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which card (again!!)

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so what about the Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-CO) at £139 + VAT? Would that be a better choice than either of the two cards previously mentioned? Would I notice much difference over my X1800XT?
 
Caporegime
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Wont be much difference at 1280x1024, im stuck at that res with an x1800 XT, and i run everything maxed out absolutely fine, i don't see the need for an x1900 as the x1800 XT handles that res with ease.

Look a the firingsquad review in the link above, at 1280x1024 the x1900 XT 256mb beats the x1800 XT by only 2 frames in most games, only beats it by about 5 or so frames in about two, is it really worth the hastle of getting rid of the x1800 for peanuts, then putting some money towards what you got for it to get the x1900 XT 256mb when it only beats the x1800 XT in that res mostly by 2 frames, i dont think so, yes thats the 512mb x1800 there, but the 256mb is exactly the same. :)

You could wait for more opinions on it, but i think everyone would agree that at 1280x1024 its not worth going for the x1900 XT 256mb over the x1800.
 
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Soldato
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Depends what you think is noticeable. I look for a 40% improvement in apples to apples comparisons or being able to play at higher settings. You'll not get 40% improvement over an X1800XT unless you play at very high resolutions or go XFire/SLI.

Think my video card history's gone something like this:

2MB Rage Pro 128 -> Voodoo3 3000 16MB -> Radeon 7000 64Mb -> Upgrading hiatus while gaming on Xbox -> Radeon 9500 Pro 128MB -> Geforce 6600GT 128mb -> Geforce 6800GT 256MB -> Radeon X1800XT 256MB

The two that made the biggest difference were the Voodoo3 and the 9500Pro. Huge improvements. Moving from the Voodoo3 to the 7000 was pointless as it wan't much of an upgrade and I was probably bottlnecked by my K6-2 and lack of AGP slot...

I suppose the difference between now and then is I used to wait for games to become unplayable and now I get twitchy if I can't max the settings with a little AA and AF.

Everything was fine on new mid range graphics until Oblivion... <sigh>
 
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LoadsaMoney said:
Wont be much difference at 1280x1024, im stuck at that res with an x1800 XT, and i run everything maxed out absolutely fine, i don't see the need for an x1900 as the x1800 XT handles that res with ease.

Look a the firingsquad review in the link above, at 1280x1024 the x1900 XT 256mb beats the x1800 XT by only 2 frames in most games, only beats it by about 5 or so frames in about two, is it really worth the hastle of getting rid of the x1800 for peanuts, then putting some money towards what you got for it to get the x1900 XT 256mb when it only beats the x1800 XT in that res mostly by 2 frames, i dont think so, yes thats the 512mb x1800 there, but the 256mb is exactly the same. :)

You could wait for more opinions on it, but i think everyone would agree that at 1280x1024 its not worth going for the x1900 XT 256mb over the x1800.
Thanks for the advice LoadsaMoney and fair point about the 1950pro but according to the review you mentioned HL2 is 10fps better on the 1900 than the 1800, BF2 is 20fps better, Oblivion is 10fps better and Far Cry is 16fps better. This works out at between 10 and 20% better. Not bad for the £60 upgrade cost.
 
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Do you find those games unplayable on your x1800, i have played all those games maxed out in 1280x1024 fine on my x1800, so 20 frames more is neither here or there to me, if im getting say 120 in a game, why would i want to have 140 in the same game as it plays perfectly fine at 120, suppose it would be better in upcoming games though, so if its only about £60 for the upgrade then it should be worth it, as you would get longer out of it than the x1800.

Im keeping my x1800 as im upgrading to Conroe next week, and ive only got a 3500+ at the moment, so my x1800 is not running at its full potential, so im going Conroe to allow me to run it at its full potential, thus extending the life of it more that way. :)
 
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sorry to revive this thread but the X1950 seems to be gaining a bit of momemtum on one or two threads. Is it really still a poor man's X1900 or are they actually worth me looking at?
 
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