[1] In my previous post I wanted to get the best AGP video card for my Shuttle SB65G2 and narrowed it down to the Leadtek WinFast 7600GT AGP. As also mentioned, there were two problems; the availability of the Leadtek card, and the imminent release of the Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro AGP.

The Sapphire cards have just been released here in the UK and online stores are currently selling them for about £150.00. This card would be ideal since it retains the single-slot-solution condition needed for use in a Shuttle unit.

Would the Sapphire X1950Pro AGP card be be better than the Leadtek 7600GT or BFG 7800GS? Well, as mentioned in [2] my previous post, we already know that the [3] 7600GT AGP beats the 7800GS AGP. Yes, I’m aware that there are some 7800GS AGP cards out there that kicks the hell out of the 7600GT (namely, the dual-slot-solution Gainward Bliss 7800GS which costs about £200.00), but I’m after one which will fit in a Shuttle unit.

So is the X1950Pro any better than the 7600GT?

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. The Sapphire X1950Pro AGP is still very new and there hasn’t been any reviews for it yet. I’m not much of a hardware enthuthiast to do my own bencmarking tests. However, in a [4] review of the PowerColor Radeon X1950 Pro AGP by the Firing Squad (which by the way, won’t fit in a Shuttle), they mentioned that the X1950Pro AGP is not a cut-down or crippled version of its PCI-E counterpart and is like-for-like, accept for the addition of an AGP bridge. In their review of the X1950 Pro PCI-E version, they already revealed that it’s capable of outrunning the 7900 GS and in some benchmarks, the 7900 GT! This is a very good sign indeed!

So what does this all mean?

Compared to the BFG 7800GS AGP card, at about £150.00, the Sapphire X1950Pro AGP is only £10.00 cheaper, but only £30.00 more expensive to the Leadek 7600GT AGP. I already had my mind set on the Leadtek, so should I spend £30.00 more and get the Sapphire X1950Pro AGP instead?

HELL YEAH!!!

I received my card just a few days before Christmas (pictures below). Taking out of its box and antistatic foil, two things caught the attention of my eye right away:

• The extremely long length of the card
• The two power molex connectors at the end

With the video card almost covering the length of an A4 sheet of paper, it looks very doubtful that it would fit my Shuttle G2 case. I somewhat regret not doing a bit more homework to check for the actual dimensions prior to buying it.

The other bit that worried me would be the two molex connectors. Just how much juice does this card requires? A quick check on the retail box reveals that it requires a 450-watt power supply or greater, with 30 Amps on 12 volt rail (not quite sure what the latter means).

So these two issues have in turn, raised two new questions:

• Will the Sapphire X1950 Pro AGP fit in a Shuttle XPC?
• Will it get enough juice from the Shuttle’s power supply?

TO BE CONTINUED…

[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]