One of our objectives as a website is to inform you, our readers, about products available in the market, graphics cards included. From now on we'll periodically publish such articles devoted to assortments of graphics cards, which have nothing in common except one thing: they got to our test lab together. These cards may belong to different price ranges and be made by different vendors.

Cards will be examined as usual, one by one, but results will be published in summary charts, where groups of cards will be marked with different colors for your convenience.

Today we'll have a look at three cards from GeCube and Point Of View. Both companies are well known in the market, so no introductions are needed.

Graphics Cards

GeCube RADEON HD 3650 O.C.Edition 512MB
GPU: RADEON 3650 (RV635) Interface: PCI-Express x16 GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 800/800 MHz (nominal -- 725/725 MHz) Memory frequencies (physical (effective)): 900 (1800) MHz (nominal -- 800 (1600) MHz) Memory bus width: 128bit Vertex processors: - Pixel processors: - Unified processors: 120 Texture processors: 8 ROPs: 4 Dimensions: 180x100x16 mm (the last figure is maximum thickness of the graphics card). PCB color: red RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU. Output connectors: 2xDVI (Dual-Link/HDMI), TV-Out. VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU. Multi-GPU operation: CrossFire (Hardware).
Point Of View GeForce 9600 GSO EXD Edition 384MB
GPU: GeForce 9600 GSO (G92) Interface: PCI-Express x16 GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 625/1565 MHz (nominal -- 575/1440 MHz) Memory frequencies (physical (effective)): 900 (1800) MHz (nominal -- 850 (1700) MHz) Memory bus width: 192bit Vertex processors: - Pixel processors: - Unified processors: 96 Texture processors: 28 (BLF) ROPs: 12 Dimensions: 210x100x33 mm (the last figure is maximum thickness of the graphics card). PCB color: green RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU. Output connectors: 1xDVI (Dual-Link), HDMI, TV-out VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU. Multi-GPU operation: SLI (Hardware).
Point Of View GeForce 9600 GT Wall-E EXD Edition 512MB
GPU: GeForce 9600 GT (G94) Interface: PCI-Express x16 GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 700/1750 MHz (nominal -- 650/1625 MHz) Memory frequencies (physical (effective)): 1000 (2000) MHz (nominal -- 900 (1800) MHz) Memory bus width: 256bit Vertex processors: - Pixel processors: - Unified processors: 64 Texture processors: 32 (BLF) ROPs: 16 Dimensions: 190x100x33 mm (the last figure is maximum thickness of the graphics card). PCB color: green RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU. Output connectors: 1xDVI (Dual-Link), HDMI, TV-out VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU. Multi-GPU operation: SLI (Hardware).

GeCube RADEON HD 3650 O.C.Edition 512MB Point Of View GeForce 9600 GT Wall-E EXD Edition 512MB
Each graphics card has 512 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM allocated in eight chips on the front side of the PCB in the Point Of View card and four chips on each PCB side in the GeCube card. Samsung memory chips (GDDR3). 1.0 ns memory access time, which corresponds to 1000 (2000) MHz.
Point Of View GeForce 9600 GSO EXD Edition 384MB
The graphics card has 384 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM allocated in six chips on the front side of the PCB. Samsung memory chips (GDDR3). 1.0 ns memory access time, which corresponds to 1000 (2000) MHz.

Comparison with the reference design, front view
Point Of View GeForce 9600 GT Wall-E EXD Edition 512MB	Reference card NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Point Of View GeForce 9600 GSO EXD Edition 384MB	Reference card NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
GeCube RADEON HD 3650 O.C.Edition 512MB	Reference card ATI RADEON 2600 PRO

Comparison with the reference design, back view
Point Of View GeForce 9600 GT Wall-E EXD Edition 512MB	Reference card NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Point Of View GeForce 9600 GSO EXD Edition 384MB	Reference card NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
GeCube RADEON HD 3650 O.C.Edition 512MB	Reference card ATI RADEON 2600 PRO

We can see that all three cards have their own design based on the reference products. The card from GeCube is conceptually no different from Series 2600, as it has the same core architecture. Differences are related to the layout of memory chips and the power circuitry. Design of the cards from Point Of view is similar to that of Palit. These cards may even originate in Palit factories. The 9600GSO is based on the 8800GT design with two empty seats for memory chips, so memory volume has dropped from 512 MB to 384 MB, and the bus is 192 bit instead of 256 bit. The card uses the G92 core, it's just cut down to 96 processors.

All cards have TV-Outs with original jacks. You will need a special bundled adapter to output video to a TV set via S-Video or RCA.

An analog monitor with a D-Sub (VGA) interface can be connected by means of a special DVI-to-D-Sub adapter. The bundle also includes a DVI-to-HDMI adapter (these graphics cards support video/audio output to HDMI receivers), so there should be no problems with such a monitor.

Maximum resolutions and frequencies:

• 240 Hz maximum refresh rate
• 2048 x 1536 x 32bit @ 85Hz Max - analog interface
• 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz Max - digital interface (all Dual-Link DVIs)

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

As of HDTV, a review is available here.

All cards from Point Of View require additional power source, so each is bundled with a molex to 6-pin adapter, even though all modern PSUs have such cables. The 3650 card does not require one.

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