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What card do i get? And mobo!?

Yucca

Yucca

Yucca

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Joined
20 Nov 2004
Posts
2,209
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Nock/Leicester
Im upgrading from 9800pro and might as well go pci-e. I want to spend about £200. I want a card that will last a while like my pro has. Obvioulsy i wont expect it to play games at max even in 6 months time but i want it to be ok for a year or two like the 9800's were. So 1) am i correct in saying i will be a lot better off buying a £200 now rather than a £150 one? Will there be a big difference in what i get?

Also i can get a 7900GT or the ATI equivalent. What is the £200 ati equivalent. And which one is faster, better for features and last me longer?

I would like a vivo card but not many of them are. No 7900GT vivo's?

Also do you not think i would be best buying a 7900GT now, which is one of the top cards with a SLI mobo and in 6 months time i can buy anothen one for a fraction of the price?

Because, am i correct in saying, that sli is going to be cheaper than a crossfire setup because the master cards are more expesive and sli does not need an expensive master card for it to work?
 
i went from a 9800pro, NF7-S and XP2400 to a 1800XT, opteron 146 and DFI UlTRA-D. im happy with my setup for a few years. 19" acer widescreen ordered today :)
 
At present you get great value arround £200, so i would say this is the pricepoint to be looking at. Then its 7900GT versus ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB. The X1800XT is the faster card, but is slighlty more power hungry. The X1800XT is also the card i would recomend you buy.

As for SLI/Crossfire, unless running very high res with two topend cards i dont see the point. My recomendation which is given by many others to the many people who have posted this same question, is... by the time you need that 2nd card your most likely better off selling your current card & buying the next "bang per buck card" that comes arround, as they always do.
 
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To go SLi(or Crossfire for that matter) you also assume that you will be able to purchase an identical card(or the Master Card) which may or may not be available.

Either an X1800XT or 7900gt will last you for quite a while, the 7900gt is normally slightly quieter and uses a little less power but can't do AA and HDR at the same time.

I'd still probably opt for the X1800XT if it was my money but there isn't a huge deal of difference in it :)
 
The 7900XT's are incredible value just now - just under £200 for the OcUK one (which in the case of the one I recieved, was an XFX card anyway). They overclock rather well - Stock is 450/1320, on the stock cooler I'm sitting at 530/1500. 3DMark '05 score is 8842, pretty respectable for a sub-£200 card.

If you're planning to upgrade to SLi in the future, the 7900GT is the way to go IMO. Pick up another 7900GT secondhand in a few months for £150-ish, and get blistering performance....
 
I must say i am very supprised by the replies. I was under the thought "if i buy a 7900GT now and a sli mobo then in 6 months i can buy another one for about £100 and i will have top performance again".

So you all agree that im better of getting a x1800xt and then in a year or so selling it and buying another bang for buck card rather than getting a 7900GT and getting anothe one at the same kind of time? I thought it would have been cheaper the sli way but im here to listen! :p
 
Yucca said:
So you all agree that im better of getting a x1800xt and then in a year or so selling it and buying another bang for buck card rather than getting a 7900GT and getting anothe one at the same kind of time?
Click to expand...


Yes.
 
Get a 7900 GT that will overclock to great snappy speeds leaving the x1800 behind.

Sli in the future with another.Offering superb gains.
Remember SLI is faster and more mature technology than crossfire so SLI is a good upgrade path to keep in mind.

The 7900 GT is the card to get at the 200 quid mark IMO.

How does 580/1760 sound?
Thats what my old 7900 GT did on auto detect in coolbits.
Benched my card against another forum member with a x1800 XT and the 7900 GT came out on top.


So you get a cooler faster card for your money over the x1800 and doesn't draw as much power and produce as much heat as a x1800.

The x1800 is faster at stock my a small ammount but when overclocking nothing can touch the 7900 series for superb headroom and clocking abilty.

but hey its not just me that was getting great clocks ...
Its everyone who gets one.

see the official 7900 overclocking thread for details. ;)
 
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Oh god easyrider lol, i was almost convinced and now you've said what i thought and im muddled up!

There are two things i have noticed though. I would like a vivo card and the ati will be but the nvidia wont which means i will have to buy an extra card and also this HDR stuff. Somone explain that to me? Whats hdr and cant nvidia cards do it then?
 
Yucca said:
Oh god easyrider lol, i was almost convinced and now you've said what i thought and im muddled up!

There are two things i have noticed though. I would like a vivo card and the ati will be but the nvidia wont which means i will have to buy an extra card and also this HDR stuff. Somone explain that to me? Whats hdr and cant nvidia cards do it then?
Click to expand...


The thing is AA and HDR can be used in oblivion at the same time but at playable framerates its not really going to happen.

Over rated IMO not an issue for most but it seems the only arguement people have for recommending a ATI card.

If you are after VIVO features then your choice will be easier.Get the x1800 XT.

However many enjoy the massive boost in performance with simple overclocking of the 7900 GT.

Its huge!

The SLI route is the best option of a dual card setup.And two 7900 GT's in SLI will more than keep you up with the big boys until DX 10 is released.

Why be stuck in the quagmire of a single x1800XT.
At least if you get a single 7900 GT you have this option of another on the cheap.Making your future path to DX 10 a smoother ride. ;)
 
Why compare an overclocked 7900 GT to a stock x1800 XT, of course it will be faster, why do ppl forget the x1800 XT is also a cracking overclocker, well they don't forget, we know the reason why obviously.
 
If you're going to overclock one, it's only fair to overclock the other.
So compare 7900GT in stock
and the X1800XT in stock.

At least that'll be a fair test. Though if you have a Nvidia SLI board I would probably put more thought into a Nvidia card, that's if you might buy one later, rather than just replace it. ie look at my sig could have bought a Nvidia Nforce but at least I have a upgrade path.
 
LoadsaMoney said:
Why compare an overclocked 7900 GT to a stock x1800 XT, of course it will be faster, why do ppl forget the x1800 XT is also a cracking overclocker, well they don't forget, we know the reason why obviously.
Click to expand...

Well the x1800xt I benched against was also overclocked.
But the x1800xt is also a great card.

But it just doesn't have the same stuff going for it as a 7900 GT IMO.
 
squiffy said:
If you're going to overclock one, it's only fair to overclock the other.
So compare 7900GT in stock
and the X1800XT in stock.

At least that'll be a fair test. Though if you have a Nvidia SLI board I would probably put more thought into a Nvidia card, that's if you might buy one later, rather than just replace it. ie look at my sig could have bought a Nvidia Nforce but at least I have a upgrade path.
Click to expand...


If you are running at stock and have no inclination to overclock then the x1800xt is the clear choice.

However if you plan to overclock the 7900 GT pulls ahead.PLus offering a open SLI route too.
 
If i buy a none vivo card, what will i have to buy for the vivo features? Some extra pci vivo card thing?
 
What connection do you use for digital? Just out of interest what do you use your vivo for? I want it so i can hook up a video player and convet video to dvds.
 
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