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Power Consumption

To test power consumption we measured total power draw of the entire benchmark system using each of the video cards.  This doesn't give you an absolute value for the actual draw of each card, but it does give you an accurate idea of the differences in each card's power consumption relative to one another.

X1900 cards have never been particularly environmentaly friendly, but it's nice to see that the Load figure has been taken down a notch from what the X1900 XT delivered. These cards are great at idle, but the extra transistors versus the competition really come into play under stress, making even the 7950 GX2 look good in this regard.

Noise

Because performance considerations aren't the only thing that matters in today's savvy market, we also look for how much noise the X1950XTX's fancy fan design might generate.  For noise measurements we isolate just the video card's cooler from the rest of system noise.  Our measurements are done using an OMEGA HHSL-1 sound meter and we took a reading of the fan from a meter away, without the case - this means that these cards will sound quieter when actually installed in a case, but our measurements will give you a good idea of relative noise of each card.  With an ambient noise reading of 39 DBa, our X1950 XTX came in just over 45 DBa on the low fan speed setting from just under a meter away. The fan rarely adjusts above this level under stress and spins at a very low pitch making the noise hard to distinguish above other system components.  The fan is capable of going much louder if it spins up to full speed, but during hours of stress testing we have never heard the card spin up beyond its lower speed ranges.  As far as the competition goes, a 7900 GTX idles at 40.8 under similar conditions and only rises to 43.2 DBa under load. The 7950 GX2 is one of the noise culprits in this comparison.  As we mentioned in the 7950GX2 review, its idle noise is a quiet 41.8 DBa, but this jumps to 51.9 DBa sporadically under load due to the proximity of the dual fan design.

Conclusion

ATI have definitely crafted a very desirable card in the X1950 XTX.  Whether it bests the GeForce 7950 GX2 is definitely debatable and comes down to more than just performance overall.  As most current video card rivalries go, the XTX and GX2 trade victories with each other depending on the game at hand though the GX2 comes out on top in most cases. The performance benefits of the second GPU are definitely evident and while the X1950 comes closer than any previous ATI card to the performance of the dual board behemoth, it doesn't manage to topple the current heavyweight. While the performance may be slightly lesser, the X1950 has the GX2 beat in other avenues.

The GX2 still has some compatibility and driver stability issues on some motherboards and performance can tend to be all over the place due to it's unusual nature. For assured system stability and consistency, the X1950 is definitely the better choice as it works without the creaks and shudders that the GX2 provides on occasion.

As far as price and availability goes, the GX2 is available now while there are still another two weeks to go before the X1950 is supposed to hit the channels. Assuming that GDDR4 yields don't cause problems on the production front, it's expected that the XTX will fetch about $80 less than most GX2's, making it significantly more affordable.

The X1950 also has a far superior cooling solution and does not produce troublesome amounts of noise, even under heavy load. The GX2 whines and sporadically raises and lowers its fan speeds making for an obnoxious 'vrooming' effect. The XTX doesn't suffer from such problems and its massive amount of copper and large fan instill alot more confidence in terms of long term reliability than the two small fans on the GX2.

We will be taking a further look at Crossfire performance in another article, though it should be noted that an X1950 XTX setup still uses the dongle we're accustomed to and it's not looking like there are any advancements in the way of cableless Crossfire coming to this series.

Overall, ATI have assembled a fantastic high end solution, and assuming the $449 MSRP sticks at retail, it offers quite a decent proposition for those looking for a top end product while waiting for each company's respective DX10 parts to ship later this year. As an upgrade from an X1900 XTX, the X1950 doesn't really make sense as it offers only modest gains over the previous ATI flagship, but for those looking to make the jump from a lesser card who have cash to spend, this is in essence the ultimate culmination of all X1000 technologies and would not be a poor purchase by any means. The card may not have longevity going in its favor, but practicality isn't always top priority at the top end.

Stay tuned for coverage of X1950 Crossfire performance as well as our reviews of the other two low end cards and the exciting X1900 256 MB which ATI released at the same time.