Radeon x1600 512Mb

I am looking at a new video card, and want a 512Mb one. One that I am looking at is a Asus branded Radeon x1600 Pro 512Mb. Does anyone have a x1600 card and what are your thoughts on it and its compatability with SL?

Thanks.

(Yes I know nVidia is out there, and I have actually only bought nVidia for a long time, I am just looking for some feedback on this one card, thanks)

For a windows based system the nVidia cards run SL much better.

ATi on Windows runs CRAPTACUALR.

Honestly look though the forums and you will see no shortage of issues with SL and ATi on windows. You don't see it under MacOS so its a driver issue not a hardware issue. But I would not get an ATi Card for SL on Windows

My experience with ATI is that they may be fast, but a they typically have a higher ratio of people with issues to people without issues. So my reasoning is, what good is a fast card if it doesn't work reliably enough to enjoy the speed. Also, for the money it seems to me that there are faster nvidias. That swings back and forth a lot though.

For those people about to shout "I have no issues with my ati", bully for you. I said ratio, which means yes there are people who have no issues what so ever. There just seems to be a larger counter point of people who do.

512 megs for SL is overkill, don't break the bank just for 512 megs.. 256 will be underutilized as it is. Since memory is reasonably cheap nowdays a video card maker can add $20 worth of memory and charge an extra $100 for it. A 512meg 5500 Nvidia overclocked will set you back $150 or more and it is a craptacular card that a $150 6600GT 128 will absolutely blow away. ATi does the same thing with the fishing weight calibur 9250.

Rule of thumb, ATI for DirectX; Nvidia for OpenGL for performance. ATI is firmly in the DirectX camp and the developers of OpenGL work for Nvidia.. you do the math. SL is OpenGL. Macs, on the other hand seem to do better with ATI than Nvidia from what I have read on the forums.