Review: Radeon HD 2600 XT shootout - GeCube v Sapphire - Graphics - HEXUS.net

Final thoughts

The Radeon HD 2600 XT is decent hardware that's somewhat hamstrung by software but still suitable for a number of situations.

GeCube and Sapphire have gone about designing special edition versions in different ways.

GeCube straps a large cooler on top but then doesn't complete the job by pre-overclocking the card. The user is left to do that, yet GeCube supplies no tools in its wholly meagre bundle. GeCube spoils things further by restricting the warranty to the original purchaser - an unnecessary and mean-minded limitation in our view.

GeCube's redemption comes in the form of reasonably attractive pricing, GDDR4 memory and, despite the use of a built-in fan, near-silent operation. However, users with limited chassis room may need to look at a single-slot solution instead.

Sapphire's ULTIMATE card uses a basic Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR3 design but adds in its own brand of zero-noise cooling. It's a proven formula that's only hampered by the extra-large rear-mounted heatsink.

The £70 Sapphire's bundle is excellent and the warranty's better than GeCube's - so, as long as you can live with a slight performance deficit, it would be the one go for, saving a tenner in the process.

That £75 buys you a well-rounded card that makes particular sense in a larger HTPC chassis. But just don't expect it to render next-generation games at anything close to fluid frame rates.

The Sapphire HD 2600XT Ultimate 256MiB GDDR3 may not be the very best card you can buy for that sum but it should go on your shortlist.

Media Innovation
Sapphire HD 2600XT Ultimate 256MiB GDDR3

The GeCube Radeon RV630XT X-Turbo2 256MiB GDDR4 passed all of our tests and is presented with HEXUS Labs Essentials certification. This is not a recommendation to buy, however.

Media Innovation
GeCube Radeon RV630XT X-Turbo2 256MiB GDDR4

HEXUS Where2Buy

Prices correct at the time of writing.

The Sapphire HD 2600XT Ultimate 256MiB GDDR3 is available from Chillblast Express for around £70 inc. VAT.

The GeCube Radeon RV630XT X-Turbo2 256MiB GDDR4 is available from eBuyer for £84.46 inc VAT.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS.net, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any of GeCube's or Sapphire's representatives choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.