GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E

On one hand, this article will give nothing new to those, who know well such products as the RADEON X1600 PRO/X1600 XT. On the other hand, it will provide much compressed information to inexperienced users about the fact that the RADEON X1600 PRO = the X1300 XT and the RADEON X1600 XT = the X1650 PRO. Indeed, we should remind our readers of this fact. All details of this magical transformation, initiated by marketing specialists, were already reviewed in this article.

So we'll just show our cards under review and analyze their features. Moreover, I can tell you that many ATI's partners use the X1600 XT with faster memory (not the X1600 PRO) to manufacture the X1300 XT. That's why all X1300 XT cards are either "Turbo" or "Overclocked". In fact, they are little different from the X1650 PRO (the former X1600 XT).

Let's make sure it's true.

Video Cards

GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E
GPU: RADEON X1300 XT (RV530) Interface: PCI-Express x16 GPU frequencies: 560 MHz (nominal - 400 MHz) Memory frequencies (physical/effective): 690 (1380) MHz (nominal - 400 (800) MHz) Memory bus width: 128bit Number of vertex pipelines: 5 Number of pixel pipelines: 12 Number of texture processors: 4 Number of ROPs: 4 Dimensions: 170x100x15mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a video card). PCB color: red. Output connectors: 2 x DVI (Dual-Link), TV-Out. VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU.
GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E
GPU: RADEON X1650 PRO (RV530) Interface: PCI-Express x16 GPU frequencies: 590 MHz (nominal - 590 MHz) Memory frequencies (physical/effective): 690 (1380) MHz (nominal - 690 (1380) MHz) Memory bus width: 128bit Number of vertex pipelines: 5 Number of pixel pipelines: 12 Number of texture processors: 4 Number of ROPs: 4 Dimensions: 170x100x15mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a video card). PCB color: red. Output connectors: 2 x DVI (1 x Dual-Link), TV-Out. VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU.
HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E
GPU: RADEON X1300 XT (RV530) Interface: PCI-Express x16 GPU frequencies: 587 MHz (nominal - 400 MHz) Memory frequencies (physical/effective): 690 (1380) MHz (nominal - 400 (800) MHz) Memory bus width: 128bit Number of vertex pipelines: 5 Number of pixel pipelines: 12 Number of texture processors: 4 Number of ROPs: 4 Dimensions: 170x100x31mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a video card). PCB color: red. Output connectors: 2 x DVI (2 x Dual-Link), TV-Out. VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU.
HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E
GPU: RADEON X1650 PRO (RV530) Interface: PCI-Express x16 GPU frequencies: 587 MHz (nominal - 590 MHz) Memory frequencies (physical/effective): 690 (1380) MHz (nominal - 690 (1380) MHz) Memory bus width: 128bit Number of vertex pipelines: 5 Number of pixel pipelines: 12 Number of texture processors: 4 Number of ROPs: 4 Dimensions: 170x100x31mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a video card). PCB color: red. Output connectors: 2 x DVI (2 x Dual-Link), TV-Out. VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU.

GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E; GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E
The video card has 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM allocated in four chips on the front side of the PCB. Samsung memory chips (GDDR3). 1.2ns memory access time, which corresponds to 800 (1600) MHz.
HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E; HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E
The video card has 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM allocated in four chips on the front side of the PCB. Samsung memory chips (GDDR3). 1.4ns memory access time, which corresponds to 700 (1400) MHz.

Comparison with the reference design, front view
GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E	Reference card ATI RADEON X1600 XT


GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E

HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E

HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E

Comparison with the reference design, back view
GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E	Reference card ATI RADEON X1600 XT

GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E

HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E

HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E

We can see well that both GeCube products are the same solution with different frequencies. Both are based on the same PCB, which differs from the reference design in the option to install additional memory chips at the back side (up to 512 MB in total). Moreover, you can find the old card names under the stickers:

It's a direct proof that the products were just renamed. Besides, the X1300 XT is based on the X1600 XT, which core clock is slightly reduced for the sake of appearances.

As for HIS products, you can sometimes come across old stickers at the back of the cards. The company just packed old X1600 XT cards into new boxes. Both cards are based on the reference design, they are identical products. The Turbo suffix in the X1300 XT product denotes that it's the X1600 XT card. The X1600 XT from HIS with a very efficient cooling system (IceQ) has been already reviewed by our testlab, so you can read all the details in the review. It must be noted that the cards were formally different - the X1650 PRO was overclocked to 625/1400 MHz with the bundled iTurbo utility. I repeat - it can be done only with the utility. The default nominal frequencies are the same as in the X1300 XT - 587/1380 MHz.

The cards have TV-Out with a unique jack. You will need a special bundled adapter to output video to a TV-set via S-Video or RCA You can read about the TV-Out in more detail here.

Analog monitors with d-Sub (VGA) interface are connected with special DVI-to-d-Sub adapters. Maximum resolutions and frequencies:

240 Hz Max Refresh Rate
2048 x 1536 x 32bit x85Hz Max - analog interface
2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz Max - digital interface

What concerns MPEG2 playback features (DVD-Video), we analyzed this issue in 2002. Little has changed since that time. CPU load during video playback on all modern video cards does not exceed 25%.

Now about the cooling systems. There is no point in examining coolers on the HIS cards, we already did it before.

The cards from GeCube are equipped with brand coolers, which have been used in several generations of video cards. A big heatsink with a fan in a corner that drives the air through it - that's actually a classic mechanism, but it's very effective due to small rotational speed of the turbine and a copper base.

Bundle

GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E; GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E
The bundle is poor: User's Manual, CD with drivers, DVI-to-d-Sub and S-Video-to-RCA adapters.
HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E; HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E
User's Manual, CD with drivers, CD with demos and a DVD player, DVI-to-d-Sub and S-Video-to-RCA adapters, TV cords, a composite-out adapter.

Packages.

GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E
A simple cardboard box with traditional Ruby. All components are arranged into shaky cardboard sections, which will be certainly broken when you get the package, so the card will be dangling inside.
GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E
It's the same design, but the box is larger and has a glossy jacket. But unfortunately, the card inside is also dangling.
HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E
A typical package in white and blue colors that symbolize artic cold from such cooling devices on HIS video cards :). The jacket with a window that shows off the card contains a box with the card and other bundled components arranged into plastic sections.
HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E
A similar box.

Installation and Drivers

Testbed configuration:

Athlon 64 (Socket AM2) based computer
- CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (2600MHz) (L2=2x512K)
- Motherboard: Foxconn C51XEM2AA-8EKRS2H on NVIDIA nForce590 SLI
- RAM: 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (CAS (tCL)=3; RAS to CAS delay (tRCD)=3; Row Precharge (tRP)=3; tRAS=6)
- HDD: WD Caviar SE WD1600JD 160GB SATA
Operating system: Windows XP SP2 DirectX 9.0c
Monitor: Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070sb (21").
ATI CATALYST 6.9; NVIDIA Drivers 91.47.

VSync is disabled.

Test results: performance comparison

We used the following test applications:

Splinter Cell Chaos of Theory v.1.04 (Ubisoft) — DirectX 9.0, multitexturing, maximum test settings, shaders 3.0 (for NVIDIA cards)/shaders 2.0 (for ATI cards); HDR OFF!
Half-Life2 (Valve/Sierra) — DirectX 9.0, demo (ixbt01 . The tests were carried out with maximum quality, option -dxlevel 90, presets for video card types are removed from dxsupport.cfg.
FarCry 1.33 (Crytek/UbiSoft), DirectX 9.0, multitexturing, demo from the Research level (-DEVMODE startup option), Very High test settings.
DOOM III (id Software/Activision) — OpenGL, multitexturing, test settings — High Quality (ANIS8x), demo ixbt1 (33MB!). We have a sample batch file to start the game automatically with increased speed and reduced jerking (precaching) d3auto.rar. (DO NOT BE AFRAID of the black screen after the first menu, that's how it should be! It will last 5-10 seconds and then the demo should start)
3DMark05 1.20 (FutureMark) — DirectX 9.0, multitexturing, test settings — trilinear,
The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay 1.10 (Starbreeze/Vivendi) — OpenGL, multitexturing, maximum texture quality, Shader 2.0, demo 44.
I wish to thank Rinat Dosayev (AKA 4uckall) and Alexei Ostrovski (AKA Ducche), who have created a demo for this game. I also want to thank Alexei Berillo AKA Somebody Else for his help.
F.E.A.R. v.1.02 (Multiplayer) (Monolith/Sierra) — DirectX 9.0, multitexturing, maximum test settings, Soft shadows disabled.
Call Of Duty 2 DEMO (Ubisoft) — DirectX 9.0, multitexturing, test settings — maximum, shaders 2.0, tested in Benchemall, demo and a startup script, readme contains necessary instructions

Summary performance diagrams

Attention! We don't publish the data on cards operating at higher frequencies for the following reasons: The difference between the standard and increased clocks is not large, so the performance difference is below 7% nearly in all cards under review. So our readers may estimate the rating of a certain card on their own (get used to reading the articles and analyzing the diagrams). You may download the results in Excel format (Office 2003) archived in RAR 3.0 or ZIP.

Conclusions

What can we say on the whole? That's nothing more than the X1600 PRO/X1600 XT. Mostly the latter, because frequency deviations in the GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E and the HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E change their performance by no more than 7%.

GeCube RADEON X1300 XT 256MB PCI-E is a good product for $100. If this price is true, the product will be popular.
GeCube RADEON X1650 PRO 256MB PCI-E is actually a copy of the previous product, the price is within the same limits, so our conclusions are the same.
HIS RADEON X1300 XT iTurbo 256MB PCI-E - we have already reviewed the X1600 XT from HIS with such a cooler. And this is the same card. So if the price is within recommended $100, this card has all chances to be the best.
HIS RADEON X1650 PRO iTurbo 256MB PCI-E - the same conclusions. The card is actually the same. Any X1600 XT can work at 625 MHz, so there is nothing new here.

Here is the main conclusion again: the X1300 XT = the X1600 PRO (as we have seen, it's often = the X1600 XT), the X1650 PRO = the X1600 XT. No matter what "innovations" are used by vendors to attract customers, there is nothing new in these cards.
The key advantage is price. It must be about $100.