PowerColor X1300 512MB GameFX - Installation and testing

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Now is usually where I install the card into my PC and take a couple shots of it.  You've all seen it a thousand times, so why clutter this review with a bunch of unnecessary pictures?

Installation was pretty straightforward.  I opened up my machine, removed the existing PCI-e video card, and installed the new one.  Since my case is mostly tool-less, this took me all of three minutes.  Then I booted up my computer and installed the drivers from the included CD.  Piece of cake!  Let's do some testing!

Test rig:

• EPoX EP-9U1697-GLi Motherboard
• AMD 64 3700+ San Diego @ 2.8 GHz
• Patriot Dual channel 2GB DDR500 (PC 4000)
• XG Duro 900w PSU

And for kicks, I'm going to benchmark the three of these cards:

• PowerColor X1300 (512mb)
• X300 (256mb) - Comparable card from the X series
• X800 (256mb) - High-end card from the X series

The PowerColor X1300 is basically the next generation of the X300 card.  In addition to some architectural improvements, the X1300 (as well as all of the X1xx series) supports Shader Model 3, and HDR (high dynamic range).  The X800 card is a higher-end model of the X series, and a direct comparison between it and the X1300 is not really fair, as the X800 still has the advantage.

For my testing, I used 3DMark 2005 and 2003, and then used both Halflife 2 and Doom 3 for benchmarking.  Here are my results:

3DMark 2005 (Overall score)
X300	1030
X1300	2290
X800	3712

3DMark 2003 (Overall score)
X300	2252
X1300	4745
X800	8290

HalfLife 2 (4xAA 8xAF) in FPS
	1024x768	1280x1024
X300	29	17
X1300	62	35
X800	91	48

Doom 3 (4xAA 8xAF) in FPS
	1024x768	1280x1024
X300	7	5
X1300	31	18
X800	39	24

As you can see, the X1 series made significant improvements versus its X series counterpart.  The X800, being a higher quality card, still holds its own above the X1300 card, with a decent lead.

Next: Conclusion >>
 

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