New graphics card needed

[james.miller]

im sure you've made him perfectly aware easyrider. just chill out.

 

[ScarySquirrel]

Enjoy the XT. There is always arguing in this forum . Some people prefer the ATi IQ but unless you actually stop and stand still, you'll never notice it so it's pointless to argue over it. The difference is miniscule and usually I'm running around shooting things . An XT for £300 is a stonking deal and not to be scorned. Rest assured you have one of the top 3 graphics cards currently available.

Ok cool. My PC is ridulousy loud anyway so won't make much difference.

Im always cold so a little extra heat is good (plus i got pretty good air cooling)

power wise, i got a Hiper 580w PSU so should be ok

 

[AWPC]

GazD what resolution do you game @?? If 1024x768 or 1280x1024 then your best bet for now is either:

7900GT256 or X1800 neither of which are anywhere near as expensive as the X1900 or 7900GTX512. The X1800 may require a £20 Zalman to silence it, the 7900GT256 should be quiet on stock HSF.

Reason I say this is that when DX10 comes out in 6 months or so you would need to upgrade to another new gfx card then anyway so may as well spend a little less now as not really anything out there game wise which demands more than a 7900GT256 or X1800 UNLESS you want 1600x1200 or higher & max AA + AF.

Until I bought a Dell 2405 + 7800GTX512 I could still get by @ 1600x1200 with an AGP6800GT256! Gaming @ 1920x1200 on the Dell forced me to buy a new mobo+gfx+ram so ended up costing me over £2K yet not really seen a massive difference game wise in FPS as you can always tweak a little @ lower res to get excellent results.

All I'm saying is that unless you really must have a high screen res then better to save some money as everyone who wants the latest greatest gfx in 6 months or so will need to ditch their DX9 cards & get a DX10 one which will be a lot faster by then.

Good luck.

 

[easyrider]

7900GTX256 or X1800 neither of which are anywhere near as expensive as the X1900 or 7900GTX512. The X1800 may require a £20 Zalman to silence it, the 7900GTX256 should be quiet on stock HSF.

Reason I say this is that when DX10 comes out in 6 months or so you would need to upgrade to another new gfx card then anyway so may as well spend a little less now as not really anything out there game wise which demands more than a 7900GTX256 or X1800 UNLESS you want 1600x1200 or higher & max AA + AF.

All I'm saying is that unless you really must have a high screen res then better to save some money as everyone who wants the latest greatest gfx in 6 months or so will need to ditch their DX9 cards & get a DX10 one which will be a lot faster by then.

Good luck.

There isn't a 7900GTX 256?


Not really the case.

loadsamoney about summed it up

Yup x1900/7900 GTX are on par, but the x1900's use more power, and produce more heat, so if thats a problem then go for the GTX, if not then go for the x1900 as its cheaper, but they are on par as said.

Pointless upgrading to DX10 yet tho, £500 is only going to get you 1x game, the new Crysis one, and by the time the DX10 games start appearing, were going to have been through a fair few generations of cards, i can't see them flooding out, as the new Crysis one is the only one i know off, id wait until there is a fair few DX10 games out, and its worth buying a DX10 card, as by that time G80/R600 are going to be old hat, the cards we have now are going to run everything for a while yet.

Im sure there was a mention of about June/July for the G80, if so, i can't see the point in that as theres going to be nothing it can be used for DX10 wise, probably cost about £500, and will only be running the same exact stuff as the x1900's/x1800's, 7800/7900's, which are far cheaper.

If you get a DX10 card now, then when the DX10 stuff start appearing, your DX10 card you have now will probably not run em as well, so you'll be upgrading again probably to a faster one that is going to be able to handle the DX10 stuff properly as it came out around the same time.

Id just go for a x1900/7900, pointless going £300/£500, £500, then another £500 when the DX10 stuff is about, you may as well just go £300/£500, then the other £500 when the DX10 stuff is around, save yourself the price of the inbetween card.

 

[smids]

easyrider, my point is, state that the nV is cooler/quieter on the GTX and uses less power but don't argue about it. Don't make up the mind of the OP, just inform. If he doesn't deem it an issue, then fine, if he does, fine also. And your point about DX10 is meaningless in my eyes. This is the last DX9 card any of us will buy - no-one is going to buy another one at the end of the year so it might be prudent to spend a little less now on the X1800 and spend a little more the system, but once again, some people want the top constantly. I admire james.miller's restraint, something which I've only just come to learn. I didn't need to upgrade my X800XT which was hitting 7K in 05 but I did. Oh well. Still, it is not for us to decide, we merely point out potential issues. AWPC makes a valid point, but I will not contradict myself and say that he is right, because it once again falls on the OP to decide.

 

[easyrider]

easyrider, my point is, state that the nV is cooler/quieter on the GTX and uses less power but don't argue about it. Don't make up the mind of the OP, just inform. If he doesn't deem it an issue, then fine, if he does, fine also. And your point about DX10 is meaningless in my eyes. This is the last DX9 card any of us will buy - no-one is going to buy another one at the end of the year so it might be prudent to spend a little less now on the X1800 and spend a little more the system, but once again, some people want the top constantly. I admire james.miller's restraint, something which I've only just come to learn. I didn't need to upgrade my X800XT which was hitting 7K in 05 but I did. Oh well. Still, it is not for us to decide, we merely point out potential issues. AWPC makes a valid point, but I will not contradict myself and say that he is right, because it once again falls on the OP to decide.

Smids, Fair enough but I did not mean for it to come across as arguing.I was just pointing out certain points.

I didn't need to upgrade my 7900 GT but i did
After sending it back and getting my money back the 80 quid extra was well spent i my book.
But as this will be the last card I buy I thought what the heck and went for it.


There is still a good 12 months of gaming left in these new cards maybe even more and thats a longtime in pc terms.

I never keep a gfx more than this usually anyway so for me its not an issue

 

[GazD]

Well, as for gaming resolution it wont go above 1280 x 768 (17in widescreen), and if I get a 19in it will be 1280 x 1024, so is it worth spending the extra money on a 7900gtx or will a 7000gt or even a 7800gtx be enough. I only usually play games like COD2 DOD, Farcry, so a card that plays these games at full res with all the eye candy will do for me.

thanks

 

[easyrider]

Well, as for gaming resolution it wont go above 1280 x 768 (17in widescreen), and if I get a 19in it will be 1280 x 1024, so is it worth spending the extra money on a 7900gtx or will a 7000gt or even a 7800gtx be enough. I only usually play games like COD2 DOD, Farcry, so a card that plays these games at full res with all the eye candy will do for me.

thanks

If you have the money for the 7900 GTX go for it and don't let anyone put you off.

I had Lag with my old 7800 GT with COD2 at 1280x1024 and many people did.It was just about playable.But when things got busy the slowdown annoyed me no end.

I didn't have my 7900 GT long enough really but the 7900 GTX now is just amazingly quick and plays oblivion like it should be played.

Also there has been no slowdown at all in COD 2 either.

 

[smids]

Well, as for gaming resolution it wont go above 1280 x 768 (17in widescreen), and if I get a 19in it will be 1280 x 1024, so is it worth spending the extra money on a 7900gtx or will a 7000gt or even a 7800gtx be enough. I only usually play games like COD2 DOD, Farcry, so a card that plays these games at full res with all the eye candy will do for me.

thanks

Same games as me . I have an X1800XT 512MB and it runs fine with eye candy for me. Spending so much on a card for those resolutions might not be worthwhile, especially if you are going to get a DX10 card in about a year's time. Then again, if you aren't upgrading for a long while, then it might make sense to get a top card. However for those kinds of resolutions, even a 7900GT/X1800XT would suffice.

 

[easyrider]

There are many playing oblivion with 7900 GTX and x1900XTX at 1280x1024 in order for the game to be smooth maxed out with HDR on.

Some have been struggling at 1600x1200 with the top cards as the game is that demanding.

It all depends on what you see as acceptable FPS and as smids says the price and money you are willing to spend.

 

[GazD]

Well, I got more than enough help that I could have asked for. Buying a 7900gtx would be a better longer team deal, shame that nowhere has any of these at all mite have to settle for 7800gtx has 7900gtm are few and far between (

 

[smids]

Well, I got more than enough help that I could have asked for. Buying a 7900gtx would be a better longer team deal, shame that nowhere has any of these at all mite have to settle for 7800gtx has 7900gtm are few and far between (

Don't buy a 7800GTX, the 7900GT is faster and cheaper. Same 24pipes, but the GT is clocked higher, uses a different manufacturing process 90nm instead of 110nm so will clock higher and run cooler. Also, the 7900GT uses better RAM I think.

 

[easyrider]

Well, I got more than enough help that I could have asked for. Buying a 7900gtx would be a better longer team deal, shame that nowhere has any of these at all mite have to settle for 7800gtx has 7900gtm are few and far between (

Don't get a 7800 GTX the 7900 GT performs the same and everything that smids has said.

7900 GTX's are about and it won't be long efore they a readily available