Sapphire x1950 Pro AGP Get our reviews RSS feed here  |
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Author: Whoopty | ||
| Posted: 23:00, June 3rd 2007 | |||
| Link: http://www.sapphiretech.com | |||
| Score: 8 out of 10 [?] | |||
| Price: £135 | |||
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The x1950 Pro
This AGP card is pretty much identical to its PCI-E counterpart (reviewed here)
 "Sapphire x1950 Pro Compare")
Click to enlarge
The card itself features the same blue PCB and holographic cooler with the translucent blue shroud.
 "Sapphire x1950 Pro AGP")
Click to enlarge
As with the PCI-E version, this GPU has the standard x1950 Pro heatsink covered in such a way as to funnel the air from the fan at the front across the heatsink and out of the back of the card.
 "Sapphire x1950 Pro AGP Fan")
Click to enlarge
Unfortunately, like the PCI-E Pro there is no exhaust for the hot air so it simply comes out near the end of the card.
Speaking of the back of the card, it features the standard twin DVI connectors and an SVideo socket.
 "DVI Ports")
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When it comes to differences between the AGP and PCI-E versions of the x1950 Pro, there are a couple to be found. One, is that the AGP card is not powered by a 6pin PCI-E power cable, but rather two 4pin molexes.
 "Power Compare")
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 "Molex Power")
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The other main difference is the PCI-E - AGP chip on the back of the AGP card. Nvidia have a similar chip on their cards known as the "HSI" or High Speed Interconnect chip. Both of these allows natively PCI-E cards to be used in AGP sockets without a redesign of the core. This technology was first used in reverse (to make native AGP cards work in PCI-E ports) when PCI-E was first being used so that Nvidia didn't have to change the architecture of their AGP cards to get the cores to work with the new PCI-E sockets.
 "PCIE to AGP Chip")
Click to enlarge
The chip is surrounded by a thermal pad and looks like it should be fitted with a heatsink. This can easily be done if you have one and some heatpaste handy; though there are no mounting holes or clips.
 "PCIE to AGP Chip")
Click to enlarge
Even though there is no heatsink installed at stock, I would recommend it as this chip is by far the hottest part of this card and I imagine that heat is transferred to the rest of the card and will probably hinder overclocking.
Installation
Installation of the x1950 Pro AGP is very simple since its single slot cooler is not obstructed by anything.
Buy now
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