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MSI RX1950PRO-T2D256E Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionA new year has dawned and who knows what tech marvels lies in wait to delight us. We do know some of what you can expect though, by extrapolating existing products and looking at ro...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
The ATI Radeon X1950 PRO is at best a stopgap solution for ATI while they prepare to confront NVIDIA's GeForce 8 series head on but we are probably going to find some features like the Native CrossFire popping up in the new card as well. And for many who have lamented at the rising cost of high-end graphics, the Radeon X1950 PRO is also part of a contingent of graphics cards, like the GeForce 7900 series that is becoming more affordable now that the GeForce 8 has set another benchmark in performance and price.
For a decent Radeon X1950 PRO paired with a bundle that might actually be useful, MSI's RX1950PRO-T2D256E fits the bill nicely. |
As of now, we have already seen quite a number of Radeon X1950 PRO cards from various manufacturers and a custom two-slot solution seems to be the norm. Many are also overclocked slightly, though driver, software and even hardware limitations seem to have dulled the Radeon X1950 PRO's capacity to overclock. MSI's version fits almost all the characteristics we observed, but what's special (ironically) is that it is clocked at standard speeds suggested by ATI (575/1380MHz DDR).
The two-slot cooler on the MSI RX1950PRO-T2D256E is similar in design and concept to others in the market, with a small and relatively quiet fan circulating air over the heatsink and then exhausting it from the rear vents. A heat pipe is used to accelerate the process, directly transferring some heat away from the core. Coupled with its 80nm core, this card's GPU was hovering between 50 to 60 degrees Celsius while running benchmarks and this could drop to as low as below 40 while idling.
While its benchmark scores were slightly lower compared to its overclocked peers, the differences were marginal and unlikely to be noticed outside of a benchmark. To make up for its ordinary performance, MSI at least has a fairly decent bundle, including DVD playback applications and a game together with the usual drivers and utilities. For that, you can expect to pay a rather competitive price of around S$299 (about US$195). If you just want a standard Radeon X1950 PRO with a bit of everything, the MSI RX1950PRO-T2D256E may just be the card.
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