Decisions, Decisions

[Jase]

I'm going to order a pre-built system from OcUK as I was happy with the last one I bought before Christmas... Now I can't decided whether to go for the ATI or Nvidia system :

"Ultima Extreme SLi 7900 GTX" AMD Athlon 64 FX60 Dual DDR Silent PhysX Enabled System (FS-024-OK)
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core FX60 (Socket 939) CPU
- AMD Approved cooler
- DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR EXPERT (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
- Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3500LL Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 Dual Channel Kit
- 2 x 150GB Western Digital Raptor 16MB Cache SATA Hard Drive (RAID 0 Configured)
- 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 Graphics Cards (SLi Configured)
- BFG Ageia PhysX Accelerator card future proofing this system for PhysX enabled games!!!!
- Plextor PX-755 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Sound Card
- Silverstone Black Temjin TJ03
- FSP Sparkle FX700-GLN Epsilon 700W ATX2.0 PSU


or


"Ultima Extreme Crossfire X1900 XT-X" AMD Athlon 64 FX60 Dual DDR Silent PhysX Enabled System (FS-021-OK)
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core FX60 (Socket 939) CPU
- AMD Approved cooler
- Asus A8R32-MVP DELUXE ATi Crossfire Dual Channel PCI-Express Motherboard
- Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3500LL Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 Dual Channel Kit
- 2 x 150GB Western Digital Raptor 16MB Cache SATA Hard Drive (RAID 0 Configured)
- ATI Radeon X1900 Crossfire Edition 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
- ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
- BFG Ageia PhysX Accelerator card future proofing this system for PhysX enabled games!!!!
- Plextor PX-755 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Sound Card
- Silverstone Black Temjin TJ03
- FSP Sparkle FX700-GLN Epsilon 700W ATX2.0 PSU

Both are very similar price and it will be used as a games machine only. What do you reckon is the best option ??

Jase

 

[man_from_uncle]

The only difference is the graphics cards right?

Very tough call indeed. The X1900s will have the AA and HDR option, but the 7900gtxs will run cooler and that might help with an overclock on the CPU. I dare say that the 7900gtxs will run faster too (though not by much and not in all games). I think that generally, assuming you overclock, the 7900gtx system will have the potential to be quicker, but the X1900 system will have the better graphics options.

I really don't know which way i'd go, but I wish I had enough money to have that problem myself.

 

[ajgoodfellow]

As man_from_uncle says, it's a tricky choice

The fan on the DFI board in the nVidia system is noisy (the ATI system has a passively cooled board). The nVidia cards are quieter though

For raw speed the 7900GTX is a little faster than the X1900XTX

It is true that the X1900XTX offers more features like AA & HDR at the same time unlike the 7900GTX

If it was up to me I'd look at the reviews of the 7900GTX and the X1900XTX and buy the card that's faster in the games that I play

If the ATI system is cheaper I'd also be tempted to go for that as it's only a very small amount slower. If the nVidia system was cheaper I'd go for that

The bottom line really is that both are top of the range seriously quick PCs with very little between them!