Thoughts, awards, right2reply, where2buy
Our thinking on Radeon X1950 Pro remains pretty much the same as at launch, that is, it brings high-end performance into the midrange space. £130 or so will buy you a retail, reference-clocked model that showcases all that's good about RV570. Sapphire's decision to release an ULTIMATE version, complete with quality Zalman GPU cooler and associated heatsinks is a good move. The retail price is £15 higher, sure, but for that you receive £30 worth of aftermarket cooling, extra performance from the overclocked GDDR3 RAM chips, and a decent retail game.In view of the undeniable benefits of RV570 as a midrange GPU, the considered effort that Sapphire has put into this SKU, and the minimal price hike for a 'special edition' card over a regular version, we put it at the top of our current sub-£150 list.
The Sapphire X1950 Pro ULTIMATE's enthusiast-oriented cooling and attractive price are enough to earn it a recommended award. The only caveat is in ensuring you don't need to use the slot directly adjacent to the graphics card's. Other than that, a fine makeover for a capable GPU.
HEXUS Awards
The Sapphire X1950 Pro ULTIMATE 256MiB PCIe is awarded the HEXUS Gaming Recommended award for providing a well-balanced mix of performance and features for <£150.
Sapphire X1950 Pro ULTIMATE 256MiB PCIe
