New Viper Graphics Cards from Diamond

By DE Editors

Diamond Multimedia (Chatsworth, CA; ), a manufacturer of PC graphics cards, sound cards, and communications products, has recently added a number of new products to the market, including the new X1950 line.

The company has begun shipping the X1950 CrossFireT and X1950XTX in PCI-E models, as well as the X1950PRO available in an AGP version. The X1950 cards have tested memory speeds of 450MHz faster than the last generation of X1900 cards. 

The Viper X1950XTX and the Viper X1950 CrossFire both use the Radeon X1950 GPU, with a 512MB GDDR4 interface using the PCI Express data bus. These cards have a core clock speed of 650MHz and a 2.0GHz memory speed. The X1950AGP model has a 256MB GDDR4 interface, core clock speed of 600MHz, and a 1.4 GHz memory speed. 

The cards are equipped with Avivo ATI Technology video and display platform, which offers universal connectivity to various digital devices, including home theater systems, LCD monitors, HDTVs, projectors, and notebooks. The X1950 cards support High Dynamic Range (HDR) with full post-processing capabilities, including anti-aliasing. The connectors included are DVI, TV-Out/HDTV and VIVO. 

The Viper X1950 also comes with software, including the Catalyst Control Center, which automatically configures optimal settings for the user’s system. The Radeon Ultra-Threaded Shader Engine will handle up to 128 threads at once, as well as up to 48 simultaneous shader processors, featuring a 3-to-1 shader-to-texture ratio.

In addition to the X1950 line, Diamond also recently introduced the X1900XT 256MB; X1650PRO, 512MB and 256MB, both PCIE and AGP; and the X1300XT, PCIE, 256MB.

The Viper X1900XT uses the Radeon X1900XT GPU, with a 256MB interface using the PCI Express data bus. Like the X1950, The X1900XT is also equipped with ATI’s Avivo video and display platform, offering High Definition display and universal connectivity.  

The 1650PRO uses the RV530XT ATI Radeon GPU and comes in both PCI-E and AGP models, each at either 512MB or 256MB.  The X1650 features GDDR2 interface with memory speeds of 1.2GHz (up 800MHz from the last generation X1600’s) and now supports x2 Dual Link DVI.

The X1300XT has a PCI-E bus type, 256MB memory, 560MHz clock speed, and 1.38GHz memory speed. It is CrossFireT ready, contains 256MB GDDR3 memory, and has faster core clock and increased memory speeds. It utilizes 90nm technology and has an increased number of Shader Processors (12) with the added feature of x2 Dual Link DVI.

The X1950 CrossFire and X1950 XTX each retail at $449.  Both the PCIE and AGP versions of the X1650PRO, 512MB and 256MB retail at $229.  The X1900XT, 256MB retails at $399, and the X1300XT, PCI-E, 256MB retails at $149.  There is more information on their entire line at diamondmm.com.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.