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Unlike the other benchmarks, we had to resort to gameplay testing sessions with Need for Speed: Carbon. That means we had to measure frame rates with FRAPS while actually playing the game. Because of this, variations between runs are much higher. We're pleasantly surprised to see very little differences between each run and each card, mostly just 1 to 2 fps. A shader heavy game, core clock advantage is more useful here than memory bandwidth and all three cards once again offer similar, if not identical frame rates from 1024 x 768 at default settings all the way to 1600 x 1200 with AA and AF. For the best gaming experience, pick a setting and resolution where minimum frame rates don't go below 35 fps. 

Conclusion:

Since overall performance is basically identical between these three cards, the only differing factor is price and bundle. The Sapphire Radeon X1950 Pro should be interesting for gamers who don't have lots of space inside their system. The trade off is of course the sparse bundle and slightly higher operating temperature. If you're going to use two of them for some Crossfire action, be sure you have the necessary Crossfire internal bridges. At this time, we are unable to confirm whether or not the newer cards do come with Crossfire bridges bundled. The MSI RX1950 Pro takes more space, but in return you'll get significantly cooler card. Though we did nitpick about the lack of cooling for the memory chips, you really don't need them if you're running the card at standard clocks. The need to shelve out additional dollars for the Crossfire bridges is a disappointment. Both cards offer hardware monitoring features and ATI's automatic overclocking tool - OVERDRIVE. It may interest some average users, but more hardcore users may find the OVERDRIVE's ability too 'conservative'.



Gigabyte Radeon X1950 Pro

We recommend the Gigabyte Radeon X1950 Pro because we think Gigabyte have put up an appealing package with this card. It may not have hardware monitoring functions, but you do get one Crossfire bridge. If you want to overclock your card, the bundled VTuner3 handles the job quite well. The dual slot cooling solution takes less space than the reference dual slot cooling solution or the one on MSI RX1950 Pro T2D256E. So, we think you get more value for your money with the Gigabyte Radeon X1950 Pro than the other two cards. 

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