Every gamer knows that the price tag on video cards is directly proportional to the amount of raw gaming performance the card is capable of delivering. Something else we all know is that a card you spend $500 on today won't be worth anywhere near that much in around six months time. Obviously the top dollar card is the one that almost everybody wants, but is it the card that you really need? The answer can be as simple as it is complex. The simplest answer will come from the types of games you play. Stragety games like Battle for Middle Earth II are not as demanding on hardware as say a first person shooter like FEAR. On the other hand, new games are always in development so it's not a bad idea to future proof your PC today to have it ready for tomorrow. A good case-in-point will be Windows VISTA with its new GUI which is supposed to be chocked full of eye-candy. 

     Connect 3D is one of the few video card manufacturers remaining that have dedicate their product line around one GPU manufacturer. This can have lots of hidden meanings, but in a market of fast pace shifts it sends a signal to us; Qualtiy. If a manufacturer can't keep up with demand or if they release an unstable product, the word gets out quickly - and that can be just as disastrous as it can be beneficial. By keeping their focus on one GPU, it boils down that Connect 3D can spend much less time on research and can dedicate more resources to development. Connect 3D offers a multiplicity of cards in each of the performance tiers. This one is step up the ladder from the X1300 Pro that we just reviewed. The X1600XT represents the third stage in current Radeon performance, behind the X1800 and the coveted X1900. Offering more pixel pipelines and a higher clock speed than the X1300, the benefits of spending a few dollars more should be readily apparent in our testing.

     Specifications

          Pixel Shaders: 12
          Verted Shaders: 5
          Memory Interface: 128-bit (4-channel)
          Native PCI Express x16 bus interface
          GPU Clock Speed: 600 Mhz
          Memory Clock Speed: 700 Mhz

     » ATI’s Avivo™

     ATI’s Avivo- Video & Display Perfection : Connect your Radeon X1600 with your home entertainment devices for high definition convergence, enhanced with ATI’s revolutionary new Avivo video and display technology platform. Avivo technology creates vibrant colors, ultra sharp images, true-to-life image reproduction, and the smoothest HD video playback ever offered by ATI. Avivo redefines the ultimate visual experience for today’s PCs, and sets the stage for tomorrow’s exciting possibilities.

     » Radeon® X1600 Series excels with Shader Model 3.0 & HDR and adaptive anti-aliasing