Today we will be reviewing one of ASUS' graphics cards, the EAX1600XT SILENT/TVD/256M. This card uses the ATI RADEON X1600XT chipset, which is for users that aren't into power hungry gaming, but instead want a low noise, home theatre solution. Nowadays, most of the high-end or mid-level cards are a little noisy, due to the high speed cooling fan systems they are equipped with. However, this card is fan-less and uses the passive cooling system producing completely silent operation.

-Features and specs according to ASUS

Since the EAX1600XT SILENT/TVD/256M VGA card uses the passive cooling system, we don't expect it to be stock over-clocked. Also, at the time of the review, the EAX1600XT SILENT, as well as the EAX1300PRO SILENT, were the only silent models released by ASUS. All higher range models (e.g. X1800, X1900) are equipped with a fan cooling system.

- Radeon® X1600 - Overview, as seen on the ATI website

Radeon® X1600 Series — Outstanding Digital Entertainment and 3D Graphics

The Radeon® X1600 series is designed to deliver outstanding digital entertainment and 3D graphics through its unique ultra-threaded architecture and Avivo™ video and display technology. The X1600 is CrossFire™ Ready to deliver the ultimate gaming performance.

ATI’s new Radeon X1600 series transforms your PC with astonishing graphics performance and visual quality, creating a lifelike High Definition (HD) viewing experience with 3D games, DVD movies, and digital photography and video.

Radeon X1600 is an ideal product for the working demands and entertainment pleasures of tomorrow.

ATI’s Avivo- Video & Display Perfection
Connect your Radeon X1600 with your home entertainment devices for high definition convergence, enhanced with ATI’s revolutionary new Avivo video and display technology platform. Avivo technology creates vibrant colors, ultra sharp images, true-to-life image reproduction, and the smoothest HD video playback ever offered by ATI.

Avivo redefines the ultimate visual experience for today’s PCs, and sets the stage for tomorrow’s exciting possibilities. Check your board for specific support of Avivo features.

• Sharp video and photos
• True-to-Life Image Reproduction
• Smooth Video Playback
• Universal Display Connectivity

State-of-the-Art 3D Performance Technology
Experience state-of-the-art graphics technology and enjoy unparalleled gaming with the most advanced 3D performance technology including a new ultra-threaded 3D architecture, a 256-bit ring-bus memory controller, support for up to 512 MB RAM and Shader Model 3.0 done right. All delivered using the most advance 90 nanometer GPU process.

• Radeon X1600 Series excels with Shader Model 3.0, HDR and adaptive anti-aliasing

CrossFire: Multiply and Conquer with Multi-GPU Performance
Designed from the ground up with GPU sharing in mind, the Radeon X1600 series allows you to get incredible gaming performance by adding a second Radeon® X1600 graphics card for ultra fast performance that works with all games, all the time.

To achieve optimal enthusiast-class performance from your Radeon X1600 CrossFire platform, combine two Radeon X1600 graphics cards with a motherboard based on ATI's CrossFire Xpress™ 3200 chipset.

• Supertiling for optimized gaming performance
• CrossFire boosts image quality
• Upgradeable components and web support

Catalyst Software: Customizable Performance, Control and Support
Control your Radeon X1600 with ATI’s Catalyst Control Center, the award-winning feature-rich 3D software application. Catalyst automatically configures optimal settings for your system, and is packed with features that go far beyond traditional driver configuration software.

• Experiment with display settings hassle-free
• Support and updates for optimal performance and protection

- Packaging/Bundle

The retail box is nothing extraordinary. The games included are old and there are no extra applications, such as DVD playback for instance.

Found in the retail box:

• Quick Installation Guide
• CD multi-language manual
• CD Leather Wallet
• VIVO cable
• DVI-to-VGA adaptor
• Games: Xpand Rally, Gamepack (including Savage, BillyBlade and Mashed)
• CD VGA Driver (including WDM Driver, DirectX 9.0c, NET Framework 1.1, ASUS Enhanced Driver, ASUS Video Security Online, ASUS GameLiveShow and ASUS GameFace Messenger)
• and the Silent EAX1600XT card of course... :-)
  

VIVO cable...

Quick Installation Guide...

DVI 2 VGA adaptor...

Now that we have covered the card's features, let's move on to the next page in order to have a closer look.