The x1950XTX Up close and Personal

The Connect3D x1950XTX measures in at just over 24cm, so is quite a large card as well as being quite a weighy piece of hardware too. Much of this weight is down to the fact that the x1950 comes equipped with the fetching, new ATI cooler; a large, red, transparent beast of a thing. Beneath the fan housing it is quite clear to see the large and convoluted heatsink.

This cooler features heatpipe technology to aide the transfer of heat from the GPU to the heatsink. Heatpipes are hollowed pipes (Usually copper) that are either filled with a liquid with a high heat conductivity or a fine powder (Again, usually copper). Both these methods are far more effective than using solid copper or aluminium to transfer the heat therefore they are used to provide a pathway for the heat to travel from the core to the large surface area of the heatsink fins. Once the heat reaches the heatsink, a fan draws air from inside the case and blows it over the heatsink before expelling it out of the rear of the case.

The rear of the card has a small grill to stop you or any young un's that are about sticking their fingers in.

The back of the x1950 has a large X shaped mounting plate and a load of other screws to hold up the huge cooler. The x1900 range of cards was plagued by noisy and poor performing stock cooling, hopefully ATI's new offering will be an improvement.