A Detailed Analysis of the
ATI RADEON HD 2400XT/2600PRO/2600XT
(RV610/630)
Contents
- Theory and architecture
- Graphics cards' features, synthetic tests
- Results of game tests (performance) and conclusions
Part 2. Graphics cards' features, synthetic tests
In the first part of this article we covered all of the architectural details of the RV610 and the RV630 GPUs. In short, the new RV610 GPU along with the RV630 GPU have a number of cards based on them. These are the various cards flavors the GPUs come in:
- ATI RADEON HD 2400 XT (RV610), 256MB GDDR3 (64 bit), 700/700/1600 MHz, 40 unified processors/4 TMUs/4 ROPs - $59-69
- ATI RADEON HD 2600 PRO (RV630), 256/512MB GDDR2/3 (128 bit), 600/600/800 MHz, 120 unified processors/8 TMUs/4 ROPs - $99-119
- ATI RADEON HD 2600 XT (RV630), 256/512MB GDDR3 (128 bit), 800/1400 MHz, 120 unified processors/8 TMUs/4 ROPs - $129
- ATI RADEON HD 2600 XT (RV630), 256/512MB GDDR4 (128 bit), 800/2200 MHz, 120 unified processors/8 TMUs/4 ROPs - $169
Today we are testing five graphics cards. Two of the cards are reference cards, and the three other cards are from Sapphire, TUL, and HIS. This article will not focus solely on the products themselves, but will take a stronger look at the architectures behind these cards.
It is important to note that Alexei Nikolaychuk, the author of RivaTuner, has already added support for these new products to his utility:
RADEON 2400 XT
RADEON 2600 PRO
RADEON 2600 XT
Graphics Cards
| ATI RADEON 2600 XT (RV630) 256MB GDDR4 PCI-E |
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GPU: RADEON HD 2600 XT (RV630) Interface: PCI-Express x16
GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 800/800 (nominal - 800/800 MHz)
Memory clock rate (physical (effective)): 1100 (2200) MHz (nominal - 1100 (2200) MHz)
Memory bus width: 128bit
Vertex processors: -
Pixel processors: -
Unified processors: 120
Texture processors: 8
ROPs: 4
Dimensions: 210x100x15 mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a graphics card).
PCB color: red.
RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU.
Output connectors: 2xDVI (1xHDMI via an adapter), TV-Out.
VIVO: not available
TV-out: integrated into GPU.
Multi-GPU operation: CrossFire (integrated into GPU). |
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| HIS RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) IceQ III Turbo 256MB GDDR2 PCI-E |
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GPU: RADEON HD 2600 PRO (RV630)
Interface: PCI-Express x16
GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 655/655 (nominal - 600/600 MHz)
Memory clock rate (physical (effective)): 530 (1060) MHz (nominal - 400 (800) MHz)
Memory bus width: 128bit
Vertex processors: -
Pixel processors: -
Unified processors: 120
Texture processors: 8
ROPs: 4
Dimensions: 170x100x32 mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a graphics card). PCB color: blue.
RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU.
Output connectors: 2xDVI (1xHDMI via an adapter), TV-Out.
VIVO: not available
TV-out: integrated into GPU.
Multi-GPU operation: CrossFire (Software). |
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PowerColor RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR2 PCI-E |
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GPU: RADEON HD 2600 PRO (RV630)
Interface: PCI-Express x16
GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 600/600 (nominal - 600/600 MHz)
Memory clock rate (physical (effective)): 414 (828) MHz (nominal - 400 (800) MHz)
Memory bus width: 128bit Vertex processors: -
Pixel processors: -
Unified processors: 120
Texture processors: 8
ROPs: 4
Dimensions: 170x100x15 mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a graphics card).
PCB color: red.
RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU.
Output connectors: 2xDVI (1xHDMI via an adapter), TV-Out.
VIVO: not available
TV-out: integrated into GPU.
Multi-GPU operation: CrossFire (Software). |
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Sapphire RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E |
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GPU: RADEON HD 2600 PRO (RV630)
Interface: PCI-Express x16
GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 700/700 (nominal - 600/600 MHz)
Memory clock rate (physical (effective)): 700 (1400) MHz (nominal - 400 (800) MHz)
Memory bus width: 128bit
Vertex processors: -
Pixel processors: -
Unified processors: 120
Texture processors: 8
ROPs: 4
Dimensions: 170x100x15 mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a graphics card).
PCB color: blue.
RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU.
Output connectors: 2xDVI (1xHDMI via an adapter), TV-Out.
VIVO: not available TV-out: integrated into GPU.
Multi-GPU operation: CrossFire (integrated into GPU). |
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ATI RADEON 2400 XT (RV610) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E |
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GPU: RADEON HD 2400 XT (RV610)
Interface: PCI-Express x16
GPU frequencies (ROPs/Shaders): 700/700 (nominal - 700/700 MHz)
Memory clock rate (physical (effective)): 800 (1600) MHz (nominal - 800 (1600) MHz)
Memory bus width: 64bit
Vertex processors: -
Pixel processors: -
Unified processors: 40
Texture processors: 4 ROPs: 4
Dimensions: 170x100x15 mm (the last figure is the maximum thickness of a graphics card).
PCB color: red.
RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU.
Output connectors: 1xDVI, 1xVGA, TV-Out.
VIVO: not available
TV-out: integrated into GPU.
Multi-GPU operation: CrossFire (Software). |
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| ATI RADEON 2600 XT (RV630) 256MB GDDR4 PCI-E |
The ATI Radeon 2600 XT has 256 MB of GDDR4 SDRAM comprised made up by four memory chips located on the front side of the PCB.
The Samsung memory chips are manufactured by Samsung and are GDDR4. The chips have a 0.9 ns memory access time, which means they operate at 1100 (2200 effective) MHz. |
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HIS RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) IceQ III Turbo 256MB GDDR2 PCI-E |
The HIS RADEON 2600 PRO has 256 MB of GDDR2 SDRAM made up by combining eight memory chips located on the front and back sides of the PCB.
The Qimonda (Infineon) memory chips are GDDR2 and have a 2.0ns memory access time, meaning they operate at 500 (1000 effective) MHz. |
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PowerColor RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR2 PCI-E |
The PowerColor RADEON 2600 PRO has 256 MB of GDDR2 SDRAM allocated in eight memory chips which are located on the front and back of the PCB.
The Hynix memory chips are GDDR2 and have a 2.5 ns memory access time, which means they operate at 400 (800 effective) MHz. |
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Sapphire RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E |
The Sapphire RADEON 2600 PRO has 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM allocated in four chips on the front side of the PCB.
The Samsung memory chip have a 1.2ns memory access time, which corresponds to 800 (1600 effective) MHz. |
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ATI RADEON 2400 XT (RV610) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E |
The ATI RADEON 2400 XT reference card has 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM allocated in four chips on the front and back sides of the PCB.
The manufacturer of the memory is Hynix. The chips have a 1.1ns memory access time, which corresponds to 900 (1800 effective) MHz. |
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| Comparison with the reference design,
front view |
ATI RADEON 2600 XT (RV630) 256MB GDDR4 PCI-E |
Reference card ATI RADEON X1650 XT 256MB PCI-E |
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PowerColor RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR2 PCI-E |
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HIS RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) IceQ III Turbo 256MB GDDR2 PCI-E |
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Sapphire RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E |
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ATI RADEON 2400 XT (RV610) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E |
Reference card ATI RADEON X1300 256MB PCI-E |
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| Comparison with the reference design, back view |
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ATI RADEON 2600 XT (RV630) 256MB GDDR4 PCI-E |
Reference card ATI RADEON X1650 XT 256MB PCI-E |
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PowerColor RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR2
PCI-E |
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HIS RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) IceQ III Turbo
256MB GDDR2 PCI-E |
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Sapphire RADEON 2600 PRO (RV630) 256MB GDDR3
PCI-E |
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ATI RADEON 2400 XT (RV610) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E |
Reference card ATI RADEON X1300 256MB PCI-E |
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As is evident from the above photographs, these cards have a new design that has very little to do with previous ATI cards.
It is noteworthy that the most expensive 2600 XT card, which has DDR4 memory, also happens to have the most complex design, probably because of the complex power supply binding. Incidentally, the 2600 XT variance which has DDR3 will have the same design as the Radeon 2600 PRO-based Sapphire card.
It is interesting to notice that HIS is manufacturing its graphics cards with a blue PCB. The root cause of this change in color can be attributed to a number of events. However, the most likely one is that this change is a result of HIS changing its manufacturing partner.
The cards come with a TV-Out port that uses a proprietary jack. A special adapter is required (usually shipped with the card) to output video to a TV-set via S-Video or RCA. You can read additional information regarding the TV Out here.
The cards have full support for HDMI (in the 2600 cards). The HDMI support means that these cards come equipped with their own audio codec. The video and audio signals go through a special DVI-to-HDMI adapter, which comes bundled with the cards, to an HDMI receiver. We've already reviewed how modern graphics cards decode HD video in this article. In the near future, we plan to update the article with information about the HD 2600 family.
The cards are equipped with a couple of DVI ports, save for the 2400 XT. The ports are Dual link DVI, so users can get resolutions above 1600x1200. Analog monitors with d-Sub (VGA) interface are connected with special DVI-to-d-Sub adapters. The maximum resolutions and frequencies of the cards are:
- 240 Hz Max Refresh Rate
- 2048 x 1536 x 32bit @ 85Hz Max - analog interface
- 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz Max - digital interface
Contents
- Theory and architecture
- Graphics cards' features, synthetic tests
- Results of game tests (performance) and conclusions
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