ATI Releases New High-End Video Card: the Radeon X1950 XT (News)

GamePro staff, GamePro

24/08/2006 10:19:44

ATI today introduced its new flagship of gaming video cards, the Radeon X1950 series. The X1950 is a new revision that offers fast performance and high quality imaging, and is aimed at serious gamers. The cards will cost US$449 and are expected to ship on Sept. 14. An Australian price is yet to be announced, but the conversion rate currently sits it at appoximately AU$590.

Thanks to speedy new GDDR4 RAM and a reworked cooling apparatus, the Radeon X1950 can render fast frame rates at high resolutions, apply high levels of full-screen anti-aliasing (FSAA), and use shader model 3.0 effects like high-dynamic range (HDR) lighting. Respected hardware review site HardOCP found that the X1950 is very competitive with graphics rival Nivdia's flagship card, the dual-core Geforce 7950 GX2, at a significantly lower price.

For the mid-range lineup, the new X1300 XT costs US$89, the X1650 Pro will retail for $99 and the X1900XT will sell for $279. According to ATI, these new midrange Radeon cards offer the quality of ATI's higher-end cards including HDR lighting and FSAA, but cost less then similar products.

All the new cards can also display 1.07 billion colors when used with 10-bit displays.

All of the new cards are supported by Catalyst, ATI software that offers gamers ongoing software updates for performance, stability and new features. All will be compatible with Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system and capable of supporting high-definition formats.

additional reporting by Nancy Gohring