What are your thoughts on the... Sapphire X1600 Pro 256 AGP

FeRaL · 18-January-06, 04:32 PM

I have not been able to find any reviews on this particular card, but here is the lowdown on this new card...

SAPPHIRE SUPPORTS AGP USERS WITH X1600Pro

Upgrade market now enjoys latest graphics architecture

Supporting the upgrade and retrofit markets using the industry standard AGP bus, leading graphics supplier Sapphire Technology is now shipping AGP versions of its latest series of graphics accelerators. Based on an exciting new architecture this family is now delivering the most sophisticated yet affordable graphics processing solutions to this market.

Based on a completely new architecture, the new X1600 series has been designed to deliver high efficiency, high performance in Shader Model 3.0 and enhanced image quality. The architecture also supports Avivo^TM delivering vibrant high fidelity images and video playback to the latest High Definition (HD) video standards. The new AGP version delivers exciting new levels of display quality and performance to this industry standard graphics interface.

The Sapphire RADEON X1600Pro AGP with its 12 Pixel pipelines provides the highest graphics performance in its class even for shader intensive gaming. Equipped with 256MB of DDR2 memory, this model features clock speeds of 500MHz (core) and 400MHz (memory).

Retail versions of these new Sapphire graphics accelerators will ship with multimedia software including PowerDVD and Sapphire Select, the exciting new way to deliver a choice of games to the end user. Each card is bundled with a DVD containing a selection of top games from several leading software houses. The end customer can play each of the games for a one hour trial before choosing which titles he or she wants to keep and using the activation codes for those titles.

Sapphire’s RADEON X1000 series now delivers the best graphics and video performance in the industry. For more details please visit www.sapphiretech.com

(Editors: please contact your regional Press contact for local pricing)

Specification Summary

Chipset	RADEON X1600 Pro AGP
Engine clock	500 MHz
Shader units	12
Memory clock	800 MHz DDR2
Memory interface	128-bit
Memory Support	256
Bus Interface	AGP
Variable display outputs	VGA / DVI / TV out
Max 3D resolution	2560x1600 (dual-link DVI) 1024 x 768 (TV out)
Hardware Features	DirectXÃ‚Â® 9 ShaderModel 3.0
Software Feature	Avivo^TM

Jobistober · 18-January-06, 04:40 PM

My question is if the AGP bus can handle all of that card? Won't the AGP bus bottle neck the performance? If there aren't any performance limitations, I might consider getting one!

Bionic · 18-January-06, 05:28 PM

Do you have data to back up your guess that the card will be limited by the AGP bus? I'm not really doubting you, I'm just concerned because I was excited that this announcement might be followed at some point by an X1800 Pro for AGP, which would be a good upgrade for my AGP system (since I don't want to replace the MOBO right now). If indeed the AGP bus is already a limiting factor with the X1600, then there's no point in looking for an X1800...

FeRaL · 18-January-06, 05:57 PM

Reason I ask, is I know a local shop selling them for 150 plus tax.... If they are anywhere between the PCIe x1600xt and the x1300Pro's, they should be a tad bit better than the 6600gts.

Gzim · 18-January-06, 05:59 PM

My friend (so I'm skeptical) told me that the whole AGP going to PCIe thing is crazy, since the maximum potential of AGP hasn't even been reached. Which is also why its dumb to think that 2x16X SLI would be any huge difference from 2x8X SLI. Again, this is just what my friend said, don't know if there is any real truth to it.

FeRaL · 18-January-06, 07:09 PM

Forgot to mention the price range on these.

$150 -$200 depenting on what package you get. The $150 package is just the card, cables, and drivers.

Bionic · 18-January-06, 08:40 PM

Where did you get those prices, Feral? I looked all over earlier and couldn't find them.
The ones you listed are slightly higher than the PCI-E version

FeRaL · 18-January-06, 09:53 PM

allstarshop.com

actual price range is at sapphires website.

Bionic · 18-January-06, 10:26 PM

I can only hope that the price info on Sapphire's site was updated AFTER I checked earlier today

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18-January-06, 04:40 PM		#2 (permalink)
Jobistober P'Hoe'toshop Fanatic	My question is if the AGP bus can handle all of that card? Won't the AGP bus bottle neck the performance? If there aren't any performance limitations, I might consider getting one!

18-January-06, 05:28 PM		#3 (permalink)
Bionic Apex Tech Maniac	Do you have data to back up your guess that the card will be limited by the AGP bus? I'm not really doubting you, I'm just concerned because I was excited that this announcement might be followed at some point by an X1800 Pro for AGP, which would be a good upgrade for my AGP system (since I don't want to replace the MOBO right now). If indeed the AGP bus is already a limiting factor with the X1600, then there's no point in looking for an X1800...

18-January-06, 05:57 PM		#4 (permalink)
FeRaL Mutant Moderator	Reason I ask, is I know a local shop selling them for 150 plus tax.... If they are anywhere between the PCIe x1600xt and the x1300Pro's, they should be a tad bit better than the 6600gts.

18-January-06, 05:59 PM		#5 (permalink)
Gzim Da' Jersey Kid	My friend (so I'm skeptical) told me that the whole AGP going to PCIe thing is crazy, since the maximum potential of AGP hasn't even been reached. Which is also why its dumb to think that 2x16X SLI would be any huge difference from 2x8X SLI. Again, this is just what my friend said, don't know if there is any real truth to it.

18-January-06, 07:09 PM		#6 (permalink)
FeRaL Mutant Moderator	Forgot to mention the price range on these. $150 -$200 depenting on what package you get. The $150 package is just the card, cables, and drivers.

18-January-06, 08:40 PM		#7 (permalink)
Bionic Apex Tech Maniac	Where did you get those prices, Feral? I looked all over earlier and couldn't find them. The ones you listed are slightly higher than the PCI-E version

18-January-06, 09:53 PM		#8 (permalink)
FeRaL Mutant Moderator	allstarshop.com actual price range is at sapphires website.

18-January-06, 10:26 PM		#9 (permalink)
Bionic Apex Tech Maniac	I can only hope that the price info on Sapphire's site was updated AFTER I checked earlier today