Sapphire Ultimate X1600 Pro and X1600 XT
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Sapphire has been a popular brand for some time now, which is in part due to their innovative products. From the lowest card in the 3D graphics food chain, to the their flagship products, Sapphire has something for almost any price range. While they've produced X1600 cards before, their Ultimate series boasts a much improved heatsink design. Both the X1600 Pro and X1600 XT kept under 65oC during our testing (with an ambient temp of 28oC), and the design is small enough that it should fit in most cases without much of a hassle. While there are certainly better buys out there from a price / performance perspective, like the $140 EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT for example, if you're in the market for an X1600 Pro or X1600 XT, the Sapphire Ultimate series is a good choice.
We have mixed feelings towards Sapphire's Ultimate X1600 Pro and Ultimate X1600 XT cards, however. Though the cards are moderately priced at about $100 to $140, respectively, and they do come with a decent selection of cables and adapters, they aren't the best performers in their respective price ranges. Overclocking results were mixed, but no one should rely solely on overclocking results when purchasing hardware anyway. Each card is unique, and may not overclock to the same levels at what we've shown you here. All things considered though, we prefer Sapphire's Ultimate X1600 Pro and Ultimate X1600 XT to just about any other Radeon X1600 out there. With Sapphire's Ultimate cards you get the same or better performance than other X1600 Pro and X1600 XT cards, but with a superior cooling solution and a good bundle. HotHardware gives both the Sapphire Ultimate X1600 Pro and X1600 XT 7.5s on our Heat Meter.
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