ATI X1600 Cards

SchoolTech wrote:
> Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:
>
> Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
> out, DVI Dual head NZ$272
>
>
> Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
> PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85
>
> Pricing from ascent.co.nz
>
> Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
> junk out there?

I'm guessing your buying this for a wee bit of gaming (yes?).

Assuming your budget is in the $300 NZD range, and that you'd prefer to
buy from Ascent (which is entirely understandable), then would not
something like a 7600GS or 6600GT be a better option?
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

SchoolTech wrote:
> Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:
>
> Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
> out, DVI Dual head NZ$272
>
>
> Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
> PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85
>
> Pricing from ascent.co.nz
>
> Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
> junk out there?

I would be happy with Asus or Gigabyte.....gigabyte actually produced a
4 sli motherboard months back running 4 graphics cards.....so they are
serious players to my mind. So I would be happy with Gigabyte as my
choice as they seem to do hi performing kit and a good price point
beating Asus so for my myself....Gigabyte.

regards

Thing
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

First of One wrote:
> Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
> Gigabyte.
>

Good point 512Meg is worth a wee bit more, all else being equal.....

regards

thing
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

First of One wrote:
> Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
> Gigabyte.
>

The additional frame buffer memory is somewhat of a gimmick IMHO.

Unless he's going to be doing some high resolution FSAA gaming
(1600x1200 and higher) then 256MB should be fine. Plus if he was going
to do gaming at those resolutions, he's looking at the wrong card (and
certainly the wrong price range).
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

First of One wrote:
> Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
> Gigabyte.
>

Looking at the Asus and the gigabyte, the extra price of the gigabyte
seems to be the passive cooling solution, which it is normal to pay
extra for from what I can determine.....

From bitter experience over the last 5~6 years a fan on a hi-end
graphics card cannot actually be replacedd easily, if at all....so I am
all for passive cooling if possible. think I have lost all three of my
hi-end video cards due to this....

regards

Thing
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

You... don't replace the fan if it seizes. You replace the entire heat sink
/ fan unit with an aftermarket one. High-end cards tend to have a myriad of
replacement cooling options available.

Passive coolers aren't magical. They become finger-burning hot under load
and are extremely dependent on good case airflow.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"thingy" <thingy.DeleteThis@nowhere.spammers.commy> wrote in message
news:521kl3-ler.ln1@news.vuw.ac.nz...
> From bitter experience over the last 5~6 years a fan on a hi-end graphics
> card cannot actually be replacedd easily, if at all....so I am all for
> passive cooling if possible. think I have lost all three of my hi-end
> video cards due to this....
>
> regards
>
> Thing
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

Daniel wrote:
> SchoolTech wrote:
>
>> Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:
>>
>> Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
>> out, DVI Dual head NZ$272
>>
>>
>> Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
>> PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85
>>
>> Pricing from ascent.co.nz
>>
>> Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
>> junk out there?
>
>
> I'm guessing your buying this for a wee bit of gaming (yes?).
>
> Assuming your budget is in the $300 NZD range, and that you'd prefer to
> buy from Ascent (which is entirely understandable), then would not
> something like a 7600GS or 6600GT be a better option?

pp.co.nz is a good place to buy as well IMHO....as is aquila.....and yes
I would tend to the nvidia myself as well.

tomshardware had a recent review on cards so I would suggest reading it.

regards

Thing



regards

Thing
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

SchoolTech wrote:
> Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:
>
> Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
> out, DVI Dual head NZ$272
>
>
> Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
> PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85
>
> Pricing from ascent.co.nz
>
> Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
> junk out there?

To clarify
The card is to be used for high end presentation software - not gaming.

The DirectX9 capabilities with larger amounts of video memory are being
used by developers these days to design software that can do fancy
presentation effects, like motion backgrounds and live video with text
superimposition etc etc.
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

SchoolTech wrote:
> SchoolTech wrote:
>> Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:
>>
>> Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16, TV
>> out, DVI Dual head NZ$272
>>
>>
>> Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
>> PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85
>>
>> Pricing from ascent.co.nz
>>
>> Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
>> junk out there?
>
> To clarify
> The card is to be used for high end presentation software - not gaming.
>
> The DirectX9 capabilities with larger amounts of video memory are being
> used by developers these days to design software that can do fancy
> presentation effects, like motion backgrounds and live video with text
> superimposition etc etc.

Hmmm... I'm interested.

What software are we talking about? Can you provide a link please?
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

"First of One" <daxinfx.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:qsOdnYNSGo3g0BrZnZ2dnUVZ_q-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
> Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
> Gigabyte.

But are they doing the old trick of giving more RAM but its slower RAM than
the other models with less RAM......
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

Daniel wrote:
> SchoolTech wrote:
>> SchoolTech wrote:
>>> Looking at a couple of models available in NZ:
>>>
>>> Asus EAX1600PRO Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 512MB, DDR2, PCIe-16,
>>> TV out, DVI Dual head NZ$272
>>>
>>>
>>> Gigabyte GV-RX16P256DE-RH Video Card, Radeon X1600 Pro, 256MB, DDR2,
>>> PCIe-16, TV out, DVI, HDTV, CrossFire Dual head NZ$275.85
>>>
>>> Pricing from ascent.co.nz
>>>
>>> Are these good brands, considering there is a lot of cheap and nasty
>>> junk out there?
>>
>> To clarify
>> The card is to be used for high end presentation software - not gaming.
>>
>> The DirectX9 capabilities with larger amounts of video memory are
>> being used by developers these days to design software that can do
>> fancy presentation effects, like motion backgrounds and live video
>> with text superimposition etc etc.
>
> Hmmm... I'm interested.
>
> What software are we talking about? Can you provide a link please?

MediaShout is an example
www.mediashout.com

SongShow Plus (V7)
www.songshowplus.com

I guess even addons to Powerpoint / ActiveX stuff in Mediaplayer can do
it as well.
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

XPD wrote:
> "First of One" <daxinfx DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:qsOdnYNSGo3g0BrZnZ2dnUVZ_q-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
>> Yes. And given the prices I'd pick the Asus (twice as much RAM) over the
>> Gigabyte.
>
> But are they doing the old trick of giving more RAM but its slower RAM than
> the other models with less RAM......
>
>

Spec below.
Does that address that? Is the RAM in this thing pretty fast?
The Gigabyte spec doesn't give any comparable info unfortunately.

Specification

Graphics Engine
ATI Radeon X1600PRO

Video Memory
512M

Engine Clock
500MHz

Memory Clock
540MHz(270MHz DDR2)

RAMDAC
400MHz

Bus Standard
16 lanes PCI Express

Memory Interface
128-bit

Max Resolution
2048x1536

TV Output
Yes

VGA Output
Standard 15-pin D-sub

DVI Output
DVI-I

2nd VGA Output
Yes, via DVI-to-VGA adaptor

Adaptor/Cable bundled S-Video & composit cable
DVI-to-2nd VGA adaptor

3D game bundle
Hottest game: King Kong Special Edition
Stylish CD leather Wallet
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards 

SchoolTech wrote:
>
> MediaShout is an example
> www.mediashout.com
>
> SongShow Plus (V7)
> www.songshowplus.com
>
> I guess even addons to Powerpoint / ActiveX stuff in Mediaplayer can do
> it as well.

Okay, I see where you're coming from now.

In that case I think something like an X1600pro is perhaps a wee bit
overkill.

As for MediaShout and SongShow Plus, I'd definitely recommend you
investigate a couple of Open Source alternatives - they do exist (I
think OpenSong was one of them).

Seriously. For all the features that MediaShout has - and are never
actually used, I think you'd be better placed to forge ahead with an
Open Source solution.

A gfx card for half the price would easily do what you're after.
 >> Stay informed about: ATI X1600 Cards