7800GTX or 7900GT

MeatLoaf · 13 Mar 2006 at 22:56

Ive got a choice between an OcUK 7800GTX silent Extreme or a BFG 7900GT. Both are approx the same price and have near identical sppeds, plus both have 24 pipes. Which would you get?

Other option is a 2nd 7800GT ( probably the cheapest one i can get - the Leadtek one ) and SLi it with my current BFG 7800GT which would presumably outperform any single 7900GT or 7800GTX.

If i did this would my 485w Enemax be up to the job?

EDIT : The 7800GT is clocked at 430/1200 and the 7900GT at 475/1360.

So will the 7900GT be the quicker of the two?

EDIT 2 : And how would 2x 7600GT compare to a single 7800GT/GTX 7900GT?

chaparral · 13 Mar 2006 at 23:17

Why not sell your current BFG 7800gt and put the money you get for it with the money you have for a second 7800gt and buy a single x1900xt or 7900gtx..

kbc · 13 Mar 2006 at 23:40

I have just sold my 7800GT in my sig for a decent price and am now looking to purchase a 7900 as well.

In my opinion, from a 7800GT to a 7900GT/7800GTX is not really worth it considering the performance gain is pretty minor, it would have to be either a 7900GTX or a X1900XT-X in my honest opinion.

Dutch Guy · 14 Mar 2006 at 09:00

my 2p:
A 7900GT is roughly the same speed as a 7800GTX 256mb and will most likely overclock a lot higher so if the choice is between those two I would get a 7900GT

If you already have a 7800GT and have a SLI mobo another 7800GT might be a better option.

ACESHIGH · 14 Mar 2006 at 09:16

Dutch Guy said:
my 2p:
A 7900GT is roughly the same speed as a 7800GTX 256mb

Not a big upgrade going from 7800GT to 7800GTX.

If upgrading to a quicker card i would also sugggest you get one with 512MB RAM as well. Will be helpfull for future games.

Dutch Guy · 14 Mar 2006 at 09:25

ACESHIGH said:
Not a big upgrade going from 7800GT to 7800GTX.

Which is why I said if the choice was purely between the two (without the fact of having a 7800GT already)

If I was in the same situation I would get another 7800GT and run SLI or a 7900GTX/X1900XT(X)

D.P. · 14 Mar 2006 at 09:33

MeatLoaf said:
Ive got a choice between an OcUK 7800GTX silent Extreme or a BFG 7900GT. Both are approx the same price and have near identical sppeds, plus both have 24 pipes. Which would you get?

Other option is a 2nd 7800GT ( probably the cheapest one i can get - the Leadtek one ) and SLi it with my current BFG 7800GT which would presumably outperform any single 7900GT or 7800GTX.

If i did this would my 485w Enemax be up to the job?

EDIT : The 7800GT is clocked at 430/1200 and the 7900GT at 475/1360.

So will the 7900GT be the quicker of the two?

EDIT 2 : And how would 2x 7600GT compare to a single 7800GT/GTX 7900GT?

The 7900GT would be faster, but not by much. The SLI 7600 would be lighting fast, faster than a X1900XT often.

EDIT: SLI 7800GTS would be a very good choice actually.

ACESHIGH · 14 Mar 2006 at 10:16

I only quoted you as i too agree that the 7800GTX & 7900GT are same speed.

The point i was trying to make was that if he has a fast card allready then not only would it be wise to go to a faster card if he feels the need but aslo to a faster 512MB card.

"I don't believe anyone reading this would disagree that 512MB cards will become a firm requirement of high end gaming very soon, but the key question here is do 512MB framebuffers offer anything to us now, other than future proofing? To answer this we first need to understand exactly what happens to a 256MB card when you max out its memory (VRAM).

Simply put, the data that cannot be stored locally in VRAM is transferred to system memory where you will incur large latency penalties across the board. Technically the only penalty incurred should be fps losses, but a typical symptom you'll probably encounter is stuttering caused by texture swapping from the system RAM to the VRAM, generally known as cache thrashing. This takes place because textures needing to be displayed on screen obtain absolute priority, so if a texture needing to go on screen is currently being held in system RAM it will need to be moved to the video card ram before it can be displayed. Like I said, technically this should not happen, but inefficient memory management in many game engines guarantees the stuttering issue a common one.
So a 512MB card is indeed preferred where high res & AA/AF are a
requirement."

Unfortunately SLI 7600GT, 7800GTX or 7900GT are not true 512MB solutions.

easyrider · 14 Mar 2006 at 10:34

ACESHIGH said:
Unfortunately SLI 7600GT, 7800GTX or 7900GT are not true 512MB solutions.

whether or not they are true 512MB solutions is irrelevant.

Two 7900 GTs wipe the floor in performance terms over a single 512mb x1900xt.

Oh and I forgot use the same power as a single x1900XT

This obsession with 512MB cards is a tad confusing. :confused:

As for the OP get the 7900 GT over the 7800GTX the 7900 card you are talking about is clocked 475/1360.

more than likely this will do 550/1600 and more making it a better option than the 7800 GTX.

I would not SLI two 7800 GT's.I would get one 7900 GT overclock the pants off it and get another if you need or want too.

kbc · 14 Mar 2006 at 10:45

easyrider said:
This obsession with 512MB cards is a tad confusing.

How is this confusing? We're only making mere recommendations to what would be a nice performance increase from his existing card without sacrificing a large portion of the budget. To my mind, a 7900GT won't see a huge performance increase from his 7800GT.

SLi'ing 2 7900GTs would require a purchase of 2 cards costing more than a single X1900XT/7900GTX. For what you have now, I'd either get another 7800GT to fill the gap or get a single card solution which will see a more worthy performance increase to really justify an upgrade.

easyrider · 14 Mar 2006 at 10:55

kbc said:
How is this confusing? We're only making mere recommendations to what would be a nice performance increase from his existing card without sacrificing a large portion of the budget. To my mind, a 7900GT won't see a huge performance increase from his 7800GT.

SLi'ing 2 7900GTs would require a purchase of 2 cards costing more than a single X1900XT/7900GTX. For what you have now, I'd either get another 7800GT to fill the gap or get a single card solution which will see a more worthy performance increase to really justify an upgrade.

A 7900 GT at stock would see a nice performance increase over a 7800 GT.
And a great performance increase when overclocked.

All he does is sell his current 7800 GT and spend 40 quid or so getting the 7900 GT and overclock to near GTX speeds.This is not "sacrificing a large portion of the budget".

You say this is not a good option?
I disagree.

This is exactly what I have done(my 7900 GT comes today)
This also gives me the option of getting another 7900 GT in the future.

Giving me a big speed increase over a x1900 XT.
And i would have spent less than £350 buying a x1900XT.

kbc · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:51

easyrider said:
This is exactly what I have done(my 7900 GT comes today)
This also gives me the option of getting another 7900 GT in the future.

Giving me a big speed increase over a x1900 XT.
And i would have spent less than £350 buying a x1900XT.

Be sure to post some of those benchmarks you get on your 7900GT.

easyrider · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:52

kbc said:
Be sure to post some of those benchmarks you get on your 7900GT.

will do.

Just waiting for mister delivery man as I type!

FrankJH · 14 Mar 2006 at 14:22

D.P. said:
The SLI 7600 would be lighting fast, faster than a X1900XT often.

I dont think this is true at all

If you are on a strict budget and already have an SLI board and one 7600 its a possible way to go, but it wouldnt compete with a X1900XT. SLI 7800/ 7900's would have course but not 7600's.

easyrider · 14 Mar 2006 at 14:26

FrankJH said:
I dont think this is true at all

If you are on a strict budget and already have an SLI board and one 7600 its a possible way to go, but it wouldnt compete with a X1900XT. SLI 7800/ 7900's would have course but not 7600's.

benchies show that two 7600 GT's in SLI beat x1900 xt
and SLI 7900's trounce an x1900xt

mr.bond · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:14

Do you have any benchmarks available not using an ID game?

MeatLoaf · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:42

So according to that chart SLi'd 7600GTs beat my 7800GT and a 7900GT by a long shot and are only slightly slower than a 7900GTX.

May just opt for SLi'd 7600s then.

easyrider · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:47

I would get a 7900 GT and clock it close to GTX speeds.
That way it leaves you the option to get another later

Dutch Guy · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:48

MeatLoaf said:
So according to that chart SLi'd 7600GTs beat my 7800GT and a 7900GT by a long shot and are only slightly slower than a 7900GTX.

May just opt for SLi'd 7600s then.

Noooo, don't base your purchase on one game and one resolution, besides look at the spanking the 7600GT SLI gets from a 7800GT SLI setup

MeatLoaf · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:51

Dutch Guy said:
Noooo, don't base your purchase on one game and one resolution, besides look at the spanking the 7600GT SLI gets from a 7800GT SLI setup

Oops, never noticed that :eek:

Looks like another 7800GT then. I have to buy my things when the wifes out, its easier than trying to explain where £200 has gone.