Value and Conclusion
- The Powercolor Radeon X1650 PRO should retail for $105. This is about $20 more than the X1300XT
- Silent cooler
- Crossfire
- Cheap
- Performance
- In essence, a refreshed X1600 XT
The X1650 PRO is a card of the moment - it works today, and if you don't insist on playing games at their maximum detail, it will work for you in the future too. It is really just a spiced up X1600 XT, and therefore we can't expect any major performance gains.
Unfortunately, with the release of the X1300 XT, which has the same core as the X1600, I don't see much point in dishing out an extra $20 to buy the X1650 PRO. Effectively, the X1300XT has dug a grave for the X1650 PRO. I was a little disappointed that I could not overclock the card during testing, but this obviously wasn't Powercolor's mistake - the software (lack of it) was to be blamed. Perhaps through overclocking both the X1300 XT and X1650 PRO we might see bigger differences. The only time that I would consider buying the X1650 PRO would be if it was within ~$10 of the price of the aforementioned X1300 XT.