Explain this!

[Tommy B]

Why exactly should consumers be expected to spend £400 on a 7900GTX or a 1900XTX when Direct X 10 cards are round the corner?

Am I missing something?

 

[Tommy B]

They're not expected to, it's just that the option is there. For people who don't want to spend that much on a 7900GTX or X1900XT-X there are the 7900GT's, X1900XT's, 7800GTX's, X1800XT's, 7800GT's, and X1800XL's for much lower prices as a trade-off for lower performance.

I'm not sure why somebody who has a 7800GTX in their signature would be complaining about the prices of 7900GTX's, but that's just me I guess. I went from a 6600GT to an X800 GTO², and have just ordered an X1800XT 256MB which will last me until DirectX 10 emerges. All in all it's never costed me over £150 for a graphics upgrade, with this X1800XT being my most expensive ever at just under £200.

I've just sold my GTX. It was a fantastic card, but I was by no means blown away tbh. It only seemed like a small step up from my Radeon 9700 Pro. I was also worried that it only had 256mb of ram.

I'm now in a position where I could upgrade to a X1900XT-X, but some people have said doing that is stupid if I'm only running at 1280x1024.

What's more is that I won't be able to play any games until July - and I've got a gut feeling that newer, better cards will be available by then, and so there's no point in splashing out £370 right now!

All in all, by the summer I just want a damn PC that will play games at 1280x1024 with EVERYTHING on max. That means a GFX, memory and CPU upgrade.

 

[Tommy B]

lol what did you play that made a 7800 gtx seem like a small step up from a 9700 pro? Solitaire?

haha. What I mean is that when I first got the 9700 Pro, I remember watching that Animusic Tech Demo and just thinking "Mother of God this makes Toy Story look like something from the stone age."

My GTX demolished FEAR completely, but it struggled with COD2. If I turned AA or AF on, the frame rate plummeted. When I spent £350 I was just expecting to be blown away again, and the 9700 Pro was no where near as expensive!

 

[Tommy B]

I'm confused though.

Reviewers say the X1900XT and the X1900XT-X are seriously good cards, and will erase any game put in front of them.

They also say there's only a small step up from the 7800GTX, which IMO didn't "erase any game put in front of " it.

 

[Tommy B]

If a game doesn't look smooth at a high frame rate, it's not worth playing IMO.

 

[Tommy B]

When exactly are the "next gen" cards out?

 

[Tommy B]

Oh what the hell I'll just grab an X1900XTX now and upgrade at xmas.

Actually is it worth the extra X if I'm running at 1280x1024?

And will there defo be no more cards out before Nov?

 

[Tommy B]

This man speaks the truth. You'd be paying almost £50 for that extra 25MHz core and a printed "X" on a box, I don't know about you but I wouldn't personally consider that value. I'm sure most XTs clock that high just fine.

You are both right. Which X1900XT should I buy then?

Is it OK to rule out the 7900GTX?

 

[Tommy B]

I think I'll grab a Sapphire X1900XT. My Radeon 9700 Pro was by them and it was excellent. A few questions though:

1) Are the prices of the current cards likely to fall over the next few months?

2) Will ATI and Nvidia wait for DX10 now, or could they release another set of cards before next November?

3) When the DX10 cards come out, won't there be a mass exodus? Doesn't that mean that selling off the X1900XT will be very hard?

4) Was upgrading from the 7800GTX to the X1900XT at a net cost of £100 worth it? To be fair, a relative offered to pay the £100 but still, it could have gone elsewhere

 

[Tommy B]

You won't regret it. Sapphire, at least in my opinion, are the best ATi partner to buy graphics boards from. The quality of both the product and the customer service is always great.


I think we'll only see a few price drops between now and Q4 2006, then we may see the next gen cards which will cause this gen to drop in price dramatically.


As far as I am aware, the G80 was meant to come out this summer but has been delayed due to not being taped out. I have not heard anything about R500 coming out any time before the end of this year, so it could be then to catch Christmas and be early for Vista which has been delayed until Q1 2007.


Nope, because people like me who always go for the second-best or last-gen hardware will always want to buy your stuff cheaper than retail prices. Don't ask me though, because I plan to go DirectX 10 when it's available (and I just ordered an X1800XT if it makes you feel a bit better about timing.)


Were I in your position, I would've kept the 7800GTX. If you get enough in return for selling your 7800GTX though, the X1900XT will be worth it.

Thanks for answering my questions. Really helpful. I'll get a Sapphire one then, but I'll probably upgrade again before xmas. Graphics sorted, now for the ram and cpu