7900 GT 256mb or X1800 XT 256mb?

Darkwave · 10 May 2006 at 13:23

BigDom said:
X1800XT does overclock well too of course and volt modding I assume required some soldering or related skills.

Aye the X1800XT can overclock great if you can get ATi Tool to work (I can't), but volt-modding the 7900GT just needs a conductive pen, no need to solder.

I'd still choose the X1800XT though, and have. A fair bit better at stock, with more features, for a lower price (on this site anyway.)

geeza · 10 May 2006 at 13:38

handbags at dawn as soon as i saw the thread title.

go for either. there both good.

Vegeta · 10 May 2006 at 13:39

Exsomnis

1, Uninstall all ati related stuff, do it via safemode also vid driver cleaner pro.

2, Install only the ATI display driver

3, Install latest ATI tool

4, Overclock!

A thing to remember is however use the profiles in ATI Tool, mine crashes in 2d mode if I go on the net/watch a video with higher than normal frequencies but it works fine in games so theres still some kinda error going on there.
I tap shift F6 as soon as I leave a game to get back to default settings (I set it to that) and shift F7 for overclocked gaming settings, I havent voltmodded as the stock cooler is rubbish unless at 100% which you know.

Darkwave · 10 May 2006 at 13:44

Aye I've tried all that jazz but I artifacted like crazy at around 630MHz and crashed at 645MHz with the stock cooler. Am yet to try it with the VF900 on but I can't say I am optimistic.

I'm just convinced Overdrive lies, lol.

kbc · 10 May 2006 at 13:45

Vegeta said:
Exsomnis

1, Uninstall all ati related stuff, do it via safemode also vid driver cleaner pro.

2, Install only the ATI display driver

3, Install latest ATI tool

4, Overclock!

A thing to remember is however use the profiles in ATI Tool, mine crashes in 2d mode if I go on the net/watch a video with higher than normal frequencies but it works fine in games so theres still some kinda error going on there.
I tap shift F6 as soon as I leave a game to get back to default settings (I set it to that) and shift F7 for overclocked gaming settings, I havent voltmodded as the stock cooler is rubbish unless at 100% which you know.

Can I just ask, with the ATI Tool - to overclock do you manually up the frequencies or do you use the "Find Max Core" feature within that tool? Is that safe? I believe I tried using the artifact tester with my old 7800GT and that left the video ram in a mess.

Darkwave · 10 May 2006 at 13:46

kbc said:
Can I just ask, with the ATI Tool - to overclock do you manually up the frequencies or do you use the "Find Max Core" feature within that tool? Is that safe? I believe I tried using the artifact tester with my old 7800GT and that left the video ram in a mess.

I tried it with find max core and it crashed my PC without ATi Tool so much as shrugging its shoulders. I'd just manually overclock a few MHz at a time.

kbc · 10 May 2006 at 13:53

Exsomnis said:
I tried it with find max core and it crashed my PC without ATi Tool so much as shrugging its shoulders. I'd just manually overclock a few MHz at a time.

I am now using coolbits to increase the core manually, but when I used the "Find Optimal Frequencies" - it too crashed my system. I don't intend to trust these auto features anymore.

My Windows installation is messed up with a disk boot failure ever since that happened... until I do a format...

JudgeC · 10 May 2006 at 13:54

Exsomnis said:
Aye I've tried all that jazz but I artifacted like crazy at around 630MHz and crashed at 645MHz with the stock cooler. Am yet to try it with the VF900 on but I can't say I am optimistic. I'm just convinced Overdrive lies, lol.

I have had my one up to 700/850 using ATI Tool with the accelero X2 fitted. It is much quieter than the stock cooler and keeps the card generally cooler. The stock cooler at 100% would probably out cool the accelero when extreme overclocking, but the noise of the fan at 100% was too terrible for words.

Vegeta · 10 May 2006 at 14:04

Exsomnis said:
Aye I've tried all that jazz but I artifacted like crazy at around 630MHz and crashed at 645MHz with the stock cooler. Am yet to try it with the VF900 on but I can't say I am optimistic. I'm just convinced Overdrive lies, lol.

Mine also crashes at those speeds and stock volts mate, its coz ati overdrive lies the card doesnt overclock at all on stock volts + dont use ati tool artifact scanning.
I set core to 1.5V and 100% fan and although it wasnt ati tool stable, I set those clocks, went in game and it doesnt crash 100% stable, dont use ati tool artifact scanning, set clocks via it but use ingame to test stability.

Vegeta · 10 May 2006 at 14:06

kbc said:
Can I just ask, with the ATI Tool - to overclock do you manually up the frequencies or do you use the "Find Max Core" feature within that tool? Is that safe? I believe I tried using the artifact tester with my old 7800GT and that left the video ram in a mess.

I do it manually, go 10 + 10 each time, use benchmark to see if its stable, if not I move down 10 and then I leave it at that and game with it for ages, if thats stable I keep note of volts and clocks and add a few more volts, I found at 1.5 i can reach 740 core, i'm not prepared to go any higher on stock fan at 100% it sounds exactly like a hoover i cat explain how loud it is.

Darkwave · 10 May 2006 at 14:25

JudgeC said:
I have had my one up to 700/850 using ATI Tool with the accelero X2 fitted. It is much quieter than the stock cooler and keeps the card generally cooler. The stock cooler at 100% would probably out cool the accelero when extreme overclocking, but the noise of the fan at 100% was too terrible for words.

Yeah I completely agree. I got better stability when setting it to 100% but it was unbearable, I wouldn't use that for benching never mind playing.

You've just made my day with your Accelero clocks though, since I fitted a VF900 yesterday. I think you may have just given me the motivation to bother trying ATi Tool again. :eek:

Vegeta said:
Mine also crashes at those speeds and stock volts mate, its coz ati overdrive lies the card doesnt overclock at all on stock volts + dont use ati tool artifact scanning.

I set core to 1.5V and 100% fan and although it wasnt ati tool stable, I set those clocks, went in game and it doesnt crash 100% stable, dont use ati tool artifact scanning, set clocks via it but use ingame to test stability.

That makes a lot of sense actually, because ATi Tool was showing stupid amounts of yellow smudge artifacts all over the place and not even detecting them at all. Now that I'm using a better cooler I will try bumping the voltage and trying again.

BTW what are the stock voltages for the X1800XT again? 1.3/1.08/1.08 or something relse? :confused:

Vegeta · 10 May 2006 at 14:52

the stock volts are:

1.275
2.097
2.097

Vegeta · 10 May 2006 at 14:53

I just tried 650 on the core ingame with stock volts (crashes within a second using ati tool artifact scanning), and it worked flawlessly, so basically set volts/frequencies via ATI Tool but dont use it to scan for artifacts, and if like me, set everything default when in 2d mode or it will crash.

BigDom · 10 May 2006 at 15:04

kbc said:
Performance wise - there's not much in it. If we're comparing stock speeds - then the X1800XT is bound to shine - but we're on an overclocker's forum and both cards can overclock.

FWIW these days I think the emphasis around here has shifted from pure overclocking to more just performance solutions. I remember a time when OCuK actually sold OC guaranteed equipment etc. but these days with the performance of stock equipment overclocking really isn't quite as needed, especially on cards of this level, as it once was.

Darkwave · 10 May 2006 at 15:15

Vegeta said:
the stock volts are:

1.275
2.097
2.097

Thanks mate, going to write those down and give it another go when I can be bothered.

pcknight · 19 May 2006 at 23:24

So, is the X1800XT a better card than the 7900 GT? Still unsure which to go for. Pros and Cons for each card. I like the high Core on the ATI card. I don't fancy doing a volt mod on the Nvid card.

Need to make my mind up!! My last card was an Nvidia one but i am not swayed either way really. I just want the best one out of the 2. I can't afford to go any higher in price!

Anymore help?

wellibob · 19 May 2006 at 23:37

Both are good cards, just pick one, and start using it

dewi · 20 May 2006 at 00:05

They're both good cards. Both are very good value for money now and I'm sure you'd be pleased with either. The X1800XT is slightly ahead in DirectX, the 7900GT is slightly ahead in OpenGL. The 7900GT overclocks more, but the X1800XT is faster stock.

I just upgraded from a Geforce4 to an X1800XT 256Mb and I'm very pleased with the card. I get just over 9000 marks in 3DMark05, for what that's worth.

Darkwave · 20 May 2006 at 05:41

monkeybutt said:
So, is the X1800XT a better card than the 7900 GT? Still unsure which to go for. Pros and Cons for each card. I like the high Core on the ATI card. I don't fancy doing a volt mod on the Nvid card.

Need to make my mind up!! My last card was an Nvidia one but i am not swayed either way really. I just want the best one out of the 2. I can't afford to go any higher in price!

Anymore help?

If you don't plan to do a hardware volt-mod then don't bother with the 7900GT, it's where it gets all its speed from.

pcknight · 20 May 2006 at 09:43

dewi said:
They're both good cards. Both are very good value for money now and I'm sure you'd be pleased with either. The X1800XT is slightly ahead in DirectX, the 7900GT is slightly ahead in OpenGL. The 7900GT overclocks more, but the X1800XT is faster stock.

I just upgraded from a Geforce4 to an X1800XT 256Mb and I'm very pleased with the card. I get just over 9000 marks in 3DMark05, for what that's worth.

I thought you would have got more than that in 3D Mark 05?