Final thoughts, awards, and HEXUS.right2reply
Final thoughts, awards, and HEXUS Right2Reply
Sapphire's launching of another Radeon X1600 SKU isn't just a further attempt to fill the company coffers, and rather than simply bump up clock-speeds with its Ultimate Edition, Sapphire has added value by engineering a near-silent card that will play most modern games with acceptable framerates at the sweetspot LCD resolution of 1280x1024.You pay for the privilege of individual design, however, as the Ultimate Edition commands a £15-£20 price premium above the regular version which, other than the cooling employed, is the same card underneath. The bundle is very impressive for a midrange part, too, with a full version of The Da Vinci Code that's supplemented by Sapphire's now-ubiquitous Select Bundle. The question you have to ask yourself is whether a reduction is noise, afforded by the Ultimate Edition, is worth the extra £20 outlay.
It's a shame that Sapphire has not been able to engineer a completely passively-cooled card. Had that been the case, we'd be inclined to look upon it even more favourably. Furthermore, its lack of VIVO also precludes it from being strongly recommended as ideal.
As it stands though, the Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT Ultimate Edition 256MB is a decent enough SKU with a distinctive selling point.
