Worthy Upgrade?

[man_from_uncle]

Thanks. I am unbiased, despite some people saying otherwise, because I decide between cards on a per-card basis on their features and speed vs. their cost. To me, it's all about value.

You're right in that I am far too easy to provoke into an argument though, by ATi and Nvidia fan-boys alike. It's my biggest flaw, I think.

Not meaning to provoke you, but having now had some experiance with an X1800XT, all be it at stock, I wasn't overly convinced that there was any image quality difference at all between that and an nvidia card; and I know you are one of the stronger advocates of the superior image quality of this generation of ATI cards. Haven't seen Oblivion yet with HDR+AA (which is really the reason I recommended this card to my friend), but I expect that will be a bit of a treat. Seems a bit boardline though whether he'll max it out at 1280x1024 with all the works turned on without overclocking his card a bit (something he is reluctant to do). We'll see though.

I'm very tempted myself to build another PC using the opposite brands that I normally do and the X1800XT512 is my number one chioce at the moment (assuming I miss this deal on the 256 version) from ATI. Couple that up with a heavily overclocked 805 and I think i'll give my current PC a run for its money.

 

[wellibob]

I got a cheap x1900xt , and i placed it in my other pc, similar spec to main one, and i can tell you now, oblivion didnt look much different with HDR & AA enabled to just HDR and no AA, but things being as they were, this "cheap" and by the looks used card gave up the ghost when i tried to move it into main pc, to see what all the fuss was about. I couldnt try oblivion on my friends pc, as his other components wouldnt cope, he just splashed out on the X1900XT to get on my ****. And he wont let me try his card in my pc, in case i brake that... bloody cheek !! If another turns up, and works for longer than an hour, im sure i would love it. Best of both worlds, bit like sex and having a cigarette at the same time !!!

 

[man_from_uncle]

Best of both worlds, bit like sex and having a cigarette at the same time !!!

You never tried that?!



It doesn't work.

 

[wellibob]

I did, and i ran out of puff

 

[man_from_uncle]

I rarely smoke cigarettes......even when i do run out of Puff.

 

[Darkwave]

Not meaning to provoke you, but having now had some experiance with an X1800XT, all be it at stock, I wasn't overly convinced that there was any image quality difference at all between that and an nvidia card; and I know you are one of the stronger advocates of the superior image quality of this generation of ATI cards. Haven't seen Oblivion yet with HDR+AA (which is really the reason I recommended this card to my friend), but I expect that will be a bit of a treat. Seems a bit boardline though whether he'll max it out at 1280x1024 with all the works turned on without overclocking his card a bit (something he is reluctant to do). We'll see though.

I'm very tempted myself to build another PC using the opposite brands that I normally do and the X1800XT512 is my number one chioce at the moment (assuming I miss this deal on the 256 version) from ATI. Couple that up with a heavily overclocked 805 and I think i'll give my current PC a run for its money.

Tell your mate not to worry about Oblivion with HDR+AA and all the other goodies. I play Oblivion maxed on my computer in 1280x960 resolution rather nicely.

As for image quality, I wouldn't call myself a huge supporter. The only real difference I have seen is that ATi antialising tends to look a little better, and lose less FPS, than Nvidia antialiasing. Aside from that and HDR+AA there's no serious difference between the two.

When it comes to these sorts of debates, my argument is with price. At the moment an X1900XT is quite a crazy amount cheaper than the 7900GTX, and it bugs me to hell. Were my X1800XT not so cheap, I might've bought a 7800GTX or 7900GT, but both are more costly and lesspowerful than the X1800XT at stock, and would not have given me HDR+AA in the game I will primarily be playing until DX10 comes out.

Beggars can't be choosers though.

If Nvidia is king of the ring again in the start of the DX10 generation, I will buy an Nvidia card. In fact I have been drooling in anticipation for more info about G80.

 

[easyrider]

I play Oblivion maxed on my computer in 1280x960 resolution rather nicely.

With scores of your nature I would question that,
Even with my 7900 GTX and others x1900xtx they still have to dumb down oblivion to get playable framerates.

 

[pcknight]

Some great debates going on here about choice of card. I am not still quite sure what to do. I may stick with my 7800 GT for now.

 

[Darkwave]

With scores of your nature I would question that,
Even with my 7900 GTX and others x1900xtx they still have to dumb down oblivion to get playable framerates.

Do I have to put up with this trolling from you as well as egt? The X1900 can easily run in my settings in 1620xWhatever wide-screen resolutions, where I run in 1280x960.

Anyone who's anyone knows that 3D Mark scores mean pretty much zip in terms of real-world gaming performance, and you're welcome to ask Oblivion players on this board, including LoadsaMoney who has the same card I do and a 3500+ in his machine, how they perform with HDR+AA etc.