Like most hardware people I spend a lot of time visiting different
forums, on almost every forum I visit I always see at least one
post that goes something like this. "Why would you buy two
brand XXX video cards when you can get one top of the line brand
XXX card that performs better" I always have a one word,
simple answer "FINANCES" Not everyone can drop $500-$700
in one chunk on a top of the line video card, spending a couple
hundred here, and a couple hundred there is a lot easier to swallow
for the majority of the hardware buying public. I've never owned
a top of the line, bleeding edge state of the art video card,
maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but for my money, I want
it to stretch as far as possible and lucky for me the manufacturers
know there are millions of buyers out there just like me.
Up on the test bench today is the Asus
EAX1950 Pro. I won't be comparing it to another card, instead
I'll be comparing Crossfire vs. no Crossfire, is the extra performance
worth an extra $200. The EAX1950 Pro comes in two versions, one
is the standard and one is the Crossfire edition, the only difference
in the two is the Crossfire edition includes the two Crossfire
bridges you will need to run in Crossfire mode, as far as the
cards go they are identical, so if you only need a single card
and don't plan on using crossfire, stick with the regular edition
and save yourself a few bucks at the checkout.
The EAX1950 Pro is based on the RV570 core running at 581MHz
clock speed and 702MHz GDDR3 using a 256-Bit memory interface.
The EAX1950 Pro is Windows Vista ready AND HDCP ready.
From the Asus website these are the technical specs of the card.
|
Graphics
Engine
|
RADEON
X1950PRO
|
|
Video
Memory
|
256MB
DDR3
|
|
Engine
Clock
|
581MHz
|
|
Memory
Clock
|
1.4GHz
(702MHz DDR3)
|
|
Memory
Interface
|
256-bit
|
|
Max
Resolution
|
2048
X 1536
|
|
Bus
Standard
|
PCI
Express X16
|
|
VGA
Output
|
YES,
via DVI to VGA Adapter
|
|
HDTV
Output
|
YES,
S-Video to HDTV Out
|
|
TV
Output
|
YES,
S-Video to Composite
|
|
DVI
Output
|
DVI-I
|
|
Dual
DVI Output
|
YES
|
|
HDCP
Support
|
YES
|
|
Adapter/Cable
bundled
|
DVI
to VGA adapter
Power Cable
HDTV-Out Cable
|
|
Software
Bundled
|
ASUS
Utilities & Driver
|
|
Note
|
Power
Supply Requirement:
1. 450-Watt power supply or greater, 30 Amps, 12 volt rail
is recommended (assumes fully loaded system)
2. For CrossFire™: 550 watt power supply or greater,
38 Amps, 12 volt rail
|
The card arrived padded in pre cut foam in a nice looking, thin
retail box, you wont find a lot of extras with this bundle, no
games you most likely wont play, no "free" software
you most likely already have multiple copies of anyway. This not
only helps keep costs down, which I am all for, but it also cuts
down on the loads of junk you either have to find a place to store
or get rid of.
What you will find in the bundle is the card itself,
driver CD, manual on CD, quick start guide, DVI to VGA adapter,
HDTV out cable, Molex to PCI power adapter and a CD wallet.
If you get the Crossfire edition you will also get two Crossfire
bridges, the standard edition does not come with them.
The card itself is longer than most cards I have
dealt with, so that may be something to consider if space is
a concern. The cooler on the card is large and does take up
an additional slot, it is a heatpipe based design with a fan
at the front of the card that blows air across the GPU, through
the fins and out the back, the heatpipe further aids in cooling
by transferring heat away from the GPU to the fins that the
fan cools. The cooler is attached to the card using a metal
bracket on the back. Not only does it appear to be an effective
design, but it looks good to.
If you have been keeping up with Crossfire, and
have been paying attention to the review so far you might have
noticed the mention of Crossfire bridges, Yes that's right you
no longer need a master card or an ugly, awkward dongle hanging
off the back of your case to run in Crossfire mode. ATI has
gone to an "onboard" Crossfire much like Nvidia and
their SLI bridge. ATI however uses two bridges compared to NVIDIA's
one. Keep in mind the standard EAX1950 Pro does not come with
any Crossfire bridges.
Test Setup:
The test system I'll be using is as follows,
Windows XP w/SP2
Intel 3.4GHz P4 socket 775
Foxconn
975X7AA-8EKRS2H
2GB DDR2
1 X WD 80GB IDE HDD
2 X WD Raptor 74GB SATA HDD
Asus Dual Layer DVD burner
Tagan TurboJet 1100W PSU
Games used will be
Battlefield 2
Half-Life 2 Episode 1
Quake 4
Tomb Raider Legend: Next Generation Features
The driver settings were manually configured for
AntiAliasing and Anisotropic Filtering enabled (4xAA and 16xAF
respectively), and set to "Quality" via the video driver's control
panel. All games were set to their highest allowable game settings
and patched to the latest versions. FRAPS was used to capture
the scores.
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