Best card for about £200?

gumbald · 7 Nov 2006 at 18:05

Been looking at the 7900/7950, but seeing big ranges in price for the same chipsets, any recommendations from anyone? Leaving this general, just hoping for some ideas to replace my aging 6600GT...

TIA,
Jamie

<Dubz> · 7 Nov 2006 at 18:14

7900GTO, wicked card for £185.

virtually a 7900 GTX.

Darkwave · 7 Nov 2006 at 18:34

X1900XT 512MB @ £205 in clearance gets my vote.

Rroff · 7 Nov 2006 at 18:50

The 7900GTO would get my vote - for the price nothing comes close to it - and it really does perform close to 7900GTX levels and has overclocking headroom to boot - 2 of them in SLI is pretty wild with current games - lost coast video stress test at 300fps!

Darkwave · 7 Nov 2006 at 19:02

Rroff said:
The 7900GTO would get my vote - for the price nothing comes close to it

The X1900XT 256MB does, and also has huge overclocking headroom.

Of course, the 7900GTO is much cooler and quieter. It's down to taste.

gumbald · 7 Nov 2006 at 19:20

Any brands I should be aiming for/avoiding?

Darkwave · 7 Nov 2006 at 19:32

gumbald said:
Any brands I should be aiming for/avoiding?

For which, Nvidia or ATI?

When it comes to Nvidia I would avoid XFX, they've been a P.R. nightmare for Nvidia since the 7900GT fiasco and their customer service is absurd. BFG come highly recommended for lifetime warranty, EVGA come extremely recommended for their step-up programme, and MSI are also great.

When it comes to ATI then all brands are almost identical, but Asus tend to overcharge for some reason. Sapphire are fantastic IMO and I buy them every time if possible, but HIS comes immensely recommended as they do the HIS IceQ 3 coole, which is the best stock cooler in the world (period.)

gumbald · 7 Nov 2006 at 19:36

I'd prefer Nvidia, had much less hassle with them previously, and they work much better with Linux...

Rroff · 7 Nov 2006 at 19:38

If you play oblivion then the x1900xt shines, pretty much any other game you get very close or better FPS with the 7900GTO and its a lot quieter and more reliable.

Darkwave · 7 Nov 2006 at 19:39

Rroff said:
If you play oblivion then the x1900xt shines, pretty much any other game you get very close or better FPS with the 7900GTO and its a lot quieter and more reliable.

A lot quieter for sure, it consumes a lot less power too, but could you please link to a source about the 7900GTO being "more reliable" than the X1900XT?

gumbald · 7 Nov 2006 at 23:34

So if you were to buy an Nvidia card for about £200, which would your specific choice be? I've still had lots of generalisations...

tau · 7 Nov 2006 at 23:48

7900GTO -180 pounds +8 pounds delivery.

Tute · 7 Nov 2006 at 23:54

X1900XT 512 from the Clearance Section.

That way we don't actually have to debate the better card between the X1900XT 256 and the 7900GTO.... again. :eek:

gumbald · 7 Nov 2006 at 23:57

Why are there multiple X1900XTs in the clearance section? And if I was to definitely specify Nvidia? The MSI 7900GTO?

Tute · 8 Nov 2006 at 00:00

gumbald said:
Why are there multiple X1900XTs in the clearance section? And if I was to definitely specify Nvidia? The MSI 7900GTO?

HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-HT)

It's the quietest of the bunch too, which removes the GTO's main advantage. HIS make really good coolers.

Quixote · 8 Nov 2006 at 00:36

Still, if you want to use 3D acceleration in Linux regularly, then it has to be NVidia - they have working Linux drivers.
And yes, for your budget in NVidia, The MSI 7900GTO is the best overall I'd say.

Darkwave · 8 Nov 2006 at 03:37

Tute said:
HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-HT)

It's the quietest of the bunch too, which removes the GTO's main advantage. HIS make really good coolers.

That particular model doesn't have an IceQ 3 cooler though, it's a carbon copy of every other X1800/X1900 Series stock cooler so it won't be any cooler or quieter.

OP: If you prefer Nvidia and works a lot in Linux then a 7900GTO would be ideal.

Hamoodii · 8 Nov 2006 at 08:05

X1900XT 256MB

achitophel · 8 Nov 2006 at 10:37

Tute said:
HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-HT)

It's the quietest of the bunch too, which removes the GTO's main advantage. HIS make really good coolers.

I've just bought that one - it comes with the stock cooler only, so no marginal benefit there. Mind you, since the X2 cooler is only about £15, it's not a huge hardship.

oweneades · 8 Nov 2006 at 12:11

If you prefer Nvidia drivers - 7900GTO

If you prefer ATI drivers - X1900XT 512mb

They both offer similar performance swapping the lead in different games (with oblvion being the X1900XT's strongest win) so really it just comes down to which one YOU prefer.