The card features 512MB of onboard GDDR3
memory clocked at 775MHz (1550MHz DDR). These cards utilized
Samsung IC’s (K4J52324QC-BJ11) and it would appear that the
majority of Radeon X1900XTX based cards will use similar
Samsung memory. After some quick research, I have found that
these modules are rated at 1800MHz DDR. This means the
memory on our Gigabyte card should provide quite a lot of
overclocking headroom. Whilst in action the Radeon X1900XTX
fan volume level is quite pleasant for the most part, it
does increase the throttle when under load. However, unlike
the Gigabyte X1800XT this X1900XTX graphics card does not
appear to generate all that much noise when gaming. Perhaps,
Gigabyte dialed down the fans sensitivity.
Although the operating volume is not
something I would concern myself with, the power requirement
for this graphics cards is, particularly when in CrossFire
mode. The need for a good quality power supply is a must in
any high-end gaming system. Those that utilize the power of
SLI or CrossFire technology will need a bare minimum of
500w, often even this wattage rating is not enough. Although
I am yet to test two Radeon X1900XTX cards in CrossFire
mode, I can confirm that a single card generates a great
deal of heat on its own.
The rear of the Gigabyte Radeon X1900XTX
features an S-Video port supporting the Video-In/Video-Out
function and dual DVI outputs. There are also a number of
cables supplied with the card which will help the user
utilize some of these features. The package also features a
number of software titles as well as Gigabyte’s own
overclocking utility. Overall, the Radeon X1900XTX looks to
be a quality product with many unique aspects.
Utilities & Packaging
Considering a single Radeon X1900XTX
graphics card costs roughly $600 (street prices are
currently in the
$500-600 range, depending on the brand you
choose); Gigabyte definitely needed an eye catching way to
get their product noticed. For the consumer it is often
difficult to choose the right product, with so many to
choose from, even shipping in a sleek fancy box can help the
sales. Gigabyte knows how important it is to stand out on a
shelf full of graphics cards and has therefore created a
very elaborate looking box.
There are also a number of cables
including a TV Out cable, Video In cable and DVI-I to D-Sub
adapter. Gigabyte has also included their own software title
called “V-Tuner2”, designed to help the user easily
overclock their graphics cards memory and core. Overall, the
package contents are sufficient, though it does suggest that
Gigabyte is trying to offer a reasonably cheap Radeon
X1900XTX graphics card. By this I mean as cheap as a Radeon
X1900XTX graphics card gets, which is still of course very
expensive.
The Gigabyte Radeon X1900XTX was tested
using three different quality configurations. First without
AA/AF at 1600x1200 and 1280x1024 resolutions. Then using
4xAA/8xAF settings at those same resolutions.
Finally, on its maximum settings at
6xAA/16xAF for ATI cards and 8xAA/16xAF for NVIDIA cards.
The card was also compared to the Gigabyte Radeon X1800XT
and GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards. Unfortunately we could
not test against NVIDIA’s recently launched GeForce 7900 GTX
card, although from
these tests done at Anandtech, we can
observe that the Radeon X1900XTX is still performance king
as a single card solution.
We did not test SLI/CrossFire
performance, where usually NVIDIA has got the lead.
