ATI Radeon X700 Pro 256MB

If you are looking for a new video card, it is tough to go wrong with an ATI. Though their models are usually more basic than those offered by their partners, the cards are proven and usually are more affordable. The other side of this is that ATI's cards will not feature things like extra large GPU coolers or factory set overclocking.

The X700 is ATI's newest mid-level card. It is available in a large number of diferent configurations, we will be testing it with 256MB of memory and a 128-bit memory interface. It is built on a 0.11 micron fabrication process and has 120 million transistors. It is rated at a fill rate of 3360 megapixels and a memory bandwidth of 13.8 GB/s.

The card was packaged in ATI's standard, but effective method- it was placed on top of a cardboard divider, below which resided the X700's accessories. Unlike the 6600 GT OC the X700 arrived in a anti-static bag.

Along with the video card was: a drivers CD, composite and S-video cables, HDTV out cable, one DVI to VGA adapter, and the manuals. ATI did not include any extra software- not even demos!

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The X700 makes us of ATI's red PCB, which used to mean something really special, but now has just become a trademark characteristic. The GPU and memory are cooled by a large aluminum heatsink which covers a large part of the video card. This cooler is pretty large considering how conservative ATI usually is, but then again, it does not have the warranty-crushing heft of many aftermarket cooling solutions.

Looking inside the cooling apparatus you can see that there are fins which are there to increase surface area and cooling effectiveness. By putting a cover over the fins the low-profile fan can blow air through them without having to be directional. This way the memory does not have to be passively cooled and can benefit from the fan.