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Review: Sapphire Technology Radeon X1600 Pro HDMI 256MiB

by Tarinder Sandhu on 18 July 2006, 08:53

Tags: Sapphire Radeon X1600 PRO, Sapphire

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Final thoughts, awards and right2reply

Final thoughts, awards and right2reply

Sapphire has been one of the first companies to see the value in adding an HDMI connector to a midrange graphics card. Its Radeon X1600 Pro HDMI SKU will be priced at around £95, which is around £20 more than its HDMI-less model and, significantly, right on Radeon X1600 XT money. The logical conclusion, then, is that it doesn't represent good value for money if evaluated solely from a gaming perspective. However, pure gaming grunt isn't this SKU's raison d'etre. Rather, it's aimed at users who wish to connect their PCs to HDMI-equipped LCD and plasma TVs, for large-screen, high-definition viewing and gaming.

Sapphire's been responsible and added in the requisite HDMI cable (which isn't cheap) and adapter in the package. The card's half-height PCB and changeable back panel makes it perfect for small form-factor media center boxes, and HDCP compliance bodes well for upcoming high-def. media, as well.

You need to consider the entire package that's on offer here and not just the price. With that in mind, it makes decent sense for those looking to make the most out of your sleek HD panels. Recommended for its multimedia credentials rather than outright gaming speed.

HEXUS Awards

- Sapphire Radeon X1600 Pro HDMI 256MiB.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS.net, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any of Sapphire's representatives choose to do so, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

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HEXUS Forums :: 33 Comments

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Posted by MSIC - Tue 18 Jul 2006 11:07
There is, surely, one major flaw in your review - you hook it up to an LCD TV and state the resolution you output at, but then you dont test the gaming performance of the card at that resolution!!
It strikes me that the resolutions that you test at are a complete nonsense, given the purpose of the card. Could you either comment on this, or preferably add to the original review?
Thanks
Posted by Tarinder - Tue 18 Jul 2006 11:24
MSIC
There is, surely, one major flaw in your review - you hook it up to an LCD TV and state the resolution you output at, but then you dont test the gaming performance of the card at that resolution!!
It strikes me that the resolutions that you test at are a complete nonsense, given the purpose of the card. Could you either comment on this, or preferably add to the original review?
Thanks

Hi,

Thanks for your comments.

Yes, the card does have native HDMI compatibility and it can be run on large-screen LCD displays.

However, to put performance in some kind of context with other cards at that price bracket, which is important, we ran numbers using our regular PC benchmarks for midrange cards. This way, you can easily discern just where it sits in relation to others.

There's also no reason why you can't connect this card up to a regular PC monitor for gaming, through the D-SUB interface. Gaming on your PC and movie-watching/browsing on your LCD.

Further, the numbers gained from testing at the 1280x1024 resolution and settings show, to some degree, the kind of framerates you would achieve with, say, 1366x768 (or, for that matter 1280x720). They're likely to be 20% higher, given the lower pixel count.
Posted by MSIC - Tue 18 Jul 2006 11:51
Thanks for replying, i should add that I usually agree and always enjoy reading the reviews.

The issue of ‘inferring performance’ however is not one that I agree with you upon.

As an analogy, if I were to go to a shop and ask about the price of a pint of milk, and the shop assistant told me that 2 pints costs about £1 and I could “therefore assume the cost of one pint” I would not be happy.

I agree with you that having higher resloutions may be of some use to some people, but in my opinion if a person is going to pay the extra to have a HDMI connection there is at least a reasonable chance they want to output to an LCD TV (as you mention in the article), and therefore I re-assert that it would make sense to test games at a 1368 x 768 or whatever.

Other than that, thanks for listening.
Posted by Tarinder - Tue 18 Jul 2006 12:30
No problem.

I pretty much agree with you, too. There's no reason why we can't test performance at 1280x720 or 1366x768.

The card's currently in transit right now, but I'll update the review with a page devoted to LCD resolutions in due course.

We're always keen to hear sensible opinions from our readers and take their suggestions on-board.

BTW, I have a card that's concurrently hooked up to my LCD TV and PC monitor. I prefer close-up gaming but watching movies, via the PC, on the TV.



I'd like a card with HDMI and dual-link DVI, to drive the Dell 30-inch.
Posted by MSIC - Tue 18 Jul 2006 12:40
Sweet setup! Unfortuately it's not one that my girlfriend / wife-to-be would allow in our front room, as “a front room has to look like a family room”, not a geek room (i'm soooooo opressed!), hence one PC and one monitor (LCD TV), with no visible wires.

Still, if we ever get divorced…… (dont ever let her read this!) :)

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