Cheapest PCI-E 'upgrade' from an X800XT-PE?

Ste · 14 Aug 2007 at 09:51

Hi all,

A couple of years ago I played a lot of games and spent about 250quid on an ATI X800XT PE AGP card. I don't play games much anymore (bit of pro evo is about it!) but am thinking of getting a new system and don't want the graphics to be a 'downgrade' from what they are now, if that makes any sense!

So which nvidia card (I'd like purevideo for HTPC stuff) is the best all round upgrade from the X800XT for the least cash? i.e. how much do I have to spend to get a card that performs the same / marginally better?

Twin DVI would be a bonus, as would this purevideo thing I've heard about, will it decode 1080i HDTV stuff onboard?

Thanks for any help

the shadow · 14 Aug 2007 at 09:58

RobertN · 14 Aug 2007 at 10:18

7900gs may be worth the extra as it may last a little longer

Ste · 14 Aug 2007 at 10:33

How about this?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-112-LT

It's another 20quid but worth it for dual DVI? Is it faster than the other two? (May seem a daft question but I remember crippled pipelines etc. being factors a couple of years ago and looking at model number didn't always help!)

Thanks

Columbo · 14 Aug 2007 at 16:44

the shadow said:
how about something like GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DV.knock the socks off what u had.

Dont see a 7600GT beating an X800XT PE, except with Shader Model 3.0 but I may be wrong

Squink · 14 Aug 2007 at 16:46

ManCuBuS said:
Dont see a 7600GT beating an X800XT PE, except with Shader Model 3.0 but I may be wrong

From memory they are more or less equivalent. Don't quote me on that though.

EDIT - Tomshardware VGA charts suggests that the X800XT is moderately the better of the two cards, so the 7600GT won't be your thing if you want an upgrade.

Greebo · 14 Aug 2007 at 17:30

I know you requested a choice of nvidia card but an ATI 2600 ought to be considered if you don't play games much as an alternative. Don't get me wrong, it will play them albeit turn off AA and AF but it's future proof since it supports DX10 and has onboard video decoding with full HD feature set, AVIVO, HDMI output etc.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-151-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

In reviews it has much less burden on the processor than equivalent nvidias (half the cpu usage) and better image quality (by miles) and you can get a passively cooled one for silence if needed. The nvidias have big problems with image quality atm in HD playback.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/443/6/

Also the latest version of purevideo requires an 8500 or 8600 card so no point looking at 7 series cards.

From memory it's as fast or slight faster than the x800xt but that was with the old drivers and things have meant to have made it faster with the new ones.

tomanders91 · 14 Aug 2007 at 17:34

7900gs would be a good upgrade, why not an X1950pro? That would be the best thing to get for little money.

jigger · 14 Aug 2007 at 17:44

You would need to spend about £100 for a 79somthing to beat that x800xtpe and get purevideo. but at £100 your deep in ATI country and could have a 1950xt is purevideo that good?.

Ste · 14 Aug 2007 at 23:19

Greebo that is a very helpful post mate thanks for that. One of my main uses is playing back 720p/1080i material over a 2nd monitor (37" Samsung R87) so will definately look into the ATI card. If I spend more, does the X1950 do all the HD/AVIVO/etc. stuff that the 2600 does? The model numbers are still so confusing :/ The only thing I'm worried about with ATI is running my samsung HDTV from a DVI output - apparently they have problems with resetting resolutions etc.?

How is this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=404

vs. this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...rodid=GX-112-LT ?

Do you have any links to reviews of ATI vs Nvidia in HD playback, if such a thing exists?

Thanks for the help everyone, looks like this is more complex than it looked

ACESHIGH · 15 Aug 2007 at 11:46

The X1950 you listed is a good card for gaming & very well priced too. Probably the pick of cards in that price range. It does also support AVIVO.

The 2600XT also has HDMI & DirectX 10 support which are its big advantages (plus its cheaper).

As for AVIVO versus purevideo, i think that they are pretty much the same.

HangTime · 15 Aug 2007 at 11:53

x1950pro at £70 would make an excellent replacement. It's a big jump up from x800xt/7600GT and cards of that ilk, for not much extra.

willhub · 15 Aug 2007 at 11:55

the shadow said:
how about something like GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DV.knock the socks off what u had.

Yea, that would actually be a downgrade/sidestep which he does not want...

I think an X1950Pro will be the best bet, but if you want DX10 support, then an 8600GTS/2600XT would be the best way to go.

the shadow · 15 Aug 2007 at 12:05

Sorry i was thinking about the features

J.D · 15 Aug 2007 at 12:15

willhub said:
Yea, that would actually be a downgrade/sidestep which he does not want...

I think an X1950Pro will be the best bet, but if you want DX10 support, then an 8600GTS/2600XT would be the best way to go.

Agree'd. I moved from Asus AGP X800XT PE to BFG PCI-E 7600GT OC and the 7600GT lasted 3 weeks in my system before I got the X1900. It has a 128bit interface compared to the X800's 256bit. I actually felt the decrease in my gaming.

X1950 pro or 2600XT would be perfect and only about £65 - £80.

the shadow said:
Sorry i was thinking about the features

That's all it had going for it over the X800 sadly

. I thought it was going to be as good but it didn't turn out that way

. It wasn't miles behind the X800 in power but you just knew the difference if you owned both and a downgrade is never a good thing.

peetee · 15 Aug 2007 at 12:24

x800xtpe & 7600GT are about level, the GT performed as powerful as the 6800ULTRA which wasnt really too fat behind the 800xtpe, and the SM3 always comes in handy really, i had a xtpe and i loved it, but i always regretted not waiting a while for the 7series to arrive on AGP

J.D · 15 Aug 2007 at 12:33

peetee said:
x800xtpe & 7600GT are about level, the GT performed as powerful as the 6800ULTRA which wasnt really too fat behind the 800xtpe, and the SM3 always comes in handy really, i had a xtpe and i loved it, but i always regretted not waiting a while for the 7series to arrive on AGP

Have you owned the 2 cards?.

Also waiting for the 7 series wasn't the best thing to do!. The 7 series - No AA and HDR together with worse image quality and doesn't scale as well at higher resolutions.

Ste · 15 Aug 2007 at 15:55

Thanks for all the help

I think I'm sold on the x1950. I'm not going near vista for at least another 6months so the dx10 issue is no problem and I'll probably upgrade within a year anyway.

Can I just clarify - does the x1950 do hardware deinterlacing/decoding/etc. (is that what AVIVO is?)

Cheers

willhub · 15 Aug 2007 at 16:18

peetee said:
x800xtpe & 7600GT are about level, the GT performed as powerful as the 6800ULTRA which wasnt really too fat behind the 800xtpe, and the SM3 always comes in handy really, i had a xtpe and i loved it, but i always regretted not waiting a while for the 7series to arrive on AGP

The only thing the 7600GT had going for it over an X800XTPE was SM3.0, and would only be a choice over an X800XTPE if you wanted to play Vegas and Splinter Cell Double Agent coz of stupid Ubisoft. I would be able to live without HDR tbh.

Ste said:
Thanks for all the help

I think I'm sold on the x1950. I'm not going near vista for at least another 6months so the dx10 issue is no problem and I'll probably upgrade within a year anyway.

Can I just clarify - does the x1950 do hardware deinterlacing/decoding/etc. (is that what AVIVO is?)

Cheers

Decoding? What like HDMi?

peetee · 15 Aug 2007 at 16:27

willhub said:
The only thing the 7600GT had going for it over an X800XTPE was SM3.0, and would only be a choice over an X800XTPE if you wanted to play Vegas and Splinter Cell Double Agent coz of stupid Ubisoft. I would be able to live without HDR tbh.

And less power requirements, and being cooler.
the GT was a good choice because it could handle the shadows and lighting easier, yea you could always turn them off, which i did, but to be honest it was plain ugly etc.

HDR+AA etc, i dont care all that much about AA or HDR really, well i didnt back then, and i found the x800xtpe would buckle with some games with either on really..
They are around about the same performance level though, no arguement about it, fair enough each lacks support for certain things, opinions over which is more important are obviously different