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.