2900 Pro 512 or 8800GTS 320 for Oblivion AA + HDR?

[sam1]

I plan to upgrade my video card to play oblivion at 1280 x 1024 everything maxed except for shelf shadow HDR + AA too. I'm not sure whether the "chuck patch" still works for HD 2000 cards. Can anyone confirm this? However I searched google and found some claims that 8800GTS or GTX can run Oblivion with HDR + AA at once, but there is no clear explaination on what is needed and what to do to make Oblivion run with HDR + AA. Does anyone know anything about this?

I don't live in US so I can't use newegg as a reference for price and performance. Currently 2900 Pro is $269.99 here and 8800GTS is also $269.99

Sapphire Radeon HD2900 Pro 600MHZ 512MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDCP VIVO Video Card:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26408&vpn=100212&manufacture=SAPPHIRE

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS 500MHZ 320MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=22688&vpn=320-P2-N811-AR&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1016

The price of 2900 Pro may shift up or the card may be simply gone because of scarce supply in Canada. If I buy Pro instead of GTS I'm going to flash 2900 Pro's BIOS to XT and run it at the stock speed of that of XT and use stock cooler.

Now, I wanna know how well these cards run in Oblivion, and which card should I go for, or any alternatives. I'm looking for 25+ FPS in forest areas, and using HDR + AA at the same time. I use Win Xp Pro Sp2 and have intention to use Vista. Also, do I need a new power supply for either 8800GTS 320 or 2900 Pro? Can my case fit either cards? Your help is appreciated.

Specs:
E6300 B2 @ 400x7 1.2875v
OCZ Gold XTC @400 5-5-5-12 2T 2.0v
X800 XL 256MB @ stock 398/986
OCZ ModStream 450W +3.3V(28A), +5V(45A), +12V(26A)
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 v1.0 BIOS F6
Seagate B. 7200.10 250GB
Coolermaster Centurion 5
Thermaltake Big Typhoon
AS 5

 

[pauldh]

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/powercolor_amd_radeon_hd_2900_pro_review/page6.asp

At stock speeds the 8800GTS seems a bit ahead. Firingsquad tests the most demanding Foliage area of the game, so it's a good guide to look at as in other areas performance should be higher.

If you don't mind a little more noise, the 8800GT coming out tomorrow should beat both these cards for the same or less money. Stinks it looks to be a hot, loud, single slot card, but it's performance per buck is yummy.