Hello All, new here
Got this video card (Visiontek Radeon X1300 PCI) two weeks ago or so (Compusa 79.99 deal
ended though now btw). Since it was only 80 bucks so I gave it a try. About the review, i found parts helpful and some other parts unhelpful. I know that PCI-E obviously performs much better than PCI and i felt that it was unfair to compare this PCI one to a PCI-E. But overall it was ok, not counting the comparison to the PCI-E card. For me, PCI is my only option unless you can find some decent PCI-X card out there lol. (in college, i'm broke)
What i think of the card: (my tiny review)
System:
Dual 2.4 Xeons
4 gigz ram
35gb SCSI Hard Drive x2
200gb hard drive
Visiontek Radeon X1300 256mb PCI
Windows XP
First off, i know my system isn't one of those hard core gaming systems but it's what I got and i have to deal with it until i get out of college and get a job and get my own. I have a supermicro motherboard. And as i can understand from my friend, my computer is meant for industrial use like servers and such. Again, my budget and no job :/ My previous card was a Radeon 9200se 128 PCI and it did it's job well until i saw this card. This new card isn't perfect but doesn't quite suck either. For a PCI card, it's amazing and astounding, an X1300 GPU on a PCI. I am also running these games at 1024x768 unless mentioned otherwise.
Cons:
There are just a few games that this card just doesn't like. Guild Wars and Call of Duty 2 just don't like this card. Guild Wars (my system specs are over the requirements) runs only at 7 fps at max settings and only at ~10 at the lowest settings(compared to 15-20 on a 9200se). Call of Duty 2 also hates this card. It runs at 10 fps maxed out without AA, with AA it goes down to 1-3 (compared to 20-30 on a 9200se). Even when i tried the lowest settings (like 800x600, all details lowest or none and such) it only went to around 17 or less fps. Online, sometimes even lower with a 500 ping (ugh!). my typical ping with my 9200se was around 100 or less. These are the only gripes i have with this card. 2 of my favorite games are basically unplayable. Doing some research, a product review on CompUSA pointed out that it didn't play well on OpenGl game. I understand that's some sort of rendering method so i think that i can agree with that. Also, this card was made specifically for PCI-E and AGP and that it requires some sort of translator or converter and so the quality is lowered compared to PCI-E and AGP
Pros:
For me, this was a blessing. It has improved my CS:S fps quite a bit, from 15-20 fps to 30-60 fps at all the recommended settings (high). So card works for me when i play Source games. As a PCI card, compared to the 9200se, it is better on the games that it works on but just plain sucks on some other games. Compared to the 9200se, it has Pixel 3.0 (yay battlefield 2) and supports HDR (yay Lost Coast and CS:S). On doom 3, i get at least 30 fps and peak at 70 on 'high settings'. Also, another pro is that this card is 'Vista Ready' and I plan on getting it when it releases.
Overall:
Overall, i think that this card [I]was[I] worth it when Compusa had the $79.99 deal. Now it's $130 and imo not worth the buy. If you currently have a PCI and no other option with only a 9200, i think this is worth a try and see how well it does. If most of your games that you play daily work then it is worth it. If not, then i guess you'll have to stick with your current card. As a 'gamer card', it doesn't do so well and it's just an average card with ps 3.0, hdr, and vista ready. if you don't want to play games on this, then this card is just way too expensive and the wrong card for you. For me, i'll be switching my cards every now and then so i can play call of duty 2 and guild wars
3.5/5
Note: I guess this card will really depend on the user. It works really well on some games but not on others so you really have to depend on what games you play.
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10-29-2006
Radeon X1300 Pro needs help!!
