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Review: GeCube vs Sapphire - Radeon X1950 Pro AGP: the must-have upgrade?

by Tarinder Sandhu on 4 April 2007, 08:35

Tags: ATi Technologies (NYSE:AMD)

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Sapphire X1950 Pro AGP 512MiB presentation, bundle and warranty





Yes, indeed, it is HDCP-ready.









Items Quick install guide
Drivers and electronic manual CD
2x DVI dongles
1x Molex extender power connector
HDTV-Out (component) cable
Composite cable
S-Video cable
S-Video-to-composite adapter


The bundle has practically everything you need to get the card up and running. DVD playback software should have been included, really.

We'd suggest downloading the latest drivers from AMD's website and using them instead of what's supplied, which'll be out of date, no doubt.

We were able to monitor the temperatures on the Sapphire model, but they don't make for attractive reading. With an ambient temperature of 18°C the card idled at 46°C and ran at a toasty 78°C under full load. Take a look here to see how it compares, unfavourably, with some of its PCIe counterparts.

Warranty

All of Sapphire's graphics cards are backed up by a 2-year warranty. Claims in the first year are handled by the supplier from whom the card was purchased from. Claims after this period are handled by a U.K.-based service centre, so, as always, buy from vendors your trust.