need help choosing my next card ?

[arai]

sorry to post another spec me up post & bore the t*ts of you all but i need some help if you can ?

i built my 1st pc last summer but my card is struggling with newer games & its time for an upgrade methinks ?

im running a AMD4000+ 64 chip with a arctic 64 pro cooler in a asrock 939 dual sata2 motherboard,
with 2x1gb of OZ pc4000 gold edition GX XTC ram, 1 74gb raptor HDD, a enermax 620 liberty psu,
the lcds a 19" sony (1280x1024), & not least, a xfx 128mb 6600gt card.

i'd love to fork out for a new 8800 but theyre too big for my case,
so its back to the drawing board.

ive saw some great reviews for the x1950 pro's but was wondering if its worth paying that bit extra for
a Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 at £252
or the HIS ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 at £235 ?

also, ive read various posts about bottleneckin the cpu with newer cards ?
fraid im still a bit lost on this subject ?
& im not ready to fork out again for a new c2d+mobo+ddr2 so soon.


thanks


Happy new years folk

 

[Big.Wayne]

 

[thefishdude]

a x1950xtx is very false economy at the moment so peopel dont t end to suggest them, a x1950xt is very close to its performance but is a under 200.
the 1950pro is a cracking card though

i think a 1950pro will be your best bet in my opinion and only £130

 

[LoadsaMoney]

I wouldn't get an XTX, they aint worth buying now as the new gen 8800 GTS is only £40 more, id go for the x1950 XT 256mb as it will easily clock to XTX speeds, as its only the memory on it thats a tad slower, cores the same, think the memorys only 1800mhz on the XT where as its 2000mhz on the XTX, nothing in it, and the XT is under £200, or as said above the x1950pro is also a cracking card, and is at an amazing price.

 

[easyrider]

Depending on the res you play the only DX 9 card worth buying now IMO is the x1950 pro.

For 130 it offers good value

If spending over 200 get a new case and a 8800 GTS

By the way the GTS is not as long as the GTX and will probably fit in your case.

 

[fornowagain]

Exactly, whats the resolution?

And if your case fits a standard ATX motherboard then the GTS will fit.

 

[KaBar]

sorry to jump in on the thread a little but I've a similar problem, been recommended 2 of the cards mentioned above:

wanted a HiS 512Mb x1950 pro but was recommended to get a 256Mb X1950 XT instead, is it worth the extra £25 and trading down on memory for the extra pixel shaders and XTX clockable speeds? (running on an o/c E6300, 2GB RAM, DS4 ans HD Plasma screen)

and if I go for an XT which is better the Connect3D @ £165 or the Sapphire @ £176?

 

[melbourne720]

wanted a HiS 512Mb x1950 pro but was recommended to get a 256Mb X1950 XT instead, is it worth the extra £25 and trading down on memory for the extra pixel shaders and XTX clockable speeds? (running on an o/c E6300, 2GB RAM, DS4 ans HD Plasma screen)

Yes. If you wanted to game at higher resolutions than 1600 x 1000 (the only real reason for getting 512), then you'd need a more powerful card than the pro, so the memory doesn't really come into it.

and if I go for an XT which is better the Connect3D @ £165 or the Sapphire @ £176?

As they both have the stock cooler, then I'd go for the connect 3d one, as its cheaper. The powercolour one does have a better cooler, but then it is £182...

 

[Orison]

As they both have the stock cooler, then I'd go for the connect 3d one, as its cheaper. The powercolour one does have a better cooler, but then it is £182...

I wouldn't get the Connect3D one, it's incredibly noisy, to the point where it renders your pc practically unusable. That goes for the Sapphire too, as it has the same cooler.

I bought one for my new pc and, while I only ran it with the case sides still off, it was like someone was doing the vacuuming in my room. No way could I foresee myself working, or even gaming, with that level of distraction.

It's a false economy to buy the Connect3D card as you'd only end up having to buy a £25 quiet aftermarket heatsink to preserve your sanity, and would void your warranty installing it into the bargain

If you were going to buy an XT, get the Powercolor or the HIS, they're a bit dearer but they're intended for overclocking to a certain degree, and they use a different, quieter cooler.

Thing is, is it really worth buying a DX9 card for near £200 these days? If you're after midrange, the X1950 Pro will cover all bases excellently at 1280x1024; if you need to go higher-res than that, you really should consider trying to find the extra £100 for a BFG 8800GTS so you're ready for DX10. If you can't find the extra, then wait about 6 weeks and the prices should start to drop once ATI hard-launch the R600.