Diamond Radeon HD 3650 PE 512MB Video Card
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Max Slowik
Beth
Diamond
Jun. 5, 2008
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Introduction
ATI's HD 3650 replaces the HD 2600 Pro, a frustrating underachiever. Generally, I dislike video cards in the $50-100 range, mainly because they're not going to play new games well and, if you're after features, then you're better off buying a lesser model from the same series.
The features here are the real selling points--I'm going to jump the gun and assume that, for gaming, this card doesn't break the mold--two of which stand out ahead of price, connectivity (HDMI), and low power-consumption. First is video playback. ATI swings when it comes to playing movies, and even their entry-level cards are going to do well, if not flawlessly. Second is Hybrid CrossFire.
All 3000-series cards can be run in CrossFire with motherboards that have the 780G (and upcoming 790GX) chipsets, in either a performance mode (like regular CrossFire) or power-saving mode, which completely powers down the video card when integrated video is good enough. Combined, these features might give cause to move up a price bracket, favoring a 36 over a 34.
The Card & Bundle
    
Despite the municipal great looks of the card, neither layout nor cooling is stock. The PCBs tweaked with some improved power-regulation hardware, although there are still a handful of electrolytic capacitors. The heatsink is larger, but doesn't look like a silent cooling system. And it's branded with ATI's heroine, Ruby, looking indifferent. Although it's laughable, you can run these in CrossFire without a bridge; PCI-Express is enough bandwidth.
The biggest deviation is the inclusion of an HDMI connector, between a VGA and a DVI connector. There are no other TV-outs. This card doesn't have or need a 6-pin power cable, so the only included extra is a DVI-to-VGA adapter. There isn't a bundle to speak of.
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I4U Aug. 24, 2008 - 2:46 am
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