The absorbed dose conversion factor for X-rays at the water phantom surface has been obtained from the measured spectra. These measurements have been made at tube voltages of 60 kV to 120 kV and field sizes ranging from 5 x 5 cm(2) to 30 x 30 cm(2) with and without additional 2 mm aluminium filtration. A small silicon diode detector with little angular dependence was used for this measurement. The absorbed dose conversion factor obtained was 0.03-0.43% smaller than that obtained from the primary X-ray spectrum. The difference was large for high-voltage and heavily filtered X-rays. As field size increases, the conversion factor decreases, but the decrease is slight when field size exceeds 20 x 20 cm(2). The absorbed dose conversion factor obtained from the primary or surface X-ray spectrum is 0.4-1.8% larger than that obtained from the effective energy of primary X-rays. The difference is large in high-voltage X-rays and decreases slightly with increases in field size.