In the test 15 years ago: HD 2000 with RV610 & RV630 was more convincing than with R600

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After the ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT with R600 GPU disappointed across the board in both single and multi-GPU operation, AMD attacked Nvidia's GeForce 8000 series in the Low to mid-end range. Radeon HD 2400 XT and HD 2600 XT (test) took on GeForce 8500 GT and 8600 GT(S) 15 years ago and had more success.

Table of Contents

  1. 1 DDR3: consumption down, bandwidth up
  2. For occasional gamers with less demands
  3. Quiet, economical and cool
  4. Conclusion

DDR3: consumption down, bandwidth up

Radeon HD 2400 XT and 2600 XT rely on the RV610 and RV630 GPUs, respectively, which have 180 and 390 million transistors respectively. Compared to Nvidia's competing G86 and G84 GPUs, they are manufactured using the modern 65 nm process. The Radeon HD 2600 XT was offered in two versions with either GDDR3 or GDDR4. With the GDDR4 version, customers received 400 MHz more video memory clock, which resulted in an approximately 57 percent higher bandwidth. With a price of 150 euros, the GDDR4 variant was also 50 percent more expensive than the 100 euro GDDR3 version. If that was too much for you, you could get the Radeon HD 2400 XT for just under 70 euros.

GeForce 8500 GT GeForce 8600 GT GeForce 8600 GTS Radeon HD 2400 XT Radeon HD 2600 XT (GDDR4) chip G86 G84 RV610 RV630 transistors approx. 210 million approx. 289 million approx. 180 million approx. 390 million production 80 nm 65 nm Chip Clock 450MHz 540MHz 675MHz 700MHz 800MHz Shader Clock 900MHz 1190MHz 1450MHz 700MHz 800MHz Pixel Pipelines – Shader Units
(MADD) 16 (1D) 32 (1D) 32 (1D) 8 ( 5D) 24 (5D) FLOPs
(MADD/ADD/MUL) 43 GFLOPS 114 GFLOPS 139 GFLOPS 56 GFLOPS 192 GFLOPS ROPs 4 8 4 Pixel Fill Rate 1800 MPix/s 4320 MPix/s 5400 MPix/s 2800 MPix/s 3200 MPix/s TMUs 8 16 4 8 TAUs 8 16 8 16 Texel fill rate 3,600 MTex/s 8,640 MTex/s 10,800 MTex/s 2,800 MTex/s 6,400 MTex/s Vertex shader – Unified shader
in hardware ✓ Pixel shader SM 4 Vertex shader SM 4 Geometry shader ✓ Amount of memory 256 MB GDDR3 256 MB GDDR3
256 MB GDDR4 Memory clock 400 MHz 700 MHz 1,000 MHz 800 MHz 700 MHz
1,100 MHz Memory interface 128 bit 64 bit 128 bit Memory bandwidth 12,800 MB/s 22,400 MB/s 32,000 MB/800 MB/s 12,400 MB/s 32,000 MB/800 MB s 22,400 MB/s
35,200 MB/s

The placement of the models in the low and mid-end was not only noticeable in the GPUs, which were slimmed down compared to the Radeon HD 2900 XT with the R600 GPU. The Radeon HD 2400 XT did not have a separate power connection, its 25 watt power consumption could easily be covered via the PCIe slot. The cooling solution, which consisted of a simple aluminum block with a 50 mm fan, was appropriate for the power requirement. There was no integrated fan control in the HD 2400 XT, but the fan worked quietly in all situations.

The Radeon HD 2600 XT with GDDR3 came from PowerColor and had a dual-slot cooler with a 65 mm axial fan. As with the HD 2400 XT, there was no fan control, but the fan also worked consistently quietly on the PowerColor Radeon HD 2600 XT. The GDDR4 version in the test came from ATi and therefore had the reference cooler with flame decoration and a 55 mm radial fan. In contrast to the other two models, this example offered fan control.

  1. ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT

Image 1 of 7

Radeon HD 2400 XT Fan
Radeon HD 2400 XT Voltage Converter
PowerColor Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR3
PC Radeon HD 2600 XT Fan
Radeon HD 2600 XT cooler
Radeon HD 2600 XT Rear

For casual gamers with lower demands

All three graphics cards were supplied with energy via the PCIe slot and could therefore draw a maximum of 75 watts. The target group was therefore not enthusiasts who wanted maximum performance, but casual gamers who wanted to play their favorite games reasonably smoothly and were not penalized with a high electricity bill. In its price range, the Radeon HD 2400 XT competed with the GeForce 8500 GT, which outperformed it by up to 14 percent without anti-aliasing. With anti-aliasing enabled, it was up to 9 percent behind the GeForce, but this case was the less realistic scenario due to the low performance of both graphics cards.

Performance rating

Performance rating – 1280×1024

    • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320196.7
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX191,0
    • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2177,1
    • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX145,6
    • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT126,6
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro123,3
    • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS109,0
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)100.0
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)95.5
    • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT86.5
    • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS86,5
    • ATi Radeon X1650 XT78,9
    • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT65,8
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT47.1
    • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT41.9

Unit: Percent performance rating – 1600×1200

    • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320213.9
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX206.0
    • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2184.3
    • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX151.6
    • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT130,1
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro127,4
    • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS105.0
    • ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)100.0
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)95.9
    • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS87.3
    • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT84.0
    • ATi Radeon X1650 XT80.8
    • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT66.0
    • ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT48,2
    • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT42,5

    • < /ul> Unit: Percent performance rating – 1280×1024 4xAA/16xAF

      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX243,2
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320236,1
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2151,5
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro142.1
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX128.6
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS127.8
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT112.5
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)100.0
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT98.4
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)94.9
      • ATi Radeon X1650 XT90.8
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS69.8
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT52.5
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT51.5
      • ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT47 ,8

    Unit: percent performance rating – 1600×1200 4xAA/16xAF

      < li class="chart__group">

      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX248,5
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320213,0
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2149.0
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro134.8
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX127.8
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS115,7
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT111,1
      • ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)100.0
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)92.4
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT89.8
      • ATI Radeon X1650 XT88.3
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS67.9
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT49.0
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT48, 4
      • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT45,9

    Unit: percent

    The Radeon HD 2600 XT should take on the GeForce 8600 GT(S). In particular, the GeForce 8600 GT was consistently left behind, for the GTS model it was only enough in one case. For those interested in the Radeon HD 2600 XT, the benchmarks showed one thing above all: it wasn't worth the surcharge for the GDDR4 model. The performance advantage was minimal and accordingly the GDDR3 model represented the better offer.

    Quiet, economical and cool

    All three models cut an excellent figure in the B grades. The graphics cards were among the quietest and coolest of the squad available at the time. Only the Radeon HD 2600 XT with GDDR4 had a negative impact on energy consumption compared to the GDDR3 model.

    Charts

    Volume

    • Idle:
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)47.5
      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX48,0
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT48,0
      • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT48,5
      • PC Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)48.5
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX48.5
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX248.5
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32048.5
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS50.5
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT50 ,5
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS50,5
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro51,5
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT55.0
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT62.0
    • Last:
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX49 ,0
      • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT49.5
      • PC Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)50.5
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)50.5
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32050.5
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT51.5
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS52.0
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro54.5
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT55.0
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX257.5
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS58.5
      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX59.0
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT59.0
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT62.0

    Unit: dB(A) Power consumption

    • Idle:
      • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT158
      • PC Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)163
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT167
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT169
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT172
      • ATi Radeon X1650 XT172
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro174
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS176
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS176
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT177
      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX181
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)187
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX188
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2209
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320213
    • Last:
      • ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT179
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT182
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT193
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT203
      • PC Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)205
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS206
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS209
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT216
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)217
      • ATi Radeon X1650 XT221
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro238
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX243
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320264
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2281
      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX290

    Unit: Watt (W) Temperature

    • Idle:
      • PC Radeon HD 2600 XT (3) 37
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX40
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro41
      • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT42

        • < li class="chart__row">nVidia GeForce 7900 GS47

      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS48
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT49
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT49
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT53
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32056
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT57
      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX59
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)67
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX275
    • Last – Chip:
      • PC Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)51
      • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT63
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX63
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS66
      • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)67
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro69
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT69
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS69
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT70
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32071
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT73
      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX84
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT90
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX291
    • Last – Rear:
      • PC Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)39
      • nVidia GeForce 8500 GT41
      • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT45
      • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro51
      • nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32051
      • nVidia GeForce 7600 GT52
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS52
      • ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)54
      • nVidia GeForce 8600 GT54
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX55
      • nVidia GeForce 7900 GS56
      • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX67
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GT72
      • nVidia GeForce 7950 GX274

    Unit: °C Overclocking

    • Company of Heroes:
      • HD 2600 XT GDDR4 – Overclocked (850/1140)26.1
      • PC 2600 XT GDDR3 – Overclocked (850/855)25.8
      • HD 2600 XT GDDR4 – Standard (800/1100)25.1
      • PC 2600 XT GDDR3 – Standard (800/700)24.3
      • HD 2400 XT – Overclocked (790/910)11.8
      • HD 2400 XT – Standard (700/800)10.4
    • F.E.A.R.:
      • HD 2600 XT GDDR4 – Standard (800/1100)19.0
      • HD 2600 XT GDDR4 – Overclocked (850/1140)19.0
      • PC 2600 XT GDDR3 – Overclocked (850/855)19.0
      • PC 2600 XT GDDR3 – Standard (800/700)18.0
      • HD 2400 XT – Overclocked (790/910)8.0
      • HD 2400 XT – Default (700/800)7.0
    • Prey:
      • HD 2600 XT GDDR4 – Overclocked (850/1140)19.0
      • HD 2600 XT GDDR4 – Standard (800/1100)18.7
      • PC 2600 XT GDDR3 – Overclocked (850/855)18.5
      • PC 2600 XT GDDR3 – Standard (800/700)17.0
      • HD 2400 XT – Overclocked (790/910)8.3
      • HD 2400 XT – Default (700/800)7.6

    Unit: frames per second (FPS)

    Conclusion

    Radeon HD 2400 XT and HD 2600 XT (GDDR3) did a lot better than the expensive, power-hungry and loud Radeon HD 2900 XT. If you don't need a lot of power, want to play occasionally and value a quiet and economical computer, both graphics cards were excellent. In particular, the HD 2600 XT with GDDR3 memory cut an excellent figure for 100 euros.

    In the category “In the test 15 years ago”, the editors have been taking a look at the test archive every Saturday since July 2017. The last 20 articles that appeared in this series are listed below:

    • DDR3 celebrated its premiere with the Intel P35 at Asus
    • ATi CrossFire was 80 percent ahead – measured in dB(A)
    • Halo 2 was a flop on the PC despite Vista
    • Router, switch and NAS in one from Asus< /li>
    • Xigmatek stirred up the market for 25 euros with Direct-Touch
    • The best gaming mouse was Razer's Death Adder
    • The HD 2900 XT didn't help against the 8800 either with 5D ALUs

      • li>

    • GeForce 8800 Ultra
    • The PlayStation 3 was much more than a gaming console
    • The G84 GPU of the GeForce 8600 GTS came in 80 nm
    • Five GeForce 8800 GTS 320 with G80 GPU at the limit
    • Windows ReadyBoost turned USB sticks into turbochargers
    • Intel's Core 2 Extreme QX6800 had four 2.93 GHz cores
    • The NZXT Zero had the best cooling for 140 euros
    • Water-cooled RAM from OCZ
    • Cooler Masters cooling giant with two 120 mm fans
    • Logitechs Luxury keyboard returns
    • Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GTS with half the graphics memory
    • Cherry eVolution Stream in spartan perfection
    • Two Radeon X1650 XT from silent to deafening

      • < /ul>

      Find even more content of this kind and many more reports and anecdotes n in the retro corner of the ComputerBase forum.