7900GS to.... what - limited budget

[MoodyB]

Hey all,

Looking to change my current card, which is a Gainward 7900GS clocked at 580 / 800, running with a Athlon X2 @ 3ghz. I'm on a pretty tight budget, so I'm looking to spend no more than £60-£65.

Been looking around and have seen the 256mb Radeon 3850 going for £58. Would this be my best option ? Seen a 8600GTS for £45, but I gather it's not that much quicker than my current card. Only other choices iirc are 2nd hand X1900 XTX's / X1950XT's

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[HeX]

I've seen 8800GT 256MB for ~£60 new. That's prolly best card you are going to get for your money.

 

[Dark_Angel]

I've seen 8800GT 256MB for ~£60 new. That's prolly best card you are going to get for your money.

The 256MB card from what I have heard is terrible, to little memory really.

I guess something like an 1900XT or similar would be a better bet (512MB of ram though).

 

[Mul]

Thing is though, it's questionable as to whether the X1900XT 512mb is that much of a step up from a 7900GS. I realise the X1900XT is faster but I still don't believe it's all that worthwhile.

At around £65 delivered you should be able to get a used Radeon HD 3850 512mb and that's what I'd go for personally. Is thar £60-65 including whatever you'll get for selling the 7900? It's worth about £30-35

 

[HeX]

The 256MB card from what I have heard is terrible, to little memory really.

I guess something like an 1900XT or similar would be a better bet (512MB of ram though).

Wouldn't say terrible.

It's only when you start going into higher res (1680+) or when you start playing the very latest games like Crysis/STALKER etc with large textures where the lack of mem hurts the card.

Still, the 256 88GT will be faster than the 256 3850.

Not sure how a 1900XT 512 would fair against a 256 88GT, the 88 is a far faster GPU.

Best bet would be to stretch to a 512MB 3850/3870. You can get a GDDR3 512MB version of the 3870 for like ~£80 these days.

 

[oTTo]

Sell your 7900gs for £30-£35, put another £65 into the pot. Do a bit of shopping in the right places and buy an 8800gt (512mb) for your system. Everyones a winner

 

[MoodyB]

Thanks for the replys guys.

It was including what I'd get for the 7900GS .Thought that £30 max inc delivery would be what I could expect 2nd hand. Not working atm, so cash is in short supply. As for res, my monitor is 19", so highest res I'd be playing at is 1600x1200.

Don't do a great deal of gaming on the pc, mainly just Planetside, GTR2 & rFactor so I thought a 512mb card would be overkill - guess it would only make a noticeable difference when using >4x AA ( currently use 2xQ with the GS )

 

[easyrider]

Thanks for the replys guys.

It was including what I'd get for the 7900GS .Thought that £30 max inc delivery would be what I could expect 2nd hand. Not working atm, so cash is in short supply. As for res, my monitor is 19", so highest res I'd be playing at is 1600x1200.

Don't do a great deal of gaming on the pc, mainly just Planetside, GTR2 & rFactor so I thought a 512mb card would be overkill - guess it would only make a noticeable difference when using >4x AA ( currently use 2xQ with the GS )

All depends on what game you play at,

At 10x12 I would rather have a 256mb 8800GT than a 512mb x1900 or 7900 card.