16, Jan, 2025
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ABIT RX-300 SE-Guru

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ABIT’s new entry-level video card shows DirectX 9 performance doesn’t need to cost a bomb.
Most geeks like gaming, but few relish shelling out > for the latest and greatest video card. The Radeon X300 chipset has allowed video card manufacturers to make entry to the PCI Express platform more accessible while still offering decent frame rates.
The X300 is a variation of the R300 core on which ATI’s latest Radeon cards are based, running at 325MHz and with a native memory speed of 400MHz. It runs with four pixel pipelines, down from the X800’s 12, and is fitted with DDR memory on a 128-bit memory interface. It’s the first chip from ATI using a 90nm fabrication process, meaning cooler chips and lower power consumption.
ABIT’s RX-300 runs the Radeon X300 chip paired with 128MB of RAM and is aimed squarely at consumers who want a DirectX 9-compliant video card for use on a PCI Express-based motherboard without breaking the bank. It has both VGA and DVI interfaces, plus an S-Video output. Bundled with the card are some short S-Video and RCA cables, plus an S-Video to composite adaptor for flexibility. A DVI to VGA adaptor is also included for a dual monitor configuration when neither monitor supports DVI.
Bundled utilities consist of ABIT’s vGuru monitoring application, which displays information on clock speeds, voltages and fan speeds. OC Guru is included for dynamic overclocking of the card’s core speed, offering a small increase when the card is under load. Lastly, the BlackBox hardware support application is designed to send pertinent system information to ABIT’s technical support department in the event of hardware problems.
APC Labs ran the full gamut of benchmark tests, starting with 3DMark2001SE, where a score of 9,275 showed the card more than capable of running older DirectX 8 3D applications. 3DMark03 rated the RX-300 at 2,530, and while this isn’t a great score, it’s a huge jump over the last generation of entry-level cards. Adequate scores of 20,276 under AquaMark and 988 under 3DMark05 were also recorded.
Testing with Doom 3 Timedemo at a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels and medium quality scored the card at a reasonable 28 frames per second. Because Nvidia’s cards tend to perform better under Doom 3, it was also tested with Bungle’s Halo for PC, where it managed 31.15fps at 800 x 600, and CryTek’s Far Cry, where it averaged 43.5fps over the four demos at 1,028 x 768 — both decent results.

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