In the test 15 years ago: 249 euros was too much for the Radeon HD 2600 XT X2

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In the test 15 years ago, the ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 (test) was a dual GPU card that had no competition for a price of 249 euros – but not in good condition senses. The Radeon lost out to an equally expensive single-GPU card from Nvidia, but it offered all the disadvantages of a dual-GPU graphics card.

Table of Contents

  1. Two Radeon HD 2600 XT
  2. Slower than a GeForce 8800 GTS
  3. Conclusion

Two Radeon HD 2600 XT

The Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 was nothing more than two Radeon HD 2600 XT on one PCB. AMD planted two RV630 GPUs on the PCB and added a PLX chip to enable the GPUs to be addressed individually with the full 16 lanes. The only difference compared to two Radeon HD 2600 XT was the slightly higher memory clock of 800 MHz compared to 700 MHz of the 512 MB GDDR3 memory. At 249 euros, the price was slightly higher than the acquisition costs of two HD 2600 XT, which each cost around 120 euros in the 512 MB version.

GeForce 8600 GTS Radeon HD 2600 XT (GDDR4) Sapphire HD 2600 XT X2 Radeon HD 2900 XT Chip G84 RV630 2 × RV630 R600 transistors approx. 289 million approx. 390 million 2 × approx. 390 million approx. 700 million production 80nm 65nm 80nm Chip Clock 675MHz 800MHz 742MHz Shader Clock 1450MHz 800MHz 742MHz Pixel Pipelines – Shader Units
(MADD) 32 (1D) 24 (5D) 2 × 24 (5D) 64 (5D ) FLOPS
(MADD/ADD/MUL) 139 GFLOPS* 192 GFLOPS 2 × 192 GFLOPS 475 GFLOPS ROPs 8 4 2 × 4 16 Pixel fill rate 5,400 Mpix/s 3,200 Mpix/s 2 × 3,200 Mpix/s 11,872 Mpix/s TMUs 16 8 2 × 8 16 TAUs 16 2 × 16 32 texel fill rate 10,800 MTex/s 6,400 MTex/s 2 × 6,400 MTex/s 11,872 MTex/s Vertex Shader – Unified Shader
in hardware ✓ Pixel shader SM 4 Vertex shader SM 4 Geometry shader ✓ Amount of memory 256 MB GDDR3 256/512 MB GDDR3
(256 MB GDDR4) 2 × 512 MB GDDR3 512 MB GDDR3 Memory clock 1,000 MHz 700 MHz
(1,100 MHz) 800 MHz 828 MHz memory interface 128 bit 512 bit memory bandwidth 32,000 MB/s 22,400 MB/s
(35,200 MB/s) 2 × 25,600 MB/s 105,984 MB/s

The graphics card's PCB was 28.5 cm long, even longer than that of a GeForce 8800 GTX or GeForce 8800 Ultra. In comparison, the 13 cm long PCB of the Radeon HD 2600 XT seemed tiny. At 14.5 cm, the height was also 2 cm more than usual. These expansive dimensions could lead to space problems in many cases.

Image 1 of 7

Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 rear side
Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 Caption
Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 Description
Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 bracket
Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 without cover
Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 without cooler

The two GPUs were each developed by supplied with fresh air by a 65 mm fan. The coolers themselves – which are made of aluminum despite the misleading copper hue – appeared comparatively delicate once the huge plastic cover was removed. The manufacturer did not install a fan controller.

Slower than a GeForce 8800 GTS

The benchmarks showed where the dog was at Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 lay buried. While a cheaper GeForce 8600 GTS was noticeably slower than the dual-GPU Radeon, it couldn't hold a candle to an equally expensive GeForce 8800 GTS 320. The performance difference between the Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 and the GeForce 8800 GTS 320 was between 29 and 43 percent, depending on the resolution.

Performance rating

Performance Rating – 1280×1024

    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra215,3
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX197,4
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT175.4
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS147.3
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320132.0
    • li>

    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2120,3
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX114,5
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)100.0
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX90,6
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro78,9
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT78,2
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS71,4
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)63,7
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)61.0
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT56.3
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS56.0
    • ATi Radeon X1650 XT50.0
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT42,8
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT30,6
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT26, 0

Unit: percent performance rating – 1280×1024 4xAA/16xAF

    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra240,7
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX219,5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS159.8
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT158.8
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320142.7
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX134,5
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2101,8
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3) 100.0
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro86.1
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX76.1
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS75.6
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT65.9
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)57.8
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT57.7
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)55.1
    • ATi Radeon X1650 XT54.8
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS44,2
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT31,9
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT29,4
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT27.0

Unit: Percent performance rating – 1600×1200

    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra225.0
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX206.2
    • ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT179.3
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS152.1
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320138.9
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX117.8
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2117.1
    • ATI Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)100.0
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX88,1
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro77,1
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT74, 5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS66.0
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)60.9
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)58.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS52,8
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT52,3
    • ATi Radeon X1650 XT49,4
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT40,4
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT29,1
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT24,8

Unit: Percent Performance Rating – 1600×1200 4xAA/16xAF

    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra248.1
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX226.0
    • ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT164, 3
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS164,2
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX140,6
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320129.4
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2102.2
    • ATI Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)100.0
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro81.3
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX75,5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS67,5
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT60,7
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)57.7
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)54.2
    • ATi Radeon X1650 XT52,6
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT51,2
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS45,0
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT31.8
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT26.5
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT24.8

unit : percent

In addition to poor performance, the Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 had all the other downsides of a CrossFire system. In addition to a constant 53.5 dB(A) that is annoying (in this case due to the missing fan control), this also includes a high energy consumption – despite modern 65 nm production. GPU temperatures were low both idle and under load, which made the lack of fan control all the more annoying.

Charts

Volume

  • Idle:
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)47.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX47,5
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX48,0
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT48,0
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS48.0
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT48.5
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT48.5Short term: 56dB
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX48,5
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX248,5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32048,5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra50.0
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS50.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT50.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS50,5
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro51,5
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)53.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT55.0
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT62.0
  • Last:
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX49.0
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT49.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS49.5
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)50.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32050.5< /li>
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra50.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT51.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX51.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS52.0
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro54.5
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)54.5
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT55,0
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT56,0
    • 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
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)163< /li>
    • 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
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)200
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2209< /li>
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320213
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS218
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT229< /li>
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX233
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra253
  • Last:
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT179
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT182
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT193
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT203
    • ATi 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 8800 GTS267
    • ATI Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)269
    • li>

    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2281
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX290
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX300
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra334
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT351

Unit: Watt (W ) Temperature

  • Idle:
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)38
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX40
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro41
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT42
    • 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 8800 GTS56
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT57
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX59
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX59
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra64
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)67
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT71
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX275
  • Last – Chip:
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)55
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT63
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX63
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS66
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)67
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro69< /li>
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT69
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS69
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT70
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 32071
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS72
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT73
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX80
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra80
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT81
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX84
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT90
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX291
  • Last – Back:
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT41
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT45
    • li>

    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)47
    • 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
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS58
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX67
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX67
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT68
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra68
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT72
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX274

Unit: °C

Conclusion

Overall, the Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 could not be recommended, especially considering the price of 249 euros. Users could already get a GeForce 8800 GTS 320 for 240 euros, which worked significantly faster and quieter. The conclusion from 15 years ago was: hands off, at least as long as the price had not fallen sharply. For the advertised price, the Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 was unrivaled bad.

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:

  • Teufel's elegant 2.1 system with excellent sound
  • < li>Arctic Coolings Accelero S1 was colder than the competition

  • Zalman wanted to reinvent itself and failed
  • Cooler Masters Cosmos at an astronomical price
  • The best multimedia keyboard came along from Microsoft
  • Sparkle's Caliber GeForce 8600 GT performed well outside the norm
  • Xigmatek was on the road to success with the HDT-S1283
  • Movie playback on ATi versus Nvidia GPUs
  • Teufel and Logitech in a 5.1 exchange of blows
  • Scythe's Katana 2 was the cooler king of the middle class
  • An almost inaudible gaming PC for 3,100 euros
  • Corsair's Voyager GT was the one best USB stick for 100 euros
  • HD 2000 with RV610 & RV630 convinced more than with R600
  • 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
  • Xigmatek stirred up the market for 25 euros with Direct-Touch
  • The best gaming mouse was Razer's Death Adder
  • Against the 8800, no 5D ALUs helped the HD 2900 XT

Yet more content of this kind and many other reports and anecdotes can be found in the retro corner in the ComputerBase forum.