Verdict: The X1650 Pro isn't up to the challenge of modern games.

The X1650-series was ATi's second attempt at taking on the GeForce 7600 GT, Nvidia's all-conquering mid-range GPU. Confusingly, the two models in the X1650-series are based on different GPUs, which affects their relative performance radically.

The lower-spec X1650 Pro is essentially a speed-bumped X1600XT, and has the same number of pixel, vertex and texture processors and ROPs. The frequency increase is fairly minor too, as the X1650 Pro's GPU runs at 600MHz, compared to 590MHz for the X1600XT. The RAM runs at 700MHz (1.4GHz effective), compared to 690MHz (1.38GHz effective) for the X1600XT. Not surprisingly, the two cards perform almost identically in games. Both are able to play F.E.A.R. smoothly at 1,024 x 768, although Need for Speed: Carbon and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are beyond their reach.

The X1650XT, on the other hand, is a completely different beast. Essentially, it's a stripped-down version of the X1900XT GPU, which ATi has equipped with 24 pixel processors, eight ROPs, eight texture processors (double that of the X1650 Pro) and eight vertex pipes (three more than the X1650 Pro). However, as the RAM runs at 675MHz (1.35GHz effective), and the memory controller is just 128 bits wide, it has less memory bandwidth than the X1650 Pro (21.6GB/sec rather than 22.4GB/sec). Despite these cost-cutting measures, though, the X1650XT was able to handle Need for Speed: Carbon and F.E.A.R. smoothly at 1,024 x 768, although S.T.A.L.K.E.R. remained well beyond its capabilities.

If the X1650XT had been released earlier, it would have been a serious competitor to the GeForce 7600 GT but, as its stands, it's barely any cheaper than the Radeon X1950 Pro and GeForce 7900 GS, both of which are considerably faster.

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