X1800 XT 256MB or X1900 GT ICEQ 3 SILENT

[sti007]

I'm currently building a crossfire rig but won't be running dual graphics cards until the new directx 10 cards come out next year so I'm looking for a mid-range card that will run current games at 1280/1024 with all the settings on max until I get the dual cards. I've seen these two cards on here at about the same price but which one should I go for?

 

[Darkwave]

The X1800XT and X1900GT are very close in terms of performance, the X1900GT is generally slower but pulls ahead in shader-intensive games like Oblivion. The performance difference is pretty minimal though, a couple of frames at best, so I would say the only question is which cooling solution you would prefer.

Naturally, the HIS IceQ 3 cooler is better at cooling and is a lot quieter than the stock cooler that comes with standard X1800 and X1900 cards. It also exhausts heat like its stock counterpart so that you don't have to worry about ambient temperature.

 

[sti007]

X1900 GT it is then. Thanks for your help mate.

 

[Darkwave]

You're welcome, but also consider the X1900XT 256MB for a little extra if your budget allows it. I have found that the performance gap between the X1800XT I had and X1900XT I have now is a whole lot bigger than I had actually expected.

 

[Killajaz]

Hi,

care to tell us how big the difference was?

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Won't be that big at 1280x1024 though, which the x1800 XT handles easily, mine cuts through everything maxed out at that res, including Oblivion with 2xAA/16xAF+HDR, id only go for the x1900 XT if gaming at higher resolutions than that really, as the higher you go from 1280x1024, the more the gap will widen.

 

[Darkwave]

Won't be that big at 1280x1024 though, which the x1800 XT handles easily, mine cuts through everything maxed out at that res, including Oblivion with 2xAA/16xAF+HDR, id only go for the x1900 XT if gaming at higher resolutions than that really, as the higher you go from 1280x1024, the more the gap will widen.

I'm not sure really, I am playing at 1440x900 and unless my calculator is messed up that's actually roughly the same size in terms of pixels, and the main difference seems to be the ability to stack up on eye-candy (AA/AF, soft shadows etc.) I can play Oblivion with HDR, 6xAA and 16xHQAF and all settings maxed now whereas I had to turn off shadows and drop down to 4xAA and 16xAF before, and the framerate is still higher.

Need to keep in mind though that I have also gone from an Athlon64 3400+ @ 2.7GHz to a Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 3GHz in the same upgrade so that probably makes a huge difference at this resolution in itself, especially in a CPU-limited mess like Oblivion.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Yeah the Conroe probably helps, im only on a stock 3500+, everythings at stock here.

 

[Darkwave]

Yeah the Conroe probably helps, im only on a stock 3500+, everythings at stock here.

Aye, unless I run Xfire or MSN Messenger while playing Oblivion, seems to make it crash like nobody's business. I will make a seperate thread about this in PC Games though as it's way off-topic and nothing to do with the CPU itself so far as I can tell.

But yeah, back to the topic; An X1900XT 512MB like mine might not be worth the extra outlay, but the X1900XT 256MB is quite a lot cheaper and close to the price point of the X1800XT and X1900GT so it might be worth considering. I still say go for the HIS X1900GT IceQ 3 though, in my opinion it's a better buy over the X1800XT purely for the excellent cooler thrown in for free, and it's only a couple of frames different performance-wise so you can't go wrong.

 

[sti007]

Thanks for your help guys, much appreciated. I think I'll go for the HIS ATI Radeon X1900 GT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-057-HT) cos I will be buying two directx 10 cards when available anyway. This card is going into a decent system based around conroe so hopefully should play all the current games with all the eye candy on till then and on the res of 1280/1024 should be ok shouldn't it?

 

[Darkwave]

This card is going into a decent system based around conroe so hopefully should play all the current games with all the eye candy on till then and on the res of 1280/1024 should be ok shouldn't it?

It should be fine.