PowerColor, recently announced the PowerColor X1950 PRO 256/512MB with ARCTIC COOLING. The X1950 PRO features the first-ever GPU manufactured with the 80nm fabrication process and the new CrossFire Bridge Interconnect. PowerColor has also included the ARCTIC COOLING Accelero X2 solution for its X1950 Pro platform.

CrossFire Bridge Interconnect

The new CrossFire TM connection provides improved performance and scalability with a 24 bit (2 x 12 bit) connection for speeds of up to 350 MHz. A master card is no longer required and the new set-up will work on all CrossFire TM ready motherboards.

Silent Cooling with Huge Overclocking Potential

The ARCTIC COOLING Accelero X2 compliments the X1950 PRO exceptionally well by simultaneously cooling the GPU and memory. The ARCTIC COOLING has 6 heat pipes that allow superb cooling. Even when the board is overclocked, the Accelero X2 minimizes noise level with a high airflow, a unique cooling performance with extra heat pipes and patented vibration absorption.

HDCP Ready

The PowerColor X1950 PRO supports dual-link DVI with High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). HDCP, a digital right content protection technology for transmitting and receiving digital entertainment, allows users to future-proof their hardware, providing compatibility with the likes of Blu-ray and HD-DVD applications at 1080p for HDTV resolution.

Key features of PowerColor X1950 PRO

• 1st ever GPU manufactured under 80nm fabrication process
• 1st ATI dual-graphic solution with CrossFire TM Bridge Interconnect
• ARCTIC COOLING Accelero X2 for quiet cooling and lower temperatures
• Video-in/Video-out (VIVO)
• Simultaneous Anti-Aliasing with HDR for smooth graphics
• Support for DirectX 9c, Open GL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0
• High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) ready
• H.264 playback with ATI's Avivo™ Video- & Display Engine
• Windows Vista ready

For our review, PowerColor provided us with the retail version of their X1950Pro. The card costs around ~€250 in Europe and ~US$280 in the US, as found at several online stores.

The retail package is complete with printed manual, drivers and of course cables:

The retail package includes:

• An X1950Pro card
• Printed manual
• 1x CD-ROM with display drivers
• 2x CD-ROM Software
• 1x S-Video Cable
• 2x DVI Dongle
• 1x HDTV Cable
• 1x Composite Cable
• 1x VIVO Cable
• 1x Extension Cable
• CrossFire Cable (optional for specific retail packages-not included in our sample)

The card is full size (23.5cm long vs 17.5cm for the X1600XT and 21cm for the Nvidia 7950GT), with the presence of Arctic cooling big fan. If you look carefully, you will see that the cooler also covers the memory chips and improves overclocking abilities:

The card has two DVI-D and one TV-out outputs:

The card requires a PCI-E power supply in order to operate. You need at least 600W with these current VGA cards, especially if you decide to go CrossFire:

The rear of the PCB:

The memory is clocked at 695MHz, while the GPU at 594MHz.