yet another which card/upgrade thread :D

[KraniX]

i'm currently using a BFG 6800GT OC 256mb on agp (cpu is A64 3500+ gonna get a new m'board with pci-e soon), but i can't decide the best card to go for with my budget.

i've seen the ati x1800 xt 256mb for just under £220 with OCUK and the nvidia 7900gt 256mb for just a few quid more with another supplier, do you guys think it'll be a good move for me to get either one? i've read a couple of reviews that say the ati card has better IQ but i'm not sure if this is for real or just nvidia-bashing by some fanboys.

the ocuk site also has the x1800 but with 512mb for only £30 more than the 256mb version which looks like a pretty good deal.

any help would be appreciated.

 

[ACESHIGH]

ATI X1800XT 256MB if playing at lower resolutions.

If play at 1280x 1024 or higher res then get the X1800XT 512MB.
Also if you like AA/AF.

The 512MB cards will be better for upcoming games too, as more will want the extra ram.

Either will be a great upgrade though.

 

[KraniX]

basically what i was thinking, just like to have some back up before i order,

i think an extra 256mb of ram for £30 is a bargain so i'm gonna go for the x1800 with 512mb plus an asus a8n-e nforce4 m'board. £325 total. could do with some extra ram but i'll get that another time. i have 2 x 512mb at the moment, does dual channel still work properly with 4 x 512mb?

my msi neo2 and 6800gt has served me very well over the last year and a half, i hope that stability will continue with the new build.

 

[KraniX]

erm... i'm a bit confused on this pci-e stuff. i'm sure my psu doesn't have one, will the powercolor card come with some sort of molex to pic-e connector? its a retail box so i'd hope so.

 

[Bookime Wood]

erm... i'm a bit confused on this pci-e stuff. i'm sure my psu doesn't have one, will the powercolor card come with some sort of molex to pic-e connector? its a retail box so i'd hope so.

You can get the molex to pci-express power adapters, have no idea if the powercolour comes with one default

 

[Mikey1280]

AFAIK 4x512mb dimms can can run in dual channel mode however it is unlikely that they will be able to run at 1T, some motherboards may even refuse to boot with 4 dimms.
You can get molex to PCI E connectors here , fifth one down if the powercolor card does not come with one, you should have a look on their website.

 

[KraniX]

i tried looking on the powercolor site but it seems to be down. i've seen a review on bjorn3d and vr-zone and both say that the retail box comes with the 2xmolex to pcie connector. you can see it here...

thx for the ram info though