DH Review: Sapphire X1950 Pro 512Mb AGP

Zardon · Dec 24, 2006, 02:28 PM

Read The Review Here
________________________

You guys have asked us for an AGP review for months now, and we aim to please - so we have built an AGP test bed just for this purpose (and to cover future AGP articles).

Sapphire sent us a AGP X1950pro card with 512MB of onboard ram - one of the first samples they have sent to any website. It certainly looks the part and should hopefully keep you AGP users gaming for quite some time.

Question is, how does it stack up against a PCIe counterpart? Worth the money or a Christmas turkey? Staff reviewer Peter Gracar aims to find out ...

Zardon · Dec 24, 2006, 02:32 PM

For those interested, Overclockers.co.uk have a £20 off deal on this card for one week - follow the link in the conclusion page .....

deekey777 · Dec 24, 2006, 02:43 PM

I got a question:
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/...0AGP/video.php
Have you enabled AGP Fast Writes?

WhO_KnOwS · Dec 24, 2006, 02:48 PM

Fast Writes were enabled throughout the testing.

Brutality · Dec 24, 2006, 03:00 PM

Oh i want that card. I still have a fucken AGP board and i'm not going to waste money to buy new GPU and mobo... That would go too costly. But that card would solve all my problems...

What about power consumption? Would it be able to feed off the Seasonic's 350W PSU?

WhO_KnOwS · Dec 24, 2006, 03:07 PM

That depends on what else you have in your machine. But I'd guess that 350W will be cutting it a bit close.

Lelisevis · Dec 24, 2006, 04:12 PM

Although ive shifted from agp to PCI-E i'd just like to thank Driverheaven for listening to it's readers feedback with regards to this review. It's very rare in this age of instant news and technology for a website to go to the lengths that the staff on Driverheaven do just to keep us tech-nerds happy. Thanks again and I hope everyone else appreciates the hard-work as much as I do.

As far as the hardware goes im glad the agp guys finally have the card they deserve and im sure with a decent aftermarket cooler the x1950 will extend the life of users systems for another year, possibly two. While I have no regrets about my system upgrade it would have been nice to have had a bit of a play with one of these cards to compare it to my old X800XT.

Dark Lord · Dec 24, 2006, 07:13 PM

very nice review, i think ill probably pick one up some time after the first of the year.

one thing i am wondering, how badly do you think i would bottle neck on my A64 3200+? its at its stock 2.0ghz.

madmatty · Dec 24, 2006, 07:37 PM

In regards to the overclocking, the sapphire pci-e version has pretty much the same problems due to the barely sufficiant cooler. Overdrive does work though, but unfortunatly the system will lockup or reset it self with even a step or two up on the core.
but i guess as long as it works at default clocks, thats all that really matters. just a shame theres no occing room at all without completely replacing the cooler.

BulletTheory · Dec 24, 2006, 08:01 PM

Good review DH.

Why didnt you test the Benchmark with 3DMark06 or 05 ? would be nice to see the performance on those too

CDsDontBurn · Dec 24, 2006, 08:13 PM

Awesome review

. The card is quite impressive. Though, I would have to agree that the OEM cooler doesn't seem to live upto its expectations. Would the PCI-E version of the AC cooler also fit the AGP version of the card?

WhO_KnOwS · Dec 24, 2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

Awesome review

. The card is quite impressive. Though, I would have to agree that the OEM cooler doesn't seem to live upto its expectations. Would the PCI-E version of the AC cooler also fit the AGP version of the card?

There could be some trouble as some stuff has been moved around. And the Accelero X2 is known to be a big cooler.
Using one of the Zalman coolers should be possible though, as the only thing that matters for them are the holes which are the same as on the PCI-E card.

Raptor · Dec 24, 2006, 10:31 PM

Thank you for not abandoning AGP users like many other online sites have. Great review.

CDsDontBurn · Dec 25, 2006, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhO_KnOwS

There could be some trouble as some stuff has been moved around. And the Accelero X2 is known to be a big cooler.
Using one of the Zalman coolers should be possible though, as the only thing that matters for them are the holes which are the same as on the PCI-E card.

yea...i was wondering specifically about the Accelero x2. But anything else would actually be better than stock on this card really.

Now, to solve the first problem: locate an AGP x1950pro

>GSXR<mrbusa · Dec 25, 2006, 01:16 AM

Thx Zardon,
Very good review. Now this will put all the talk of the 7800gs being a superior card.

josh2thad · Dec 25, 2006, 02:05 AM

Hard to believe that it performs almost on par with the Pci-e version of the card...

I guess AGP Lives.

Nyana · Dec 25, 2006, 05:29 PM

Sapphire X1950 Pro 512MB AGP breaking 6k frontier in 3DMark05 !!! - So it's faster than the impressive 7800GS+ from Gainward which comes with 7900GT Chip (G71) !!!

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2464702

>GSXR<mrbusa · Dec 25, 2006, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyana

Sapphire X1950 Pro 512MB AGP breaking 6k frontier in 3DMark05 !!! - So it's faster than the impressive 7800GS+ from Gainward which comes with 7900GT Chip (G71) !!!

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2464702

There is something wrong with that picture. When I was running 2.8 northwood overclocked to 3.5 and my current card I was getting almost 7000 in 05. I'm not sure if shader model 3 is adjusted in the score when compared to a card running shader model 2. I did a search for other x1950pro results for 05 and couldnt find any.

Dark Lord · Dec 25, 2006, 06:56 PM

im not all that impressed with the 6k in 05. im getting 4882 in 05 with my stock 64 3200+ and x800pro.

what i AM impressed with is the 4-4.2k range its getting in 06. now that beats the hell out of my 1550 scores.

just did some looking through the orb. a system that pretty well matches mine and has a stock 1950 agp 512meg is scoreing 7719 on 05 with it. http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2457289

Pluvious · Dec 25, 2006, 07:20 PM

Zardon, Thank you very much for reviewing the AGP board vs the PCIe version. It's good news that I'll be able to squeeze another year in by upgrading my current card. I know I'll want a 512MB version.. but which brand is still up for grabs for me. Quiet and efficient cooling is a must and this Sapphire looks like it will have to be modded to get that. PowerColor keeps catching my eye in that respect.

>GSXR<mrbusa · Dec 25, 2006, 07:34 PM

Diamand is coming out with a 512mb version. I haven't seen the cooler but it has to be better than the Saphire cooler. I'm not sure I have ever seen a Saphire card that has a really good cooler. They must own allot of stock in Zalman or another after market cooler company. Maybe HIS will release a good installment to this series. They usually spend allot of energy on keeping there cards cool, at a price though.

Dark Lord · Dec 25, 2006, 07:54 PM

seeing as i definatly want the 512meg version, i think ill wait awhile and see who else comes out with one. i dont intend to do any OCing, but i do like my cards to run cool.

CDsDontBurn · Dec 25, 2006, 08:04 PM

o.O i just had an interesting question.

Does the card support the resolution of 1920x1600???

Dark Lord · Dec 25, 2006, 08:09 PM

i think i saw 2500x1600 listed some place for it.

taken from the spec sheet.
Max 3D resolution 2560x1600 (dual-link DVI)

The_Neon_Cowboy · Dec 26, 2006, 04:53 AM

sweete! defontaly will make some agp users happy...

evrt63 · Dec 26, 2006, 05:17 AM

great review! looks like this card is a great catch for those who plan on staying with agp for another year.

niceguyrichy · Dec 26, 2006, 12:26 PM

superb job guys

and my god, it's only 150 at ocuk at the moment!

shame I just spent every penny i've got over xmas.

rawd · Dec 26, 2006, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhO_KnOwS

There could be some trouble as some stuff has been moved around. And the Accelero X2 is known to be a big cooler.
Using one of the Zalman coolers should be possible though, as the only thing that matters for them are the holes which are the same as on the PCI-E card.

I was wondering the same thing, but the Powercolor version of this card comes with the Accelero. It looks like the stock cooler too

http://www.powercolor.com/global/mai...ail.asp?id=137

I'd buy the Powercolor if it came in 512 meg

emmi · Dec 26, 2006, 05:09 PM

Looks sexy, wonder if I should replace my X800Pro with this one since I dont have the money to buy a new PC with PCI-X just yet. What do you guys think? Or will my AMD64 3500+ be a bottleneck?

Zardon · Dec 26, 2006, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niceguyrichy

superb job guys

and my god, it's only 150 at ocuk at the moment!

shame I just spent every penny i've got over xmas.

Well im glad you saw the link to Overclockers.co.uk as Peter noticed the deal this week as well which is why we posted it. This might give you a laugh mate - yes the "moderator" is talking about our review...... and yes kids, hard drugs are dangerous.

Dec 24, 2006, 02:28 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	DH Review: Sapphire X1950 Pro 512Mb AGP Read The Review Here ________________________ You guys have asked us for an AGP review for months now, and we aim to please - so we have built an AGP test bed just for this purpose (and to cover future AGP articles). Sapphire sent us a AGP X1950pro card with 512MB of onboard ram - one of the first samples they have sent to any website. It certainly looks the part and should hopefully keep you AGP users gaming for quite some time. Question is, how does it stack up against a PCIe counterpart? Worth the money or a Christmas turkey? Staff reviewer Peter Gracar aims to find out ...

Dec 24, 2006, 02:43 PM	#3
deekey777 Grünschnabel Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Good Old Germany Posts: 285 Rep Power: 0	I got a question: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/...0AGP/video.php Have you enabled AGP Fast Writes? __________________ I know, my english is terrible.

Dec 24, 2006, 02:48 PM	#4
WhO_KnOwS The Knows Mister Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Slovenia, Europe Posts: 409 Rep Power: 55	Fast Writes were enabled throughout the testing. __________________ How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Dec 24, 2006, 03:07 PM	#6
WhO_KnOwS The Knows Mister Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Slovenia, Europe Posts: 409 Rep Power: 55	That depends on what else you have in your machine. But I'd guess that 350W will be cutting it a bit close. __________________ How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Dec 24, 2006, 07:13 PM	#8
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	very nice review, i think ill probably pick one up some time after the first of the year. one thing i am wondering, how badly do you think i would bottle neck on my A64 3200+? its at its stock 2.0ghz. __________________

Dec 24, 2006, 02:32 PM	Thread Starter #2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	For those interested, Overclockers.co.uk have a £20 off deal on this card for one week - follow the link in the conclusion page .....

Dec 24, 2006, 03:00 PM	#5
Brutality DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 887 Rep Power: 39	Oh i want that card. I still have a fucken AGP board and i'm not going to waste money to buy new GPU and mobo... That would go too costly. But that card would solve all my problems... What about power consumption? Would it be able to feed off the Seasonic's 350W PSU?

Dec 24, 2006, 04:12 PM	#7
Lelisevis Howlin at the moon Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,663 Rep Power: 0	Although ive shifted from agp to PCI-E i'd just like to thank Driverheaven for listening to it's readers feedback with regards to this review. It's very rare in this age of instant news and technology for a website to go to the lengths that the staff on Driverheaven do just to keep us tech-nerds happy. Thanks again and I hope everyone else appreciates the hard-work as much as I do. As far as the hardware goes im glad the agp guys finally have the card they deserve and im sure with a decent aftermarket cooler the x1950 will extend the life of users systems for another year, possibly two. While I have no regrets about my system upgrade it would have been nice to have had a bit of a play with one of these cards to compare it to my old X800XT.

Dec 24, 2006, 07:37 PM	#9
madmatty *****side Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Lincoln, UK Posts: 46 Rep Power: 0	In regards to the overclocking, the sapphire pci-e version has pretty much the same problems due to the barely sufficiant cooler. Overdrive does work though, but unfortunatly the system will lockup or reset it self with even a step or two up on the core. but i guess as long as it works at default clocks, thats all that really matters. just a shame theres no occing room at all without completely replacing the cooler. __________________ Asrock 939DS2, AMD X2 3800 @ 5000 (10x260 1.35v), Rad X1950 PRO (621/735) 2gig Corsair 3500PRO (1T DDR434), Audigy 2, Tagan530w. Cat6.12 3DMark01 - 30368 3DMark03 - 16129 3DMark05 - 10081 PCMark05 - 5861 3DMark06 - 4891

Dec 24, 2006, 08:01 PM	#10
BulletTheory Forgiveness is a Six Gun Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Quebec City Posts: 1,329 Rep Power: 53 System Specs	Good review DH. Why didnt you test the Benchmark with 3DMark06 or 05 ? would be nice to see the performance on those too __________________ Asus P8Z68-Pro \| Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4Ghz \| Asus GTX580 Matrix @ 940/4630 \| 8GB Corsair Vengence \| Intel 510 120GB SSD WD Black 1TB \| Corsair AX750W PSU \| Corsair Obsidian 650D Case \| Samsung 245bw 24inch LCD Razer Lycosa \| Razer Imperator \| Razer Goliathus Extended Edition \| Razer Megalodon Headset

Dec 24, 2006, 08:13 PM	#11
CDsDontBurn 127.0.0.1 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,458 Rep Power: 202 System Specs	Awesome review . The card is quite impressive. Though, I would have to agree that the OEM cooler doesn't seem to live upto its expectations. Would the PCI-E version of the AC cooler also fit the AGP version of the card? __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Dec 24, 2006, 10:31 PM	#13
Raptor DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: California USA Posts: 464 Rep Power: 0	Thank you for not abandoning AGP users like many other online sites have. Great review. __________________ [COLOR=Green][COLOR=DarkOrange] P4C-800 DELUXE/P4 3.4 NORTHWOOD/2 GB CORSAIR PC3200/X850XTPE/2 300 GB MAXTOR HD'S/LOGITECH G5/LOGITECH Z-5500/CREATIVE XFI EXTREME MUSIC/MS 4000 KEYBOARD/Vizio VX37L HDTV/Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD and Toshiba HD-XA1/Oppo HV970HD SACD/DVD-A universal player/Xbox 360/Sony PS3. [/COLOR][/COLOR]

Dec 25, 2006, 01:16 AM	#15
>GSXR<mrbusa im a FREAK Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,107 Rep Power: 55 System Specs	Thx Zardon, Very good review. Now this will put all the talk of the 7800gs being a superior card.

Dec 25, 2006, 02:05 AM	#16
josh2thad DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 431 Rep Power: 0	AGP Lives Hard to believe that it performs almost on par with the Pci-e version of the card... I guess AGP Lives. __________________ www.proxywad.com *DeskTop* • Q6600 8MB Cache (400x8) 3.2 [Schythe Ninja Plus REV.b] • 4Gb DDR2 800 @888 [CL 5-4-4-12]• MSI P52 Neo 2 • Slient Cooling • XFX 8800 GTS XXX Edition [600/1800] • Thermaltake Tough power • 2.250GB Segate [Storage] Western Digital 320GB 16MB Cache Master• Lappy•Gateway MT6458 • AMD Turion X2 1.6Ghz • 2x 1GB DDR 2 PC 5400 CL 4-4-4-12 • 15.4 X-tra Birght Widescreen [Glossy] 1280x800 ATI x1150 128 MB• 160Gb HDD • Wireless N 300mbps •

Dec 25, 2006, 05:29 PM	#17
Nyana DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2003 Location: Kamen / Germany Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0	Sapphire X1950 Pro 512MB AGP breaking 6k frontier in 3DMark05 !!! - So it's faster than the impressive 7800GS+ from Gainward which comes with 7900GT Chip (G71) !!! http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2464702 __________________ [color=darkblue]Visit:[/color] RPG24 Network Community · powered by Lex Vitae & VANEN [color=gray]P4P800 Deluxe · P4 3.0 GHz HT · 4096MB Corsair XMS3200C2 @ 2-3-3-6 Radeon X1950 Pro · SB X-Fi Fatal1ty · WD Raptor-74GB & WD Raptor-150GB 500W Levicom · Syncmaster 215TW 21" wide TFT · System Air cooled by Zalman [/color]

Dec 25, 2006, 06:56 PM	#19
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	im not all that impressed with the 6k in 05. im getting 4882 in 05 with my stock 64 3200+ and x800pro. what i AM impressed with is the 4-4.2k range its getting in 06. now that beats the hell out of my 1550 scores. just did some looking through the orb. a system that pretty well matches mine and has a stock 1950 agp 512meg is scoreing 7719 on 05 with it. http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2457289 __________________ Last edited by Dark Lord; Dec 25, 2006 at 07:04 PM.

Dec 25, 2006, 07:20 PM	#20
Pluvious Elisha = hottie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA CA. SF Bay Area Posts: 1,318 Rep Power: 56	Zardon, Thank you very much for reviewing the AGP board vs the PCIe version. It's good news that I'll be able to squeeze another year in by upgrading my current card. I know I'll want a 512MB version.. but which brand is still up for grabs for me. Quiet and efficient cooling is a must and this Sapphire looks like it will have to be modded to get that. PowerColor keeps catching my eye in that respect. __________________

Dec 25, 2006, 07:34 PM	#21
>GSXR<mrbusa im a FREAK Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,107 Rep Power: 55 System Specs	Diamand is coming out with a 512mb version. I haven't seen the cooler but it has to be better than the Saphire cooler. I'm not sure I have ever seen a Saphire card that has a really good cooler. They must own allot of stock in Zalman or another after market cooler company. Maybe HIS will release a good installment to this series. They usually spend allot of energy on keeping there cards cool, at a price though.

Dec 25, 2006, 07:54 PM	#22
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	seeing as i definatly want the 512meg version, i think ill wait awhile and see who else comes out with one. i dont intend to do any OCing, but i do like my cards to run cool. __________________

Dec 25, 2006, 08:04 PM	#23
CDsDontBurn 127.0.0.1 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,458 Rep Power: 202 System Specs	o.O i just had an interesting question. Does the card support the resolution of 1920x1600??? __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Dec 25, 2006, 08:09 PM	#24
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	i think i saw 2500x1600 listed some place for it. taken from the spec sheet. Max 3D resolution 2560x1600 (dual-link DVI) __________________

Dec 26, 2006, 04:53 AM	#25
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	sweete! defontaly will make some agp users happy... __________________

Dec 26, 2006, 05:17 AM	#26
evrt63 HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: oregon Posts: 90 Rep Power: 0	great review! looks like this card is a great catch for those who plan on staying with agp for another year.

Dec 26, 2006, 05:09 PM	#29
emmi Driverheaven Mirror Provider Join Date: May 2003 Location: Iceland Posts: 78 Rep Power: 0	Looks sexy, wonder if I should replace my X800Pro with this one since I dont have the money to buy a new PC with PCI-X just yet. What do you guys think? Or will my AMD64 3500+ be a bottleneck?