Conclusion
Without a doubt we can see that the X1950PRO is a heck of a buy. The Diamond Viper X1950PRO comes through with some excellent numbers versus a more expensive card. It shows ATI has a winner on its hands. On top of that, the X1950PRO does excellent High Dynamic Range rendering, Anti-Alising, and Antriscopic Filtering. In all the tests the card really shines with these details on and surpasses or holds its own against the higher priced 7950GT KO.

Take in mind the performance difference of an X1950PRO with 256MB is going to be somewhat significant, especially at higher resolutions. That card loses out to a 7950GT KO more often than not. However with the 512MB version from Diamond we see a much closer comparison. With more RAM, it comes at a higher price; however, on average the 512MB card is still cheaper than the 7950GT KO. It's something to consider along with what resolutions you run and how you like your eye candy, low or high.

I have been mildly surprised at how well this card performs. My only real knock is the fan speed. It seems it isn’t dynamically adjustable, something I have gotten used to with NVIDIA cards. I talked to a Diamond technician and he confirmed the fan speed does not change. It's louder than the 7950GT on the desktop, but during gameplay the fan seems a bit quieter, although I did not do any decibel tests. The noise takes a bit getting used to after having a card fan that spins down when not in heavy use. Either way, other versions of the X1950PRO can be adjusted and you can always change the cooler if you become annoyed. It's not "drive-you-nuts" loud, but you will notice it.

This is a solid card. ATI has a winner on its hands and Diamond is on their comeback trail with a stellar version of this card. It comes with all the cables you could need, two DVI adapters and it’s sharper than the Death Star. Topping it off of course is the new and improved CrossFire which is an added bonus for those looking to run dual cards. It does take two bridges to run them, but normally the bridges are flexible unlike the PCB’s of SLi. If you are on a budget and $250 is the best you can do, feel free to give this card a look. It’s one of the best mid range cards I have used and should definitely hold its own until the more of the next generation arrives.

Pros
+ CrossFire now on par with SLi, dongle-less
+ Excellent price-to-performance ratio, beats more expensive rival card
+ Handles high details, eye candy, extremely well
+ Loaded with accessories
+ Handles modern games admirably at a midrange price
+ Solid support from Diamond
Cons
- The fan speed isn’t variable, can take a bit getting used to noise wise
Rating
9.2 out of 10