PowerColor X800 GT Xtreme 256MB
PowerColor has taken the basic template established with its own regular Radeon X800 GT 256MB card but has changed the cooler in the transition to Xtreme status. On first glance, the cooler looks less powerful than the one specified on the regular X800 GT and, as you can no doubt see, it leaves the RAM chips without passive cooling. The cooler's fan, we're glad to report, is quiet when in use, as it should be on a midrange card. What's not immediately obvious, though, is that this Xtreme version pushes up the regular X800 GT's core speed from 475MHz to 500MHz. A touch extra performance, then. It's worth pointing out that PowerColor continues to use R480-based cores on its X800 GT cards, so bumping up the core speed to 500MHz should have been a non-issue.
A closer look at the front shows the cutaway nature of the cooler. Those with good eyesight will be able to discern that PowerColor, on this occasion, uses faster GDDR3 memory than on the regular version. A total of 8 1.6ns-rated Samsung chips provide the card's 256MB framebuffer. 1.6ns RAM usually equates to a basic RAM speed of 1200MHz, although manufacturers have been known to tighten timings a little, providing that little extra bump in performance, and dropping memory speed down from the nominal rating. That's the case here; the PowerColor X800 GT Xtreme 256MB card is factory-clocked at 1050MHz RAM, which is 70MHz faster than the non-Xtreme version.
Carrying on over from the basic version is the use of dual DVI connections. The second is run off Silicon Image's Sil 1162 DVI transmitter. Both DVI connections are single-link, meaning that you'll only be able to run displays with resolutions of up to 1920x1200 pixels on each one. That shouldn't be a problem for the kind of midrange systems the card is intended to be installed within.
The Xtreme version uses a slightly different cooler-holding mechanism than the no-frills edition. However, users looking for any kind of temperature-monitoring ASIC, as seen on SAPPHIRE's range of X800-based SKUs, will be left wanting here. Sure, the PowerColor X800 GT Xtreme 256MB features faster core and memory clocks than the regular model, but the asking price of £125.99, about £20 greater than most basic X800 GT 256MB cards, probably deserves a little greater innovation, we feel.
