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£200 for a graphics card, recomendations please

daz.wallace

daz.wallace

daz.wallace

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,178
Location
Tyne & Wear
Hi,

I have a budget of around £200 for a graphics card and seeing I dont venture in here too often I have no idea what the best value card is around that price. I have an X800XL at the moment and it strugles a bit on my 24" dell monitor at times so was wondering what is the best bang for buck at that price,

dont mind ATI or Nvidia

Thanks in advance :)
 
X1800XT / 7900GT.



X1800XT ->
-allegedly better image quality (cant tell myself)
-Slightly quicker at stock
-Runs a lot hotter
-Big card


7900GT ->
-Great overclocking
-Nvidia drivers are far nicer (I've had both ATI and NVidia)
-Overclocks very well, plus you can voltmod for even more, 7900gtx speeds anyone?)
-Nice small, cool card.
 
out of the x1800xt's, I'd guess the HIS model is the one to go for if thats the oc edition...replace that awful cooler though since its very hot with it and it sounds godawful.
 
Exsomnis said:
Eh? :confused: It's less less than an inch larger than the 7900GT, if that. (Before anyone starts, I know that's the X1800XL and not the X1800XT, but their PCBs are practically identical in size.)
Click to expand...
Ok maybe I wasnt too clear, I know If I had bought a X1800XT it would have been a tight fit in the case I have, would have had to move some of my harddrives around. Also it has a double slot cooler that is bulky, unlike the slender cooler on the 7900gt
 
PinkFloyd said:
Ok maybe I wasnt too clear, I know If I had bought a X1800XT it would have been a tight fit in the case I have, would have had to move some of my harddrives around. Also it has a double slot cooler that is bulky, unlike the slender cooler on the 7900gt
Click to expand...
Ah, got you. I also had to move my hard disks for my X1800XT, but I would've had to do the same with a 7900GT anyway.

Double slot coolers can be a pain in the arse though, but at least they exhaust heat which is a plus.
 
are the artic cooling acceleros any good? theyre replacement coolers for ati x1800xt and x1900xt's, I dont expect much of a temperature decrease but what about the noise level?
 
Exsomnis said:
Double slot coolers can be a pain in the arse though, but at least they exhaust heat which is a plus.
Click to expand...
Yeh, I got a zalman VF900 on mine, so I cant use the slot underneath anyway :p
 
thanks for the replies,

I notice that the 7900 GT only has 256Mb of memory whereas the X1800XT has 512MB, would there be much benefit having the extra memory with the resolution I would be running at (1920x1200)?
 
Most people would have said yes there was a big difference. But there were some benchmarks the other week comparing 256mb cards to 512mb cards, and there was very little difference, a few fps....

Can't remember where the article was at the moment.
 
PinkFloyd said:
Most people would have said yes there was a big difference. But there were some benchmarks the other week comparing 256mb cards to 512mb cards, and there was very little difference, a few fps....

Can't remember where the article was at the moment.
Click to expand...
Bunch of benchmarks here.

Oblivion here.

Lost Coast here.

Quake IV here.

F.E.A.R. here.

Call Of Duty 2 here.

And so on, I think I've made my point. ;)
 
Last edited:
PinkFloyd said:
X1800XT / 7900GT.



X1800XT ->
-allegedly better image quality (cant tell myself)
-Slightly quicker at stock
-Runs a lot hotter
-Big card


7900GT ->
-Great overclocking
-Nvidia drivers are far nicer (I've had both ATI and NVidia)
-Overclocks very well, plus you can voltmod for even more, 7900gtx speeds anyone?)
-Nice small, cool card.
Click to expand...



also x1800xt has 512mb ram and far lower failure rate on x1800xt cards.
 
Exsomnis said:
Bunch of benchmarks here.
Click to expand...
Thats the one I was thinking off.

@ Mav, theres a 256MB version as well remember, the 512mb is over £200 :p (albeit only just)


From what I have seen the failrate on the 7900gt is caused partially by the voltmods, and also by pushing the memory to far without adequete cooling on one of the pwm chips on the card.... (can't remember which one it was off of the top of my head, there was a guide on it somewhere)
 
the 512mb card will be a huge benefit at that insane resolution, i wouldnt get the 256mb version, if you can stretch to the 512mb get that one mate
 
fullfat said:
the 512mb card will be a huge benefit at that insane resolution, i wouldnt get the 256mb version, if you can stretch to the 512mb get that one mate
Click to expand...
From all the benchmarks I have seen, 512MB means naff all even at 2048x1536. If that's not an insane enough resolution, with 4xFSAA enabled, to push the card's memory then I don't know what is.
 
I suppose the lack of difference between 256 and 512 brings about the question on whether its even necessaryor whether it just a marketing gimmic. Wouldlike to see 128vs256vs512
 
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