Price/Performance, which is best?

Mr C · 14 Sep 2006 at 18:45

Out of these cards:

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-CO)
Price: £144.99 (£170.36 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
Price: £109.99 (£129.24 Including VAT at 17.5%)

OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-042-OK)
Price: £99.99 (£117.49 Including VAT at 17.5%)

All 3 of these cards are on This week only so they are all relatively cheap anyway but which is best bang for buck?

I would be running it on a Core 2 duo e6300 2gb ddr2 (5400, 667mhz) ram system.

Mainly i am interested in the performance difference inbetween the 1800xt and the 1900xt as i wonder if there is enough to pay the extra £40 for as im trying to minimise costs while maintaining a decent level of performance.

I also see the 7900 GS is highly overclockable and would O/Cing that provide a comparable performance to the 1800xt/1900xt?

Mr Paul · 14 Sep 2006 at 21:06

X1800XT for the win

Cyber-Mav · 14 Sep 2006 at 21:35

all cards are at an amazing price. all depends on how much money you want to spend. if you want something to tide you over till dx10 then get the 7900gs.

InvaderGIR · 14 Sep 2006 at 21:58

The C3D X1800XT is a loverly card, only thing I don't like about it is the cooler, it's fairly noisy and kinda pants.
I've now got to wait on Zalman/supplier of my VF900-Cu to sort out the fact that it came with a screw that's too small.

InvG

LoadsaMoney · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:13

Depend what res you play at, 1280x1024 then the x1800 XT would do you as at that res the x1900 XT is not that much faster, but if your running higher than that then get the x1900 as the higher the res the bigger the gap between them grows.

The 7900 GS comes in just below the 7900 GT, and both the x1800/x1900 are faster than the 7900 GT.

Mr C · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:20

How noisy is it? I can't seem to find any information on the fan/heatsink that comes with it.

InvaderGIR · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:29

Well it isn't hugely noisey, but I want absolute silence in my pc (or as-good-as) and the stock cooler kicks up more noise than the rest of my cooling system (2x 120mm case fans, 92mm CPU fan, 120mm and 80mm PSU fans).

The only problem I see with it is that the fan connector is non-standard, so if you buy an aftermarket cooler like the VF900-Cu then you will have to run fan power from one of your motherboard's case fan connectors, unless you can get a converter that allows you to use the larger (normal fan connectors) in the smaller one on the C3D board. This did disappoint me, but C3D aren't the best company so I'm not too fussed, plus it should work from the mobo as I said.

InvG

Darkwave · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:36

The X1800XT 256MB is by far the best bang for buck card in that list, period.

Mr C · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:39

I'll go with the X1800XT for now and if the fan is too noisy i can always grab an aftermarket one in the future and run it off the motherboard like you suggested.

Thanks

Darkwave · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:43

Mr C said:
I'll go with the X1800XT for now and if the fan is too noisy i can always grab an aftermarket one in the future and run it off the motherboard like you suggested.

The stock cooler isn't as loud as people make out, to be completely honest. It spins up to 100% for a few seconds on boot, which is loud, but even when you're playing games it'll rarely hit 50% and even then it has to be under some serious load.

It's worth noting that the X1K stock cooler is rated at 50db according to Guru3D, only 10db more than a sock 7900GT cooler, so you can see how exaggerated the problem is right there.

InvaderGIR · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:54

Ulfhedjinn said:
The stock cooler isn't as loud as people make out, to be completely honest. It spins up to 100% for a few seconds on boot, which is loud, but even when you're playing games it'll rarely hit 50% and even then it has to be under some serious load.

It's worth noting that the X1K stock cooler is rated at 50db according to Guru3D, only 10db more than a sock 7900GT cooler, so you can see how exaggerated the problem is right there.

Yeah, it isn't very loud really, it's only loud on bootup (did wonder what was making the HOOGE noise on bootup - figured it was the CPU...could be both I suppose), and ingame it doesn't kick up much fuss.
I just want a really quiet pc and so have gone for aftermarket coolers for everything (apart from the PSU)...and can't use the GPU one yet.
For most people the noise will be either not noticeable or really easy to put up with, I'm fussy though

.

InvG

Darkwave · 14 Sep 2006 at 22:56

Aye, it's personal taste really, but to me it's not loud at all. The only reason I bought a VF900 was to get much better OCs without having to put that thing on 100% to handle them (as I game with OCs and that racket would drive me mental.)

If I wasn't OCing then I would easily have kept hold of my stock cooler, it's actually quite a nice cooler.

easyrider · 14 Sep 2006 at 23:53

Ulfhedjinn said:
If I wasn't OCing then I would easily have kept hold of my stock cooler, it's actually quite a nice cooler.

LMAO

Everyone knows the the x1900's are loud.

just stop talking carp

celliott · 14 Sep 2006 at 23:56

Definatley:

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
Price: £109.99 (£129.24 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Now the Stock cooler on there is not great but its not excessivley loud when in use. You boot up the PC and are greeted by the sound of a domestic hairdryer, but it soon loweres the RPM once you boot into windows and to be honest, I dont think its a lot louder than the stock cooler on my Gainward 6800GT.

easyrider · 14 Sep 2006 at 23:58

celliott said:
Definatley:

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
Price: £109.99 (£129.24 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Now the Stock cooler on there is not great but its not excessivley loud when in use. You boot up the PC and are greeted by the sound of a domestic hairdryer, but it soon loweres the RPM once you boot into windows and to be honest, I dont think its a lot louder than the stock cooler on my Gainward 6800GT.

Boots into windows?

what about 3D full load.

please

99% of x1900 owners agree the cooler is loud FFS

celliott · 15 Sep 2006 at 00:04

To put it simply:

Compared to Artic Silencer's etc. YES it is a loud cooler. You will notice it speed up during full load, but its not ridiculously loud.

If you dont like the cooler when you get it just stick an Artic Cooling Accelero on there.

cyclops12 · 15 Sep 2006 at 00:05

no they dont easy m8 about 50/50 i cant here mine in windows
and when im playin games i have my speakers on

Darkwave · 15 Sep 2006 at 00:05

easyrider said:
LMAO

Everyone knows the the x1900's are loud.

just stop talking carp

I guess the 7900GT is loud too since the X1K stock cooler is rated at 50db while the 7900GT stock cooler is rated at 40db? Why don't you stop talking carp? :rolleyes:

I most definitely would have kept my stock cooler if the VF900 didn't OC so much better.

easyrider · 15 Sep 2006 at 00:09

Ulfhedjinn said:
I guess the 7900GT is loud too since the X1K stock cooler is rated at 50db while the 7900GT stock cooler is rated at 40db? Why don't you stop talking carp?

I most definitely would have kept my stock cooler if the VF900 didn't OC so much better.

Again your arguement is flawed.

who mentioned 7900 GT?

Darkwave · 15 Sep 2006 at 00:10

easyrider said:
Again your arguement is flawed.

who mentioned 7900 GT?

I just did? :confused:

You're the only one here arguing, so how is my argument flawed? :confused:

I was simply using a base for comparison. If people call the X1K cooler loud, then I will inform them that it's only 10db louder than the 7900GT cooler.