Gigabyte GV-R96X128D 9600XT Videocard Review
How many people got a
new videocard this holiday season? If you did, it will probably be the last AGP
based videocard you get, considering PCI Express is just around the corner. Yup, the dawn of a new graphics interface is just around the corner. These are exciting times to be sure, and
in this review we'll be exploring Gigabyte's latest
mainstream videocard called the GV-R96X128D.
Based on
the ATI Radeon 9600XT GPU, the Gigabyte GV-R96X128D should be up to some pretty decent performance numbers, and more than well suited for
those of us on a hardware budget. The card comes with a rather nice software bundle
which includes; Tomb Raider: TAOD, Rainbow Six
3: Raven Shield, Will Rock and of course a coupon to download a full version of
Half Life 2! For good measure Gigabyte also toss in a full version of PowerDVD
5 software.
Because
the GV-R96X128D supports TV-Out, the box of goodies also includes an S-Video to
S-Video/Composite cable and DVI
to analog converter. With twin monitor jacks already, a DVI-to-Analog converter allows you
to potentially hook up two analog monitors to the GV-R96X128D for a wide screen desktop, or
just wide screen gaming.
The layout of
the Gigabyte GV-R96X128D videocard is exactly the same as the reference Radeon
9600XT, except perhaps for the signature blue-coloured PCB. If you were to
place the Gigabyte GV-R96X128D and the GV-R96128D
(Radeon 9600 Pro) side by side,
you wouldn't be able to tell the difference!
It's not
bad that most videocards these days are based on a reference design. Doing
so saves the manufacturer R&D time, ensures better validation because
the chip makers PCB design is utilized, and generally allows the
videocard to come to market faster.
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