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2x 7900GT SLI'd vs. 7950GX2
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Track
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Simple.
With 2 PCI-E slot u can add aftermarket coolers and overclock the 7900 GTs way above what they can be overclocked on the GX2.
The GX2 has 1Gb of RAM, but games are only beggining to use more then 256Mb, and thats just with the highest texture quality.
Also, 2 7900 GTs would cost less then a GX2, but then again with the fans, its abt the same price.
Only problem with getting 2 GTs is that u need an SLI motherboard, and if u got a GX2 u could add another later on for Quad-SLI. Course do u really have a 900w PSU, and are u really going to spend 1200$ when DX10 is around the corner?
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Fair point about spending the $1200-ish. The main problem is that my old 7800GT just broke, and now I'm sitting at my old computer feeling very sad about everything (XD) so I'm going over all the possibilities. Ofcourse, I could wait for DX10, but that is not for another couple of months, no?
In any case, I'm hoping for warranty for my 7800gt (i o/ced it at one point, i hope they wont notice), and maybe i'll get a 7900gt as replacement (since the company i bought it from doesnt have any 7800gt's in stock...?)
I could get the 7900GT's with 512MB ram, thus getting the same amount of RAM as the 7950GX2..
And yes, I've got an A8N-SLI Premium, so I'd be able to SLI 'em.
So yea...
In any case, I'm hoping for warranty for my 7800gt (i o/ced it at one point, i hope they wont notice), and maybe i'll get a 7900gt as replacement (since the company i bought it from doesnt have any 7800gt's in stock...?)
I could get the 7900GT's with 512MB ram, thus getting the same amount of RAM as the 7950GX2..
And yes, I've got an A8N-SLI Premium, so I'd be able to SLI 'em.
So yea...
Track
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Well, do u have an SLI motherboard already?
Ill tell u something abt 7950 GX2 in QUAD SLI though, its the biggest mistake to buy 2 of those cards right now for 3 reasons - first off their price will go down significantly when DX10 arrives. Secondly it will probably take all that time for them to actually make a driver that will let u USE them, cause the only game that uses them is F.E.A.R. and no other game can use Quad-SLi but only SLi, so u cant play any games with them. Thirdly, when they do make the drivers that will let u use the power of Quad-Sli, not only will their price be hundreds of dollars lower, but the DX10 will be out.
But ur not thinking of that are u? Just a good point then.
Ill try and make it easier for u:
7900 GTs
Pros
- Room for cooler to make them into 2 7900 GTXs.
- 2 are still cheaper then the GX2 (but not with the coolers) and u may get a discount for buying 2 cards
- You say that u may already get 1 7900 GT.
- You dont really need more then 512Mb, cards with 512Mb have only been out for less then a year.
Cons
- DX10 coming in 3 months or 6 months, and u would have to sell them.
- Dont leave room for Quad-SLi (if DX10 isnt that good, and the 8800 GTX isnt better then 4 GPUs
- In 3 years u may need more then 512Mb of RAM
- You need 2 PCI-E x16 slots and not 1.
- Dont have HDCP support like th 7950 GX2
I think u can get the Pros/Cons of the 7950 GX2 out of there, cause i would just be re-writing a lot. The options are really that far off, the 7950 GX2 is "pretty much" 2 7900 GTs that cant be overclocked very much, but it leaves room for Quad-SLi, but u dont want that. 😀
You could also get the 7950 GT.
But i think that 2 7900 GTs are the better option, because with watercooling they can be overclocked to perform much better then the 7950 GX2. Almost like 1.5x 7950 GX2. And its the same price. The problem is that u may want to sell it when DX10 comes out wich means getting one 7950 GT for now may be better, unles u can sell 2 cards that well.
Ill tell u something abt 7950 GX2 in QUAD SLI though, its the biggest mistake to buy 2 of those cards right now for 3 reasons - first off their price will go down significantly when DX10 arrives. Secondly it will probably take all that time for them to actually make a driver that will let u USE them, cause the only game that uses them is F.E.A.R. and no other game can use Quad-SLi but only SLi, so u cant play any games with them. Thirdly, when they do make the drivers that will let u use the power of Quad-Sli, not only will their price be hundreds of dollars lower, but the DX10 will be out.
But ur not thinking of that are u? Just a good point then.
Ill try and make it easier for u:
7900 GTs
Pros
- Room for cooler to make them into 2 7900 GTXs.
- 2 are still cheaper then the GX2 (but not with the coolers) and u may get a discount for buying 2 cards
- You say that u may already get 1 7900 GT.
- You dont really need more then 512Mb, cards with 512Mb have only been out for less then a year.
Cons
- DX10 coming in 3 months or 6 months, and u would have to sell them.
- Dont leave room for Quad-SLi (if DX10 isnt that good, and the 8800 GTX isnt better then 4 GPUs
- In 3 years u may need more then 512Mb of RAM
- You need 2 PCI-E x16 slots and not 1.
- Dont have HDCP support like th 7950 GX2
I think u can get the Pros/Cons of the 7950 GX2 out of there, cause i would just be re-writing a lot. The options are really that far off, the 7950 GX2 is "pretty much" 2 7900 GTs that cant be overclocked very much, but it leaves room for Quad-SLi, but u dont want that. 😀
You could also get the 7950 GT.
But i think that 2 7900 GTs are the better option, because with watercooling they can be overclocked to perform much better then the 7950 GX2. Almost like 1.5x 7950 GX2. And its the same price. The problem is that u may want to sell it when DX10 comes out wich means getting one 7950 GT for now may be better, unles u can sell 2 cards that well.
- Dec 18, 2005
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Whoa, Track, thanks for the nice 'n' extended reply ;-)
Indeed, this did help a lot. As a matter of fact, I didn't even realize a 7950GT even existed 😛 Although, the best shop I've found here in Switzerland - yep I live in Switzerland - even online shops in my neighbourhood; didn't have any 7950GT's. There's one shop which is the "Point of View GeForce 7950 GT", which they didnt have in stock anymore.
In any case. I guess I'll wait and see if I get my warranty first; and if I do, i'd probably be better off waiting until DX10 comes out.
Thanks a lot!!
Cheers!
Indeed, this did help a lot. As a matter of fact, I didn't even realize a 7950GT even existed 😛 Although, the best shop I've found here in Switzerland - yep I live in Switzerland - even online shops in my neighbourhood; didn't have any 7950GT's. There's one shop which is the "Point of View GeForce 7950 GT", which they didnt have in stock anymore.
In any case. I guess I'll wait and see if I get my warranty first; and if I do, i'd probably be better off waiting until DX10 comes out.
Thanks a lot!!
Cheers!
Track
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Happy to help.
Been to Switzerland 2 months ago, cant wait to return next summer.
What language do u speak? (out of the 3)
The 7950 GTs were released yesterday in the US, they are just overclocked versions of the 7900 GT (overclocked to abt the max they can be if they were on the GX2), wich 512Mb of RAM. They might be better for ur SLi build, wich means that the issue now is only if u can sell them when DX10 comes out.
Well if you have any interst in moving to vista and D10 I would maybe just buy a 7600GT. However if your like me (as far like to use "proven" tech and wait for bugs to be worked out in new OS) and plan to wait about 1 year or so after vista is release to upgrade to the OS and DX10 card then I would go with a 7900GT (only suggesting Nvida because that what you currently have you could go with ATI flavor as well) or even a 7900GS (not sure how they compair to 7900GT) for 200ish (assuming you live in the US).
I really wouldn't go with SLI at this time if your old 7800GT was good to you then just get 7900GT will much better. Also two 7900GT in SLI will be faster than a 7950GX2 because of higher clock speeds on the 7900GT's. Another thing to note is that the 7950Gx2 may have 1gig* of ram but each core can only address 512 each so it like two slow 7900GT's running in SLI the big bonus was that it only requires one PCI-E slot and take up less room than two 7900GT's.
Hmm I wounder if two 7900GS are faster than 7950Gx2, anyways good luck with yoru 7800gt hope its covered.
I really wouldn't go with SLI at this time if your old 7800GT was good to you then just get 7900GT will much better. Also two 7900GT in SLI will be faster than a 7950GX2 because of higher clock speeds on the 7900GT's. Another thing to note is that the 7950Gx2 may have 1gig* of ram but each core can only address 512 each so it like two slow 7900GT's running in SLI the big bonus was that it only requires one PCI-E slot and take up less room than two 7900GT's.
Hmm I wounder if two 7900GS are faster than 7950Gx2, anyways good luck with yoru 7800gt hope its covered.
Track
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No, the 7950 GX2 is abt as good as 2 7900 GTs. And a 7900 GT is a lot better then a 7900 GS because even though they are using the same G71 core (and so can be overclocked similarly), the GS version (like every other GS card ever made by Nvidia) has locked pipelines, so instead of having 24 is has 20, wich hold back a lot of performance. The GS would have to be overclocked abt 100Mhz over the GT so that they would have the same performance, wich is a lot.
- Dec 18, 2005
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True, I didn't even think about the 7600GT if I were to just buy something, and wait for DX10 to come out. Indeed!
That's still supposing that I don't get a replacement.
Switzerland... yea... Actually I can't wait to get the hell out of here 😛 It's a nice place to go to for your vacation, but to live here... ugh.
I'm actually Belgian and moved here a couple of years ago; I speak Flamish (A bit like dutch), French, and I speak English at school...
...And Switzerland's got 4 national languages; French, Italian, German and Rhaeto-Rumantsch; not taken into account that half of switzerland also knows Swiss-German (A horrible dialect, i can tell ya XD)
So yea... I'd like to go to the US, UK or back to Belgium. Enough Switzerland for me ;-)
That's still supposing that I don't get a replacement.
Switzerland... yea... Actually I can't wait to get the hell out of here 😛 It's a nice place to go to for your vacation, but to live here... ugh.
I'm actually Belgian and moved here a couple of years ago; I speak Flamish (A bit like dutch), French, and I speak English at school...
...And Switzerland's got 4 national languages; French, Italian, German and Rhaeto-Rumantsch; not taken into account that half of switzerland also knows Swiss-German (A horrible dialect, i can tell ya XD)
So yea... I'd like to go to the US, UK or back to Belgium. Enough Switzerland for me ;-)
purdueguy
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7900GT is the faster card.
Give me a break. If you are going to claim something, back it up, otherwise quit spreading around falsehoods.
The GX2 smokes the 7900GT in SLI mode damn near all of the time (39/40 benches or 97.5%) in the benchmarks by Anandtech.
GX2 vs 7900GT SLI Benchmarks
Hell, the GX2 even beat the 7900GT SLI by 32% in Quake 4 and 35% in B&W2 at 2048x1536 4xAA.
Prices:
MSI GX2 - $511 after MIR MSI GX2
XFX 2x7900GT - $478 after MIR XFX 7900GT
Track
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7900GT is the faster card.
Give me a break. If you are going to claim something, back it up, otherwise quit spreading around falsehoods.
The GX2 smokes the 7900GT in SLI mode damn near all of the time (39/40 benches or 97.5%) in the benchmarks by Anandtech.
GX2 vs 7900GT SLI Benchmarks
Hell, the GX2 even beat the 7900GT SLI by 32% in Quake 4 and 35% in B&W2 at 2048x1536 4xAA.
Prices:
MSI GX2 - $511 after MIR MSI GX2
XFX 2x7900GT - $478 after MIR XFX 7900GT
Well, i dont know whats worse, not backing up what u say or backing it up when u dont know what ur talking abt.
You should have read what i wrote before u posted.
Obviously, 2 7900 GTs in SLI at STOCK speeds cannot beat a 7950 GX2, but they have an amazing overclocking potential, with aftermarket fans. The 7900 GTs in the benchamarks werent even slightly overclocked, the kind of overclock u can do without even switching fans. Overclocking them like this would have put them in a 3 FPS average LEAD over the 7950 GX2, and if u overclock them furthur up to 750Mhz without watercooling why the 7950 GX2 can only go up so far as 600Mhz, the 7900 GTs in SLi would have crushed it!
- Dec 18, 2005
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purdueguy
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My comment was to ZOldDude and not to you. Before you start flaming, make sure the comments were intended to you and not someone else. Btw, I was writing my post during the time you wrote yours. Too bad I don't have ESP.
Besides, I'd like to see some tests of the OC'd 7900GT in SLI vs the GX2. I highly doubt it will take over the GX2 at 2048x1536 4xAA resolution.
Do YOU know what you are talking about?
Everything I said was based on fact. So far, your's is nothing but speculation. Back it up, flyboy.
On top of that, how many people are going to watercool their video cards. Be a little realistic. Why don't you use a little liquid N2 while you are at it?
Besides, I'd like to see some tests of the OC'd 7900GT in SLI vs the GX2. I highly doubt it will take over the GX2 at 2048x1536 4xAA resolution.
Do YOU know what you are talking about?
Everything I said was based on fact. So far, your's is nothing but speculation. Back it up, flyboy.
On top of that, how many people are going to watercool their video cards. Be a little realistic. Why don't you use a little liquid N2 while you are at it?
- Dec 18, 2005
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As far as I know, nobody flamed; just the tone was a bit different.
In any case, both of you were nice enough to help me ;-) All that matters to me, rly.
Cheers!
In any case, both of you were nice enough to help me ;-) All that matters to me, rly.
Cheers!
IcY18
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7900GT is the faster card.
Give me a break. If you are going to claim something, back it up, otherwise quit spreading around falsehoods.
The GX2 smokes the 7900GT in SLI mode damn near all of the time (39/40 benches or 97.5%) in the benchmarks by Anandtech.
GX2 vs 7900GT SLI Benchmarks
Hell, the GX2 even beat the 7900GT SLI by 32% in Quake 4 and 35% in B&W2 at 2048x1536 4xAA.
Prices:
MSI GX2 - $511 after MIR MSI GX2
XFX 2x7900GT - $478 after MIR XFX 7900GT
Well, i dont know whats worse, not backing up what u say or backing it up when u dont know what ur talking abt.
You should have read what i wrote before u posted.
Obviously, 2 7900 GTs in SLI at STOCK speeds cannot beat a 7950 GX2, but they have an amazing overclocking potential, with aftermarket fans. The 7900 GTs in the benchamarks werent even slightly overclocked, the kind of overclock u can do without even switching fans. Overclocking them like this would have put them in a 3 FPS average LEAD over the 7950 GX2, and if u overclock them furthur up to 750Mhz without watercooling why the 7950 GX2 can only go up so far as 600Mhz, the 7900 GTs in SLi would have crushed it!
Wow, track you have got to figure out what your talking about...
a 7950GX2 will indeed beat two SLi'ed GTs, now you refer to overclocking the 7900GT, but haven't we all heard of the problems of factory oc'ed cards and horror stories about it being DOA and people having to RMA their cards, twice, (granted this isn't everyone but much more than should be)...and why would you spend more money(making it pointless to think you saved money by buying 2 GTs rather than 1 GX2) on two aftermarket fans to void your warranty no less, to get slightly better performance than your 7950GX2 with a warranty...all this making your suggestion to OC absolutely pointless and almost rediculous considering you are looking for a 3fps gain
and once again you need to figure out what your talking about...
The 7900GT is only a few fps better than than the 7900GS, and for about only $200 for a regular GS and a overclocked GS for about $215 you can get very similiar performance for a lower price.
on avg the 7900GT is about 1-4 or so fps better than a oc'ed 7900GS for $215, but to top it off the 7900GS OC'ed beat the 7900GT in HL2 at 1920x1200 resolution actually...and the stock 7900GS even tied the GT...thus making the 7900GS a good deal for $200 giving almost GT performance...so figure out what your talking about...
GeForce 7900 GS
Track
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Just to make it clear, this guy knows NOTHING. 7900 GS has much less overclocking potential because it has less pipelines, and the GT is only 50$ less for what can easily be much higher performance. 4 FPS better, huh? Last time i waste my time replying to ur posts. If u think u know more then i do, u need help.
However he did mention an interesting, yet crude point - the warranty. Depending on what u buy u may have to take into consideration that the 7900 GT's fan replacement will void ur warranty, u can however get a warranty from the store that installed ur fan, if u cannot install it by urself. I do believe it may be possible to install the fan without voiding the warranty, and even if it does a new fan is a MUST for a 7900 GT to unleash it's unbelievable potential.
Wich reminds me, u should get the Arctic Cooling Accelero X1, or the VF900, if u dont buy the GX2.
However he did mention an interesting, yet crude point - the warranty. Depending on what u buy u may have to take into consideration that the 7900 GT's fan replacement will void ur warranty, u can however get a warranty from the store that installed ur fan, if u cannot install it by urself. I do believe it may be possible to install the fan without voiding the warranty, and even if it does a new fan is a MUST for a 7900 GT to unleash it's unbelievable potential.
Wich reminds me, u should get the Arctic Cooling Accelero X1, or the VF900, if u dont buy the GX2.
IcY18
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i would venture to say that over 85% of people that buy graphics cards dont overclock them seriously, a cpu is a different story but graphics come oc'ed from the factory for a reason...thus making your claim that the GT is that much better than the GS because of its overclockability pointless ...we don't want to know how good the GT can be, we want to know how good it is from the factory, oc'ed or not...
yes oc potential is good and should be taken into account for that small enthusiast community that overclocks there gfx's cards but were talking majority here, which i guarentee you this guy doesn't plan on oc'ing his shiny new 7900GT only to risk it fail..
people buy there cards and they want to get what they paid for, which is countless hours of engineering and testing and benchmarking, most people don't buy the cheap card that after hours of your hard work will overclock, people buy the the more expensive card that is already pushing the limits that is backed with a warranty
yes oc potential is good and should be taken into account for that small enthusiast community that overclocks there gfx's cards but were talking majority here, which i guarentee you this guy doesn't plan on oc'ing his shiny new 7900GT only to risk it fail..
people buy there cards and they want to get what they paid for, which is countless hours of engineering and testing and benchmarking, most people don't buy the cheap card that after hours of your hard work will overclock, people buy the the more expensive card that is already pushing the limits that is backed with a warranty
enforcerfx
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The 7950GX2 i believe is the winner between the 2 7900GTs. You should only look into buying a 7950 if your gonna play at higher resolutions than 1600x1200. With Dx10 cards coming out this fall-winter season, and vista's hopefull release at the end of January, theres no point for SLi for either cards. 1 7900GT would do just fine for what you looking for. Anything else is just dumb spending wise to me at least.
Track
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RETARD :roll:
A. That "small" group of ppl who OC are the same that BUY high-end cards! What u think someone who pays 300-600$ for a PC part isnt going to research it to death? That he just goes into a store and buys it? People who buy these things are exactly the smal group who OCs them
B. AGAIN with the GS? Are u trying to sell me one? It would take 100Mhz OC for it to reach a non-OC 7900 GT, so even if u did OC it that much, OCing the GT the same would mean that it would NEVER reach it again. But im not going to explain this to u, because u obviously have no real knowledge of PC hardware.
I know you asked about nvidia cards but have you looked at the x1900xt 256 meg ram card. Newegg is selling the HIS version for under $250 and it will get you over till DX10 and Vista is out and had a chance to work out the bugs. Like the post earlier I figure it will be a year from now before bugs are worked out and the first generation of DX10 cards are replaced by more efficient and redesigned cards. Never buy first generation you always end up kicking yourself in the butt.
To Start......
When you combine two card in sli.the amount of video memory doesnt double as the textures have to be loaded on to each card!!!!!!!!eg when you use 2 7900gts you still only have 256mb of ram in which to put textures into as the textures ar put onto each card.Similarly in the 7950GX2 you only have 512mb of vram in which textures can be placed as once again they have to be put on to each sperate card.
2ndly
Plently of games use over 500mbs of vram on txtures.for instance ultra quality on any game based on the doom3 engine(Quake 4 Doom3 Prey),Obivion and fear also do anlong with plenty of others.
Paddy4
When you combine two card in sli.the amount of video memory doesnt double as the textures have to be loaded on to each card!!!!!!!!eg when you use 2 7900gts you still only have 256mb of ram in which to put textures into as the textures ar put onto each card.Similarly in the 7950GX2 you only have 512mb of vram in which textures can be placed as once again they have to be put on to each sperate card.
2ndly
Plently of games use over 500mbs of vram on txtures.for instance ultra quality on any game based on the doom3 engine(Quake 4 Doom3 Prey),Obivion and fear also do anlong with plenty of others.
Paddy4
ZOldDude
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7900GT is the faster card.
Give me a break. If you are going to claim something, back it up, otherwise quit spreading around falsehoods.
The GX2 smokes the 7900GT in SLI mode damn near all of the time (39/40 benches or 97.5%) in the benchmarks by Anandtech.
GX2 vs 7900GT SLI Benchmarks
Hell, the GX2 even beat the 7900GT SLI by 32% in Quake 4 and 35% in B&W2 at 2048x1536 4xAA.
Prices:
MSI GX2 - $511 after MIR MSI GX2
XFX 2x7900GT - $478 after MIR XFX 7900GT
I said that the 7900GT was the faster card...and that was all I said.
My 7900GT came with both higher clock and memory speeds than the 7950.
What more would you like me to say?
Natecannon
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Alright, I'm not as technical as any of you... but one thing about Tracks earlier post angered me.
WRONG!
Quad SLI works with minimal games out of the box yes... but it does work with Quake 4, Battlefield 2 and F.E.A.R out of the box. Those are pretty significant games... and the support for quad SLI will continue to pour out of the developers labs. Disregarding Quad SLI is stupid... it's not for everyone, that's for sure. But, for enthusiasts it's pretty freaking awesome... especially for those of us who like to play games on XHD
WRONG!
Quad SLI works with minimal games out of the box yes... but it does work with Quake 4, Battlefield 2 and F.E.A.R out of the box. Those are pretty significant games... and the support for quad SLI will continue to pour out of the developers labs. Disregarding Quad SLI is stupid... it's not for everyone, that's for sure. But, for enthusiasts it's pretty freaking awesome... especially for those of us who like to play games on XHD
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