Video card upgrade worries....

[pc_man_iac]

Hey I was thinking about upgrading my video card, but I was wondering to what avail, b/c as soon as vista comes out i would need to get new cards that are DX10 compatible, so I was wondering what card, I should get in the mean time, I work at Futureshop (Canadian Comissioned Best Buy) and can get a good deal on a 7900gt, plus there is a $60mail in rebate, so it will end up costing me about $340 CAD after the mail in rebate, or we have the X850XT PE on sale for like 250, I currently have a 7600gs, and it just isnt cutting it for me, I dont want to waste money to get another one to sli as this card sucks more than any review I read,so any opinions from ppl about what I should do/reccomendations?

[werty316]

7900GT should be fine and I wouldn't jump the gun for DX10 as soon as its out since there really won't be any DX10 games to use it on so getting a mid/high level DX10 card would be a waste of cash. You could wait a while and see how DX10 turns out or get the 7900GT as you stated.

[Kougar]

Well, as Werty said... at first only Vista would make use of DX10, and it will run decently enough on any DX9 graphics card, especially a high-end card like the 7900GT.

If you cannot live with the performance of the 7600GS then I definitely would recommend avoiding the x850XT PE and buying the 7900GT. You will get much better performance, and the graphics would look better to boot due to the current shader model and such.

[pc_man_iac]

yeah it makes sense, it will also bost price of system that i plan to sell next summerwhen i get a quad core am2 system, sli, with insane hdds, and the whatnot



Thanx for the opinions guys

[pc_man_iac]

I was actually now looking at the x1900gt, as it seems to be about the same as the 7900gt but better in HL2/FEAR/PREY, and it can do HDR/AA at the same time and nvidia cant, what do you guys think of that???

[werty316]

AM2 Quad-Core??? If I am not mistaken there won't be a Quad-Core AM2.
As for the X1900GT it can handle AA and HDR better than the 7900GT at higher resolutions.

[pc_man_iac]

qaud core is set to be out by Q1 of 2007, thats why by summer 2007, I plan on getting a quadcore system

[Kougar]

AMD's quadcore won't be out to about the middle of next year, not quite exactly a full year from now. Intel's own quad-core will be released this fall.

I am not keen on the x1900GT... the x1800XT outperforms it easily and goes for the same price.

[pc_man_iac]

but didnt the x1800xt get rocked by the 7800series cards that nvidia put out?

[werty316]

but didnt the x1800xt get rocked by the 7800series cards that nvidia put out?

The 7800GT yes but not the 7800GTX 512MB.

[Kougar]

I couldn't say offhand how well the x1800XT/x1900GT cards compare to nVidias without wading through reviews... I just remember one review where the x1800XT and x1900GT were paired off, and the x1800XT was winning the majority of benchmarks, sometimes by decent margins.

Infact, I googled up another one: You should decide on the card depending on the games you play. x1900GT vs x1800XT (http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=27). However keep in mind that the 7900GT is ~30 cheaper than both x1800XT and x1900GT.

The question we're asking here of course is how the Radeon X1900 GT stacks up to a similarly priced Radeon X1800 XT 512MB. The answer on this count is a mixed bag - While the Radeon X1900 GT never lags behind as far as its fill rate and memory bandwidth disadvantage would have you expect, thanks to the sheer pixel processing power on offer in the R580 architecture, it still only rarely manages to carve out a performance advantage dependant largely on the title in question and its rendering characteristics. This is particularly true when anti-aliasing is involved (and to be honest, when isn't it involved these days when gaming using a high-end graphics board?), with the additional memory bandwidth and 512MB of RAM paying dividends on the X1800 XT.

So, at the end of the day, your choice here comes down to several points. First is noise - If you want a quieter cooling solution, the X1900 GT is the obvious winner in this discipline over the irritating fan on the X1800 XT. Of course, you could replace this with an aftermarket cooler, but that's going to empty your wallet yet further. Second is performance as it stands right now - The X1800 XT just about shades it on this count, give or take one or two titles. Point number three is the tricky one however - What will we be saying about these two products in twelve or eighteen months time? ATI have been talking long and loud about how the Radeon X1900 series' configuration is the way of the future, as the need to process math instructions quickly outstrips texture processing concerns. How quickly this will come about I wouldn't want to say, thus this final point is the one that it is impossible to answer - If you're looking to buy a graphics board to last you a couple of years however, it's a point you might want to bear in mind.

To compare the x1900GT to nVidia's 7800/7900 cards, here's another review http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/05/09/connect3d_sapphire_radeon_x1900gt/1.html (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/05/09/connect3d_sapphire_radeon_x1900gt/1.html) The results speak for themselves... The 7900GT with the edge in performance and better price at less noise wins by a hair, but it does depend on the games you play.

[werty316]

Since you are from Canada you can get a BFG 7900GT at NCIX for $270CAD after a rebate and sale price. Futureshop aren't known for fair prices on the video cards they have.

Sale ends on July 25th
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17946&vpn=BFGR79256GTOCE&manufacture=BFG%20Technologies&promoid=1042

[pc_man_iac]

WELL I GOT THE 7900GT, and a syncmaster 204B, couldnt be happier

[Kougar]

WELL I GOT THE 7900GT, and a syncmaster 204B, couldnt be happier

Nice, hope you enjoy it! Lets us know how they work out for ya... :wink:

[tomato]

Nice card! Just make sure to download the BIOS update so that your fan isn't blaring at 100% speed all of the time ;)

[werty316]

Nice card! Just make sure to download the BIOS update so that your fan isn't blaring at 100% speed all of the time ;)

That is really annoying so make sure you do this as the fan sounds like a hair dryer.

[pc_man_iac]

BTW i work at Future shop so the prices are good for an employee, but i got it at canada computers for $309plus tax, than a $50 mail in rebate, THANK GOD THERE IS A BIOS UPDATE, THAT FAN WAS LOUDER THAN THE COMBINED NOISE OF MY 12CASE FANS, 3 HDDS, AND 2 OPTICAL DRIVES!!!!