Introduction

My thanks go out to Tul for providing the tested video card.

Powercolor (Tul’s graphic card division) is no newcomer to the graphic card segment. Over the years, it has built up a strong reputation, which it is constantly improving. In the past weeks, we were all able to notice that Powercolor started offering a “lifetime” guarantee on their X1900 series cards.

Today, we take a look at the opposite side of the X1000 spectrum – the low end X1300. But perhaps low end is not the correct word…

So what exactly is the Powercolor X1300 Hypermemory 2?
It is by no means an ordinary X1300. First, let’s take a look at the pipeline configuration: 4 pixel pipes and 2 vertex pipes. The low pipeline count is made up for by the literally “massive” GPU clock – 600 MHz (overclocked from 450 MHz). The core is manufactured by a relatively new 90nm process, which cannot be said about the memory; “old” DDR2 is used. Memory interface is also quite lacking compared to modern standards, as it is only 64 bit. The card supports DirectX 9.0C, as well as AVIVO and Crossfire.

The card

The card came through in a small white box:


After opening the box, you get to see the manual and the CDs in the bundle:


The card itself is low profile, and will fit very nicely into small enclosures:


A close up of the exposed DDR2 memory:


Outputs are of the daily standard:


Finally, a comparison of the X1300 to a Sapphire X800GT:

Specifications