Should I get a x1900..?

m0rte · 6 Apr 2006 at 11:09

I guess i'm just looking for justification for spending £300+ on a graphics card

I currently have a x850xt which is a great card...but not the best and I'd like something that can run oblivion and future games with all settings high, 1280x1024 res etc and the 850xt cant quite cut it.
I bought the x850xt as a 'cheap' upgrade from 9800pro before I upgraded the rest of my system, but now I have an X2 4400+ and 2gig ram i'm thinking i'll go the whole hog and get the best card I can since i have the cash.

So, will I really notice a huge difference and is there a 'best' make to go for?
There's a 'This week only' on a PowerColor x1900xtx, are they good?

Thanks

MG42Maniac · 6 Apr 2006 at 11:19

Hi,

I recently moved from a X800XL to a X1900XT and i'm very happy with the results. Be warned though the card is absolutly huge and almost spans across my DFI Ultra-D board and I was worried it would not fit, infact its a very tight fit indeed and theres barely any room for anything in the lower half of the case. Ive tried one game so far on my PC ( AMD64 3700+, 2GB G.Skill & X1900XT) which was COD2 set to 1280 x 1024, max details with 4xaa and 8xHQAF and I loaded up the D-Day level and I was really impressedhow fast it ran it, I got hardly any stutters and it was really smooth and if you have played that level you will know how demanding it is. As far as noise Its very loud when you turn the PC on but this is only for a few seconds, other than that I cannot repeat for NVIDIA fanboys cannot hear it

mine seems to idle around 45 degrees as well.

m0rte · 6 Apr 2006 at 11:27

Thats a point..I have the lanparty ultra-D aswell and my 850xt sits right on top of the chipset fan, is it the same for the 1900xtx? Space south of the card shouldnt be a problem..as for noise, gotta love the antec p180

PinkFloyd · 6 Apr 2006 at 11:27

Its the size that puts me off of one. Oh and the heat

How much shorter than the Ultra-D ?
Because my harddrives slightly overlap the motherboard as it is, and thats not taking the cables into consideration

Lanz · 6 Apr 2006 at 11:28

Just to note, no single card runs Oblivion really well at 1280x1024, but i guess a X1900XT would be about 400% quicker than your x850.

So dont be expecting anything amazing for your £300

Still, it would certainly be better than the 7fps I get lol.

I think the X1800XT is best for the price, offering almost X1900's for £100 less.

MG42Maniac · 6 Apr 2006 at 11:33

PinkFloyd said:
Its the size that puts me off of one. Oh and the heat
How much shorter than the Ultra-D ?
Because my harddrives slightly overlap the motherboard as it is, and thats not taking the cables into consideration

Here is a pic of it( excuse the quality was taken with my W800i)

As you can see it is damn massive and extends right across the motherboard, but it does fit, just!!

Lanz, I believe if you take off HDR the frame rate goes up a lot.

nands · 6 Apr 2006 at 11:34

I just upgraded my old 9500 pro to a X1900XT and it is superb, obviously!

About the size issue, I found that my HDDs were a bit close to the card so I have moved them around a bit and have free space all around. I recon that if I had to put a drive directly behind where the power connects to the card I would have some difficulties with the cabling, but I had free drive slots so I am fine.

Also the thing weighs a ton!

nyzrox · 6 Apr 2006 at 12:01

I have a ultra-d with a xtx on an it looks exactly like MG42Maniac's

LoadsaMoney · 6 Apr 2006 at 12:11

Gota x1800 here on the DFi RDX200 Crossfire, looks abit like that pic, but the end of the cooler on mine is in the middle of the chipset fan, so its a tad further right on there, unless thats the same and its just the angle of the pic as it looks very similar.

Mercutio · 6 Apr 2006 at 13:02

Lanz said:
Just to note, no single card runs Oblivion really well at 1280x1024, but i guess a X1900XT would be about 400% quicker than your x850.

So dont be expecting anything amazing for your £300

Still, it would certainly be better than the 7fps I get lol.

I think the X1800XT is best for the price, offering almost X1900's for £100 less.

Im finding my X1800XT handling obvlivion rather well... gaming at 1650x1080 with HDR turned on, all draw distances at max, most shadows and other visual effects at medium+good/max, have turned grass down almost as far as it will go. I find the grass irritating when looking for a bandit i've sniped from range so turning it down works for me. Some of the actor settings still need playing with as I do get a frame rate drop sometimes with lots on screen.

Size wise if I can fit the card in a shuttle you should reaaaallly have too many problems

young lad · 6 Apr 2006 at 16:28

I have the ati x1800xt and its 234pound atm i think which is a lot cheaper and performance for me is all on high with LCD on bf2 and runs perfectly.

Maybe save 90odd quid and sacrafice a few fps?

m0rte · 6 Apr 2006 at 16:35

I'm hoping I can sell my x850xt for around £100 so I shouldn't be spending more then £250ish on the x1900 I hope :]

(any takers on the x850xt?

few months old, got box and everything!)

PinkFloyd · 6 Apr 2006 at 17:31

MG42Maniac said:
Here is a pic of it( excuse the quality was taken with my W800i)

As you can see it is damn massive and extends right across the motherboard, but it does fit, just!!

Lanz, I believe if you take off HDR the frame rate goes up a lot.

Looks like I won't be using my Zalmon chipset cooler with that thing in the top slot then

WIll have to stick with the bottom slot like I am at the moment.

I could just re-arrange my drives, should be fine then, I am slightly concerned aboutt he heat that they give off though, most of it goes straight out the back though doesnt it?

ps - W800i owner here to, great little phone

chaparral · 6 Apr 2006 at 17:36

PinkFloyd said:
Its the size that puts me off of one. Oh and the heat
How much shorter than the Ultra-D ?
Because my harddrives slightly overlap the motherboard as it is, and thats not taking the cables into consideration

What case are you using????

fenderbass86 · 6 Apr 2006 at 21:45

Is the X1900 series much bigger than an NV 6800?

MG42Maniac · 6 Apr 2006 at 21:58

Its the biggest card I have ever seen in my life so I would have thought so.

fenderbass86 · 6 Apr 2006 at 22:01

Holy cow, then will it fit nicely in an Antec P180 and an MSI nforce4 Platinum mobo? Can anyone give me a rough estimation of its size/dimension in mm/cm? Too much to ask?

Jimi · 6 Apr 2006 at 22:09

fenderbass86 said:
Holy cow, then will it fit nicely in an Antec P180 and an MSI nforce4 Platinum mobo? Can anyone give me a rough estimation of its size/dimension in mm/cm? Too much to ask?

Measure your motherboard then subtract about half an inch.

MG42Maniac · 6 Apr 2006 at 22:19

fenderbass86 said:
Holy cow, then will it fit nicely in an Antec P180 and an MSI nforce4 Platinum mobo? Can anyone give me a rough estimation of its size/dimension in mm/cm? Too much to ask?

It spans basically the whole length of my DFI Ultra-D ( check pic further up) so its probobly going to be a very tight fit for you aswell.