ATI Radeon X1650 XT, X1950 Pro, X1950 XT videocard test

Introduction

With the introduction of cards like the GeForce 7900 GS, the GeForce 7950 GT and more recently the GeForce 8 series, nVidia has thoroughly reshuffled the videocard trade. We have yet to hear ATI's reply to the GeForce 8, which is the world's first DirectX 10 compatible videocard. Nevertheless we hear new rumours on an almost daily basis about its new R600 chip which should be introduced sometime in the coming few months. If we take the high end sector of the market as read, we can see that the aforementioned 7900 GS and 7950 GT cards suddenly gave nVidia the edge in the price/performance stakes. A right sock in the eye for ATI! But as per usual a reaction doesn't take long, and ATI has recently restructured its current line of videocards. In the mid-range sector, it introduced the ATI Radeon X1650 XT, a card that outperforms nVidia's shining star, the GeForce 7600 GT in almost all cases. In the higher regions of the market, the Radeon X1950 Pro was presented as a direct competitor for the GeForce 7900 GS, and soon after that the X1950 XT was created in order to menace the GeForce 7950 GT.

The ATI Radeon X1950 Pro is set to compete with nVidia's GeForce 7900 GS

In this review we'll tackle the new ATI products in more detail, and take a closer look at three Radeon X1650 XT cards, five Radeon X1950 Pro cards, and two Radeon X1950 XT cards.

If you wonder how these new ATI chips compare in performance to each other, their predecessors or the competition from nVidia, check out this page to draw up extensive graphs.