The Radeon X1950PRO really took some time to establish itself as a serious player. Initially, it seemed that the card was just a typical "let's release something for the hell of it" product but with price drops and new drivers it has grown up nicely. We just have to hope that AMD do not stuff it all up by releasing the HD2600 series with a high price tag and poor performance.
This particular incarnation has a fair bit going for it as well. It is silent, which is always a good thing, and it is not one of those silent X1300s, it is actually a card you can game with. PowerColor also offers VIVO, which seems to be showing up less and less on graphics cards these days, which means that this would be a good card for a home theater PC (HTPC) setup where it would allow you to have a nice quiet system that also lets you play games.
The design of the card does mean CrossFire dual graphics is out of the question and while it is technically a con, clearly PowerColor knows that the chances of someone using CrossFire period, let alone on two of these cards is not a big deal, we cannot see it being a problem.
This is one of the better versions of the X1950PRO and the silent design works well. However, with a setup like this you normally have to trade off overclock ability, but if you only want to run at stock speeds the card performs just as well as all those other models with noisy spinning fans. We tried some OC but did not get far at all.
PowerColor have done a great job with the card with the only real gripe being the lack of an included game, which is disappointing as the company has bundled some fantastic games in the past. Come on PowerColor give us a new game - otherwise it is a product to take into consideration, as long as DX10 is not a requirement for you.
Pros Silence is good! Good performance VIVO Good pricing
Cons Cannot do CrossFire No overclocking No bundled game No DX10 support
Rating 8.5 out of 10
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