Bjorn3D has published their thoughts on PowerColor X1600 XT and X1300 PRO. Both cards represent middle and low end markets respectively.
While I can easily say both X1600 XT and X1300 PRO from PowerColor are good products, I'm a bit famished. The performance of X1600 XT could be better yet I understand this might come in time with the new drivers. This XT as well as PRO have it all; Avivo/HDTV along with H.264 decoding and transcoding, new Ultra-Threaded Shader Engine, Ring Bus memory controller (XT only) and most importantly Shader Model 3.0 support. RADEON X1600 doesn't stay way behind the pack. As far as I'm concerned it's performing properly for $200 bucks, but lacks that true 256-bit bus. The next gem, PowerColor X1300 PRO is aimed at consumers with less money on hand or simply those who need advanced DirectX 9 support at a reasonable price / performance ratio.
While I can easily say both X1600 XT and X1300 PRO from PowerColor are good products, I'm a bit famished. The performance of X1600 XT could be better yet I understand this might come in time with the new drivers. This XT as well as PRO have it all; Avivo/HDTV along with H.264 decoding and transcoding, new Ultra-Threaded Shader Engine, Ring Bus memory controller (XT only) and most importantly Shader Model 3.0 support. RADEON X1600 doesn't stay way behind the pack. As far as I'm concerned it's performing properly for $200 bucks, but lacks that true 256-bit bus. The next gem, PowerColor X1300 PRO is aimed at consumers with less money on hand or simply those who need advanced DirectX 9 support at a reasonable price / performance ratio.
