Hi guys,
I have seen countless threads asking this question over the last couple of weeks, so I have decided that I would make one clearly-marked thread to specifically discuss this topic, and so that anybody in the market for either of these graphics cards can easily make their decision without adding to the already huge catalog of identical threads.
"Should I Buy An X1800XT, X1900GT, Or An X1900XT?"
Contents:
Section 1: Which of these graphics cards is the most powerful?
Section 2: What are the exact specifications of these graphics cards?
Section 3: Which of these cards has the best image quality and features?
Section 4: Which of these cards has the best cooling? What about heat and noise?
Section 5: What about cost, which card will give me the best bang for my buck?
Section 6: What about the X1950 series?
Section 1: Which of these graphics cards is the most powerful?
This is a tricky question in regards to the X1800XT and the X1900GT, but in terms of raw power the X1900XT has a huge lead on them both. The reason this question is tricky is because the X1900GT is generally accepted to be a little slower than the X1800XT, but as it's gifted with 36 pixel shaders, it may well be a fair bit faster in future games. Now that's out of the way, let's get to some benchmarks...
Section 2: What are the exact specifications of these graphics cards?
X1800XT: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R520 @ 625MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 750MHz (1.5GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 16
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR3
Memory Bandwidth: 48GB/s
X1900GT: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R580/R570 @ 575MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 600MHz (1.2GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 36
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR3
Memory Bandwidth: 38.4GB/s
X1900XT: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R580 @ 625MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 725MHz (1.45GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 48
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR3
Memory Bandwidth: 46.4GB/s
X1950XT-X: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R580+ @ 650MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 1000MHz (2GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 48
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR4
Memory Bandwidth: 64GB/s
Section 3: Which of these cards has the best image quality and features?
It's safe to say, beyond all reasonable doubt, that these three graphics cards have identical image quality and features.
Section 4: Which of these cards has the best cooling? What about heat and noise?
These are by far the most common questions in regards to the X1800 and X1900 series graphics cards, as it's a well-known fact that Nvidia's 7800 and 7900 series cards run much cooler and quieter in general,
but the good news is that the ATI coolers really are not as loud as people make them out to be (but the cards are actually very hot, sorry.
)
Except for the HIS models, all X1800XT and X1900XT graphics cards come with a dual-slot cooler usually known as "the jet engine" that is an enormous (and bloody heavy) block of copper, fitted with a fan, and blows all of the hot air directly out of the case through the grill on the back. Despite its nickname, the card is actually not too loud apart from the 100% spin-up for two seconds on boot, as it generally runs at 35-40% fanspeed on average.
The X1900GT has a different cooler, as its architecture is slightly different to the other two and generates less heat, and it only uses a single slot (which means the air goes into the case as opposed to out of it.)
I mentioned that HIS models have a different cooler, and I should elaborate on this point as it's a pretty huge selling point for HIS at the moment. Their X1900XT and X1900GT cards are fitted with their brand new IceQ 3 Silent Heatpipe cooler, which is a copper, dual-slot cooler with heatpipe technology and is an extremely effective cooler in terms of temperatures. It also uses a larger, slower fan than the stock ATI jet engine cooler, which means that it is significantly quieter (in fact, it's silent, hence the name.)
As far as I am aware, no X1800XT comes with an IceQ 3 fitted, but it's a little-known fact that the X1800XT has actually been out of production since January.
Section 5: What about cost, which card will give me the best bang for my buck?
At the time of this post, August 13th 2006 @ 7:35pm, OcUK are the premier supplier of ATI graphics cards in the UK and no doubt have some of the best deals ever seen in the high-end video card market. The best prices for these cards are as follows: -
Using the benchmarks linked at the top of this page, and the price list above, you should easily be able to come to a decision in regards to which card is best for you. Please keep in mind that these prices only correspond to OcUK as they are the premier ATI supplier in the UK, because linking to competitor sites is not allowed, and because I am too lazy to go and look elsewhere.
Section 6: What about the X1950 series?
How can we forget this? As most of you know, the X1950 series is due out in a couple of weeks, and it's rumoured to be a 7950GX2 killer (we won't know until we see some real reviews though.)
Gibbo has stated that OcUK will be carrying 90% of the X1950 stock in the UK, and that starting prices will be roughly £270 inc. VAT for the X1950XT 256MB and £340 inc. VAT for the X1950XT-X 512MB.
In Closing...
If you have any more benchmarks to add, or if you see a mistake on this page, then don't hesitate to reply to the thread or send an email to the address in my trust. It will be appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
Úlfhednar.
P.S. Special thanks: -
To TheVoice for providing the benchmarks from PureOverclock.
To easyrider for providing very detailed X1*00 specifications.
To div0 for various suggestions to improve the mini-FAQ.
To ubern00b for reminding me to correct the X1950 pricing.
I have seen countless threads asking this question over the last couple of weeks, so I have decided that I would make one clearly-marked thread to specifically discuss this topic, and so that anybody in the market for either of these graphics cards can easily make their decision without adding to the already huge catalog of identical threads.
"Should I Buy An X1800XT, X1900GT, Or An X1900XT?"
Contents:
Section 1: Which of these graphics cards is the most powerful?
Section 2: What are the exact specifications of these graphics cards?
Section 3: Which of these cards has the best image quality and features?
Section 4: Which of these cards has the best cooling? What about heat and noise?
Section 5: What about cost, which card will give me the best bang for my buck?
Section 6: What about the X1950 series?
Section 1: Which of these graphics cards is the most powerful?
This is a tricky question in regards to the X1800XT and the X1900GT, but in terms of raw power the X1900XT has a huge lead on them both. The reason this question is tricky is because the X1900GT is generally accepted to be a little slower than the X1800XT, but as it's gifted with 36 pixel shaders, it may well be a fair bit faster in future games. Now that's out of the way, let's get to some benchmarks...
- Very thorough article with lots of cards @ X-bit Labs
- X1800XT, X1900XT, and X1900XT-X @ Anandtech
- X1800XT, X1900GT, and X1900XT @ FiringSquad
- X1800XT (OC) and X1900XT-X @ Tom's Hardware (Drop-down menu for more game tests.)
- X1800XT, X1900GT, and X1900XT @ X-bit Labs
- X1800XT and X1900GT @ Guru3D
- X1800XT and X1900GT @ Pure Overclock
Section 2: What are the exact specifications of these graphics cards?
X1800XT: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R520 @ 625MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 750MHz (1.5GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 16
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR3
Memory Bandwidth: 48GB/s
X1900GT: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R580/R570 @ 575MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 600MHz (1.2GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 36
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR3
Memory Bandwidth: 38.4GB/s
X1900XT: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R580 @ 625MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 725MHz (1.45GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 48
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR3
Memory Bandwidth: 46.4GB/s
X1950XT-X: -
Manufacturing Process: 90nm
Core & Clock Frequency: R580+ @ 650MHz
Memory Clock Frequency: 1000MHz (2GHz DDR)
Pixel Shader Pipelines: 48
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR4
Memory Bandwidth: 64GB/s
Section 3: Which of these cards has the best image quality and features?
It's safe to say, beyond all reasonable doubt, that these three graphics cards have identical image quality and features.
- All three cards have ATI's recent trademark of having generally sharper and more vibrant image quality.
- All three cards have native support for ATI's HQAF (high-quality anisotropic filtering) through software drivers.
- All three cards are capable of rendering FP32* HDR (high dynamic range lighting) and FSAA (full-screen antialiasing) at the same time, something utterly unique to X1800 and X1900 series graphics cards at the time of this posting.
Section 4: Which of these cards has the best cooling? What about heat and noise?
These are by far the most common questions in regards to the X1800 and X1900 series graphics cards, as it's a well-known fact that Nvidia's 7800 and 7900 series cards run much cooler and quieter in general,
but the good news is that the ATI coolers really are not as loud as people make them out to be (but the cards are actually very hot, sorry.
)Except for the HIS models, all X1800XT and X1900XT graphics cards come with a dual-slot cooler usually known as "the jet engine" that is an enormous (and bloody heavy) block of copper, fitted with a fan, and blows all of the hot air directly out of the case through the grill on the back. Despite its nickname, the card is actually not too loud apart from the 100% spin-up for two seconds on boot, as it generally runs at 35-40% fanspeed on average.
The X1900GT has a different cooler, as its architecture is slightly different to the other two and generates less heat, and it only uses a single slot (which means the air goes into the case as opposed to out of it.)
I mentioned that HIS models have a different cooler, and I should elaborate on this point as it's a pretty huge selling point for HIS at the moment. Their X1900XT and X1900GT cards are fitted with their brand new IceQ 3 Silent Heatpipe cooler, which is a copper, dual-slot cooler with heatpipe technology and is an extremely effective cooler in terms of temperatures. It also uses a larger, slower fan than the stock ATI jet engine cooler, which means that it is significantly quieter (in fact, it's silent, hence the name.)
As far as I am aware, no X1800XT comes with an IceQ 3 fitted, but it's a little-known fact that the X1800XT has actually been out of production since January.
Section 5: What about cost, which card will give me the best bang for my buck?
At the time of this post, August 13th 2006 @ 7:35pm, OcUK are the premier supplier of ATI graphics cards in the UK and no doubt have some of the best deals ever seen in the high-end video card market. The best prices for these cards are as follows: -
- Connect3D Radeon X1800XT 256MB @ £149.17 inc. VAT
- Connect3D Radeon X1900GT 256MB @ £140.94 inc. VAT*
- HIS Radeon X1900GT 256MB IceQ 3 Silent Heatpipe @ £158.57 inc. VAT
- Connect3D Radeon X1900XT 512MB @ £205.57 inc. VAT*
- HIS Radeon X1900XT 512MB IceQ 3 Silent Heatpipe @ £229.07 inc. VAT
Using the benchmarks linked at the top of this page, and the price list above, you should easily be able to come to a decision in regards to which card is best for you. Please keep in mind that these prices only correspond to OcUK as they are the premier ATI supplier in the UK, because linking to competitor sites is not allowed, and because I am too lazy to go and look elsewhere.
Section 6: What about the X1950 series?
How can we forget this? As most of you know, the X1950 series is due out in a couple of weeks, and it's rumoured to be a 7950GX2 killer (we won't know until we see some real reviews though.)
Gibbo has stated that OcUK will be carrying 90% of the X1950 stock in the UK, and that starting prices will be roughly £270 inc. VAT for the X1950XT 256MB and £340 inc. VAT for the X1950XT-X 512MB.
In Closing...
If you have any more benchmarks to add, or if you see a mistake on this page, then don't hesitate to reply to the thread or send an email to the address in my trust. It will be appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
Úlfhednar.
P.S. Special thanks: -
To TheVoice for providing the benchmarks from PureOverclock.
To easyrider for providing very detailed X1*00 specifications.
To div0 for various suggestions to improve the mini-FAQ.
To ubern00b for reminding me to correct the X1950 pricing.
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