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Radeon X1650 XT

The Radeon X1650 XT is built on a new graphics core from ATI with the codename RV560. As stated it is an 80nm part and, nice detail, it's die size measures roughly 16.7mm by 15mm; which is the exact same size as the X1950 Pros RV570 core.

So it's pretty safe to say that it is the same chip but with a bucket of pixel pipelines disabled. Now here's where it starts to matter compared to the X1650 pro. The XT has 24 pixel shaders units with 8 ROPs thus following ATI's 3:1 pixel shader to ROP ratio, with 8 vertex shaders units and a 128bit memory bus binding 256MB of GDDR3. The reference X1650 XT we are testing today comes with a stock core clock frequency of 575MHz and a memory frequency of 675MHz (or 1.35GHz effective). This configuration gives the Radeon X1650 XT a maximum of 21.6GB/s of memory bandwidth. 

The Radeon X1650 XT as usual in the X1000 family sports a pair of dual-link DVI outputs, HDCP support, HD/TV output, and a couple of new Crossfire connectors along the top which enable its built-in Native CrossFire support.

The cooler used on the X1650 XT is low-profile and all copper. It did a fine job keeping the card cool throughout our testing. Expect a 45 to 60 Degrees C range from idle to 100% graphics core load.

We did find the fan to be somewhat audible, however. When it spins up to its maximum speed it's noisy. We'll discuss that later on in the review. When spun-down, however, the fan is quiet, which is how it operated most of the time.
Obviously you already noticed this, with the card's proposed $149 price point, ATI is positioning the Radeon X1650 XT against NVIDIA's GeForce 7600 GT. Let's quickly sift through the X1950 pro as well.

Radeon X1950 Pro

Specifications of the RV570 core are cuddling up into 12 pipelines and 36 pixel shaders with a 580 MHz core clock. Memory will be clocked at 1.4 GHz and have a 256-bit interface.

The standard Radeon X1950 Pro cards will be equipped with either 256 MB or 512MB of graphics memory and sport either a single or dual slot cooler (depending on the manufacturer's choice). The ATI Radeon X1950 Pro is also ATIs first card with internal CrossFire compatibility for dongle-less CrossFire connectivity. ATI claims performance of the Radeon X1950 Pro will be faster than the GeForce 7900 GS.  

In short, this card will work at 575-600MHz core and 1400MHz memory and will be pushed over a 256-bit memory interface. Also an interesting fact is that the Radeon X1950 Pro and X1650XT have both launched as 80nm products which results in a smaller die size, lower power consumption and thus less heat as you can lower the voltage a little.

		Radeon card	Pixel Shader Units	Vertex Shader Units	Texture Units	Max Threads	Core Frequency	Memory Frequency	Memory MB

X1800 XT

16

8

16

512

625

1.5 GHz

512 gDDR3

X1800 XL

16

8

16

512

500

1.0 GHz

256 gDDR3

X1600 XT

12

5

4

128

590

1.38 GHz

128 / 256 MB

X1600 PRO

12

5

4

128

500

780 MHz

128 / 256 MB

X1300 PRO

4

2

4

128

600

800 MHz

256 MB

X1300

4

2

4

128

450

500 MHz

128 / 256 MB

4

2

4

128

450

1 GHz

32 / 128 MB