I just bought X1600 did i goof?

[bloodstorm69]

Hey y'all i'm an avid gamer...but unfortunatly i'm on a fairly tight budget....and i just bought an x1600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102653

If i could get some input on if i screwed up i would appreciate it =)

 

[Vascular]

I dont see anything wrong with it.
Especially for the price.
Yes it uses DDR2 but the memory interface is still 256bit.
Should perform fairly well.

 

[parlee]

whats the rest of ur comps specs, and post ur 3dmark 05 score, mine is 3.Xk with

amd3700 754
1gb corsair xms 3-3-3-8 (wont boot in 2-3-3-6 GAY.)
x700pro AGP

im assuming that yours will be higher due to the fact that i have a 128 bit interface, it should be no lower than 4.5k if u have a decent proc and 1gb memory (my guess...)

 

[bloodstorm69]

I just placed Order for the card today currenty my system is

Ath 64 3000 socket 754
1 gig Corsair value select running at Cas 2.5 latency
ATI radion 9700 Pro 128 meg
in 3dmark03 i get 5344 3dmarks

as soon as i get new card i will run 3dmark06 and post results
...i just bought that new vid card with new motherbord for total of $200. I'm just hoping this will get my by until summer when i will have a $2000 budget for new computer.

 

[parlee]

considering ur x1600 has 12 pipes, and 256 bit interface im sure it pwns mine, mine was 129 so u got a nice deal on that card, but then again its pci express and that shyt is so much cheaper than agp tell us how 3dmark06 goes, maybe ill upgrade to that card (doubt it, not much of an upgrade)

 

[cleeve]

The x1600 has a 128-bit external memory bus. internally, it's 256-bit, but that's not nearly as good.

As far as gaming goes, for the same cash you probably would heve been better off with a 128-meg X800 GTO.

Right now it's not the best performing card and has quite a few performance glitches, but I have faith the X1600 drivers will be optimized more in the future. Plus the x1600 has the nifty DVD playback and encoding features, so it's a decent card if you've got an eye to the future and a love of video.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The x1600 has a 128-bit external memory bus. internally, it's 256-bit, but that's not nearly as good.

Yeah this is going to create problems, I can see the arguments brewing alread. Anywhoo so be it...

The X1600 COULD support 256bit memory it's not limited by the core, however people are going to confuse the internal/external for quite some time. These cards do deserve 256/256. and the X1800 need 512/512, but the first won't happen until the X1700 and the second likely won't happen until the R600/G80 series.

As far as gaming goes, for the same cash you probably would heve been better off with a 128-meg X800 GTO.

I agree but I wouldn't call it a bad choice, just that there is better for a little less.

Right now it's not the best performing card and has quite a few performance glitches, but I have faith the X1600 drivers will be optimized more in the future. Plus the x1600 has the nifty DVD playback and encoding features, so it's a decent card if you've got an eye to the future and a love of video.

Yep, and one of the interesting revealing things about the X1600 series was it's power in shader heavy SM3.0 stuff in 3Dmk06. I still think it's going to be a slideshow, but a slightly faster one than a GF6800GS (which just prove that the GF7800 and X1800 are really the only cards to truely support high end SM3.0 features at a reasonable level). If there's optimizations to come that would be nice.

I'd say he got an OK deal, nothing bad, but not someting to brag about either, unless like you say he's into 2D video editing,etc.

 

[unsmart]

I've been looking for benches for the 256bit x1600. I think they added another mem channel so it's really 2x128 both ways not real a 256bit interface. All I can find is benches form it's release, old drivers and 128bit. have you ran any test on, it if so could you post? Thanks

 

[cleeve]

There are no X1600's with a 256-bit external memory interface in existance, nor will there ever be.

If they ever do put a true 256-bit interface on it, they'll likely call it an X1700...

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I've been looking for benches for the 256bit x1600. I think they added another mem channel so it's really 2x128 both ways not real a 256bit interface. All I can find is benches form it's release, old drivers and 128bit. have you ran any test on, it if so could you post? Thanks

You are thinking of internally.
Internally the ring-bus is bi-directional 128bit (thus effective 256bit), however it interacts with the memory at a 128bit bit level (although it's double pumped unlike the core).

 

[parlee]

so basically theres almost no diff between 128 and 256 bit on that perticular card?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

so basically theres almost no diff between 128 and 256 bit on that perticular card?

Depends on what you're trying to say.

The reason for the 2 128bit ring bus channels is so that it can match the DDR of the memory running at 128bit.

However there is a difference between the memory having a 128bit and 256bit interface. Despite that optimization/design, a 256bit memory interface without the fancy ring-bus would still be faster.

It's brute force over elegance. Elegance is nice, but it's better when it's found in an 800 pound Gorilla. 8)

 

[Vascular]

Im not understanding.
So is the memory interface of the 7800(just as a reference) a 256bit or double pumped 128bit like this x1600 being discussed?

 

[bloodstorm69]

Well i just Ran 3dmark 03 and got 8600 marks
and in 3dmark 06 i got 1787 marks
system is as fallows

Ath 64 3000
1 gig value select corsair
Tul ati express 200 chipset MB
x1600 512 meg 256bit card
80 gig Western digital IDE 7200rpm 8 meg cache
Win XP service pack 2

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Im not understanding.
So is the memory interface of the 7800(just as a reference) a 256bit or double pumped 128bit like this x1600 being discussed?

No the 'double pumped' is for the DDR memory, effectively a 400mhz chip is sending 800mhzx128bits of info to which may be 400mhz with the bi-directional ring bus depoending on the speed of the core/chip, thus equating the two, then it's further fed to the core's memory controller using 4 crossbars (I'm not sure if it 32 or 64 bit, bi-directional or not) operating @ the same clockrate as the core. The X1800/1900 have 8 crossbars.

The GF7800 doesn't use the ring technology and is direct 256bit from chip to core memory controller using half the bandwidth with the 4way crossbar at 64bit width, and since the core operates at 1:1 hz and the memory is 2:1 there might be some log-jams. I still don't understand all of it though as the efficiency still shows nowhere near the speed of simply OC'ing the memory, but it's likely got alot to do with how the memory is accessed, especially for seuential purposes. Supposedly the most important part was trace density, and running out of room without increasing temps.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

You might want to edit your sig, it's a 128bit card, 256bit chip.

 

[unsmart]

Heres some links http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102667 andhttp://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ps_15541931/111601.html like I said, i'm sure it's not a true 256, the core is still 128. this is the spec from connect 3d http://www.connect3d.com/products/pcie_x1600pro.htm.
I read this article at.http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28339 . rereading it ,I see the he's talking about the ring bus which was always 256. I wonder if this was shady marketing by ATIs partners . I'm emailing ATI to get some facts, I'll post them when and if they send them. I think it's shitty that the same maker would sell the same item with two diffrent specs and no real change. It really got my hopes up .

 

[cleeve]

Well it's not really entirely a marketing feature, having a 256-bit internal ring bus does offer some performance increases, it's just that you have to know the difference and pay attention to the specs.

 

[FlyGuy]

I just placed Order for the card today currenty my system is

Ath 64 3000 socket 754
1 gig Corsair value select running at Cas 2.5 latency
ATI radion 9700 Pro 128 meg
in 3dmark03 i get 5344 3dmarks

Just a question, I didn't think any socket 754 boards supported PCIe :?:

 

[parlee]

i thought the same thing, i have a 754 mobo with 8x agp and was conisdering getting a new mobo/proc for pci-express, but since i have a 3700+ i looked around for pci express and they had a few and there still priced pretty low, although they dont have a 754, agp/pci-express hybrid, at least i dun think... if anyone finds 1 plz send me a link

 

[unsmart]

ther are pcie 754 boards, this is the list from newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+70000405+70002003&Subcategory=22&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=&ATTR1=&ATTR2=&ATTR3=2010200022+70000405&ATTR4=&ATTR5=&ATTR6=&ATTR7=&ATTR8=2010200022+70002003&ATTR9=&ATTR10=&ATTR11=&ATTR12=&ATTR13=&ATTR14=&ATTR15=&ATTR16=&ATTR17=&ATTR18=&ATTR19=&ATTR20=

 

[FlyGuy]

ther are pcie 754 boards, this is the list from newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...TR15=&ATTR16=&ATTR17=&ATTR18=&ATTR19=&ATTR20=

This is what that link gave me???

Computer Hardware > Motherboards > AMD-compatible Motherboards > north bridge : Intel 945P > paper tray capacity : 150 sheets :?:

I just looked for S754 and PCIx though and I see they are a lot of them. Shows what I know. :roll:

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I just looked for S754 and PCIx though and I see they are a lot of them. Shows what I know. :roll:

Just FYI, PCIx is not PCIe, PCIx is for raid, ethernet and such on workstation/server boards.

If anything you want PCI-EX

 

[lodrazor]

As for socket 754 and PCI Express, yes, it is available. I have an Athlon 3700 running on an Asus with Nvidia Nforce 4x chipset (only one available for socket 754 and PCI Express). The only advabtage this board has that a standard AGP socket 754 board with 8X AGP is the ability to upgrade video. The MAIN problem with socket 754 is still there ---The dang memory controller limitation not allowing FSB of 400mhz if you use more than one stick of memory. So if you have a high end socket 754 cpu (3700) using the PCI Express board is fine and allows you to use the latest in graphic cards, but you still will be screwed by the memory limitation.

 

[dvdpiddy]

no it should be ok for most games at medium setting