Conclusion

First off, we should note once again that all the Radeon X1900 XTX boards in this roundup are all basically identical to each other, regardless of the board’s manufacturer. All the X1900 XTX boards we tested ship with the exact same board-level components, right down to the exact same VRM and power circuitry. Clock speeds among the various boards are also identical. While we don’t have independent confirmation of this, we’re almost certain that all the board manufacturers are sourcing their X1900 XTX cards from the same manufacturer at this point, as the green label that identifies the board configuration and memory on four of the five boards share similar serial numbers in the 65060200XXXX range (only the ATI reference board has an earlier serial number). It’s certainly possible that this could change at some point in the future and we’ll start to see ATI’s board partners begin to add their own twist to their various X1900 XTX cards (say for instance, quieter cooling), but for now they’re all basically the same.

With this in mind, other factors, such as price, software bundle, and warranty, will become increasingly important. Armed with this critical piece of information, let’s take a look at the five cards represented here today.

The ASUS and MSI boards ship with the newest game bundle. Ubi’s King Kong was released at the end of last year, so it’s just a few months old. In addition, it also happens to be a pretty good game. Alan raved about the gameplay in his Kong Kong Xbox 360 review back in December, while King Kong currently carries an average of 80% on GameRankings.com. The only real downside of the game is its length: most critics have noted that the game is too short. In addition to King Kong, ASUS also includes a copy of Project Snowblind, as well as a CD with various game demos on it but these are all obscure titles, King Kong is the main attraction as far as the software bundle is concerned.

Sapphire’s game bundle program, Sapphire Select, is technically more versatile than ASUS or MSI’s, allowing you to pick which games you want from their bundle, but Sapphire’s selection of games are older titles, most were released in late 2004. Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30 is the most noteworthy title (and also the newest), but it’s over a year old now. On the other hand, Sapphire’s Radeon X1900 XTX is the least expensive X1900 XTX board on Pricegrabber right now, selling for about $490 for the OEM card, that’s about $10 less than the next closest offering, the OEM version of PowerColor’s X1900 XTX board. Sapphire’s Radeon X1900 XTX cards are the cheapest boards for sale at Newegg right now too.

The greatest strength for the PowerColor Radeon X1900 XTX is without a doubt its lifetime warranty. We have a feeling that this feature alone will sell a lot of video cards for PowerColor, just as it has done for NVIDIA’s board partners, such as BFG, EVGA, and XFX. PowerColor doesn’t include a game bundle with their card, but it is priced competitively with the other boards in this roundup, coming in just behind the Sapphire board in price, but ahead of the cards from ATI, ASUS, and MSI. Based on all this, it can definitely be argued that the PowerColor X1900 XTX board is the best value among all the Radeon X1900 XTX boards on the market right now, especially if you tend to hold onto your graphics card for years instead of months: PowerColor’s lifetime warranty may come in handy some time down the road.

While it’s no doubt reassuring to many consumers to purchase cards Built By ATI, purchasing ATI’s own Radeon X1900 XTX card is probably the hardest card purchase to justify. ATI’s card tends to sell for more than competing X1900 XTX cards from Sapphire, MSI, and PowerColor (only the ASUS card is more expensive), and is only backed by a 1-year warranty. On top of all this, you don’t get any games or even video editing software with the Built By ATI Radeon X1900 XTX card. These are all features that the other manufacturers in this roundup provide. If you can find a good deal on a Built By ATI Radeon X1900 XTX card, by all means pick it up, but otherwise you’d be better served by a card from one of the other manufacturers.

So there you have it, our take on some of the hottest Radeon X1900 XTX cards on the market right now. Hopefully this article has helped you find the XTX card that best suits your needs, but if you’re looking to spend a little less, the X1900 XT is an excellent alternative, and a lot of our comments on the various manufacturers Radeon X1900 XTX boards also apply to their respective X1900 XT cards as well. The best part about the Radeon X1900 XT cards is that they tend to sell for about $50 less than the XTX and deliver roughly 95% of the XTX’s performance. This makes them a pretty good value if you’re on a budget, but want all the features found in ATI’s latest high-end GPU, particularly R580’s 48 pixel shaders.