PCB Design

The graphics card doesn’t differ from the reference sample and is an exact replica of the card we described in our Radeon X1900 XTX review.

There’s only a paper label on the reverse side of the PCB that tells you this is indeed a GeCube product: GC-X1900XTXD-VIE3. They even left intact the picture of Ruby on the cooler’s casing and the ATI logo on the fan motor card.

Eight Samsung K4J52324QC-BJ11 GDDR3 chips in 136-pin FBGA packaging are installed on board the card. The total amount of graphics memory is 512MB and it is clocked at 775MHz exactly as described by the Radeon X1900 XTX specification. As usual, the memory contacts the cooler’s base via rubber-like heat-conductive pads. Its efficiency is rather low, particularly due to their excessive thickness, yet they cool the chips all right. The graphics processor works at 650MHz as described in the official specs, too. Very thick dark-gray thermal paste with low thermal resistance is employed as an interface between the GPU and the cooler.

The card carries a Rage Theater chip that endows it with VIVO functionality. You cannot use the video output and connect an YPbPr-interfaced device simultaneously because the appropriate adapters need the same connector. This is a drawback of almost all graphics cards with VIVO support, though.

The cooling system installed on the GeCube Radeon X1900 XTX was first examined by us in our Radeon X1800 XT review. Its origin can be traced back to the Radeon X850 XT cooler and its design implies that the hot air is exhausted out of the PC case. The thick copper foundation and the use of heat pipes help this cooler cope with the high heat dissipation of the R580 chip. Unfortunately, the level of noise isn’t always comfortable because the cooler’s plastic casing works as a resonator when the fan speed is increased. It’s even not the level of noise, but the “plastic” tone in its sound due to the resonance that is irritating.