With the CrossFire connection now inside the case it removes one cable that you have to deal with outside.  This is a welcome change for many CrossFire users including myself, that external dongle was irritating. Using native CrossFire technology ATI has removed the need for a specific CrossFire Master card.  This allows anyone to buy a single X1650 XT and then down the road pick up a second X1650 XT card and drop it in to a CrossFire motherboard without the hassle of buying a CrossFire Master card. Overall I was very pleased with the X1650 XT and hope to see more products like this coming from the new ATI in the future.

Pros:
- Internal CrossFire connectors
- Very quiet running
- Single slot design
- Dual DVI
- Native CrossFire support
- No additional power needed

Cons:
- Avivo still doesn?t work in CrossFire mode (not specific to this card)

Specifications and Features: 4.5/5
Overview: 4.5/5
Performance: 4.75/5
Price and Warranty: 4.75/5
Overall: 18.5/20

Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank ATi for sending us the X1650 XT pair for review.