7950 GTX or 7900 GTX,and what manufacturer should I go with?

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klillas

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Cheers,
I know the dx10 revolution is right around the corner, but hey, I'm a slow moving kinda guy. I'm building a brand new righ with E6600 as heart in a month or so, and now I'm trying to decide what 3d card I should get..
I guess the 7950 GTX is overkill, so I'm somewhat decided on the 7900 GTX, but I still have no idea of what brand I should get, could you guys help me out a little here? 😳
 
What resolution are you going to be using? That will make the biggest difference.

If your resolution is below 1600 x 1200, get a 256MB card. You won't notice the difference. As a reference, I have a 1680 x 1050 display on a 256MB card, and I play FEAR at native resolution at max quality - even softshadows.

1600 x 1200 or higher, you'd be better off getting a 512MB card or 2 x 256MB cards in SLI. There, the extra texture memory and performance will help a lot. A 7900GTX would be great for that.

I wouldn't recommend a 7950 unless you're going to game at 1920 x 1280 or some crazy resolution like that.

I recommend eVGA because of their warranty - they let you overclock the card or change the stock cooler by yourself without voiding the warranty. Unless the card has physical damage on it (if you chip the core or break a piece of the PCB, for example), they'll take it back and give you a new one, I believe.

This is a good 7900GT. Out of stock now, but that will change.

For the 7900GTX, get this one.
 
Thanks for the help!
I'm primarily considering how long I would be able to play games at high settings with 256MB vs. 512MB. If possible, I will be playing 1600x1200 on my 19" CRT monitor (woooh, lots more pixels to shoot at) 8)
I'm also thinking of how long my new card will be able to hold up against DX10 and VISTA, as I will probably be using XP for quite some time after VISTA release (any1 remember exactly how many bugs XP had the first months?)
I figure lots of people will not upgrade to VISTA and DX10 right away, so I hope games will continue to support XP for quite some time after release.
So, based on what you guys are telling me, I'm probably going for the 7900 GTX, as I will be playing at pritty high resolutions. Alternative would be the 7950 GTX, but that's almost a little overkill me thinks 8O
 
BFG make a very good 7900GTX. It comes pre-overclocked. Standard GTX processors run at 560MHZ, this one runs at 670MHz and I'm sure you could probably push it that little bit further should you so desire.

EVGA make a 7900GT card which runs at 650MHz and has 512Mb of RAM. I think that within the next year or 2 we'll see a big decline in the number of cards offered with 256Mb onboard. Don't forget that the first 3dFX voodoo cards had 4Mb on them. Whilst 4Mb may have been the infancy of 3D cards it's been a good while since 128Mb cards were mainstream and I'm sure we're all aware of the way the gaming industry likes to forever outdate itself.

If you're not going to wait for DirectX 10, get a GOOD DirectX 9 card and it'll still hold its own for a good while. You may need to start turning settings down a little way down the road, but in theory the quality of pictures you'll be getting will be the same as you'll be limiting yourself to the future's lower texture sizes, which are today's good ones.

Go for a 512Mb card, go for something pre-overclocked and buy a good brand from somewhere reputable. Don't be conned by offers of rebates, they're just distractions which, if you follow them, will lead you to inferior products which only sell because they're loss-leaders.
 
Yeah, I was beginning to look at the OC'ed ones, BFG seems to be a bit hard to get over here, but a possible alternative could be: PNY Verto GeForce 7900 GTX
It runs at 675MHZ core clock, so I guess it's about the same.
That one is becoming a pritty strong candidate for me, if you guys don't have anything bad to say about PNY that is :lol:
 
Cheers,
I know the dx10 revolution is right around the corner, but hey, I'm a slow moving kinda guy. I'm building a brand new righ with E6600 as heart in a month or so, and now I'm trying to decide what 3d card I should get..
I guess the 7950 GTX is overkill, so I'm somewhat decided on the 7900 GTX, but I still have no idea of what brand I should get, could you guys help me out a little here? 😳
Click to expand...

You might want to price out the 1800XTs and 1900XTs and compare benchmarks too. Best gaming cards per buck IMO.
 
I would personally advise against the route of going for any 7900GT cards in this particular case. Here are my reasons:

1) A 7900GTX will cope very well with any games you'll want to play right now and for a good few months.

2) Once you've got 2 7900GTs running in SLi, you have no spare PCIe slot for upgrading.

3) A 7950 card will be just a little less powerful than 7900GTs in SLi and will still leave a spare PCIe slot for another 7950, should you ever require BEASTLY performace. Quad SLi drivers are in beta form right now, by the time you'll want Quad SLi power the drivers will be much more refined.

4) A 7900GT running at GTX speeds is going to be maxed out already and won't allow you much room for overclocking. It will sell at the same price as a GTX, but the GTX will be better and will let you push it further.

That PNY card sounds just about fine to me. Check out similar cards by Gainward or EVGA, see what the best price you can get is. Don't forget that SLi can be done between differently branded cards but if you do intend to SLi at a later point then the faster card will be crippled by the slower one. Bear this in mind if and when you decide to go for another card later on.
 
Well i recommend either 2-7900gtx in sli mode or one 7950gtx.either way you are looking at awesome graphics performance,and i also recommend EVGA.But if not able to find one from the them,then i suggest giga-byte as i've had really good support from them and i have not had a problem with any of their cards.Bothe companies have a good reputation.

Dahak


EVGA NFR4-SLI READY MB
ACEPOWER 520WATT PSU
AMD 4400+ DUAL CORE S-939
NVIDIA 7800GT(soon to be 2)
WD 300GB HD 7200 RPM
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR
 
Cheers,
I know the dx10 revolution is right around the corner, but hey, I'm a slow moving kinda guy. I'm building a brand new righ with E6600 as heart in a month or so, and now I'm trying to decide what 3d card I should get..
I guess the 7950 GTX is overkill, so I'm somewhat decided on the 7900 GTX, but I still have no idea of what brand I should get, could you guys help me out a little here? 😳
Click to expand...

You might want to price out the 1800XTs and 1900XTs and compare benchmarks too. Best gaming cards per buck IMO.

Good point. IMO, you should wait for the 256MB X1900XT; it will be faster than the X1800XT and will cost less than $300.
 
Yes, I am attracted to the built in SLI in the 7950. An SLI build with two 7900 is not in my calculations as of now, because of the monumental increase in dough 8O
I also believe I will not in the future build an SLI with 7900, because when one 7900 is not enough, it is time to upgrade to a DX10 card... I think :wink:
So, either the single 7900 for about 480€, or the 7950 for about 590€. I still believe it's a bit overkill to get the 7950 as I will in due time change to a DX10 card. (due time > 12 months)
I'm looking at the 1900XT, but I'm beginning to have my heart set on the 7900 or 7950 :cry:
 
Get the 7900GTX if you can, 512mb of mem makes online gaming somewhat smoother. It has a higher clock for mem and core than the 7900gt and falls inbetween 7950 and 7900 for cost. If you get a newer version it maybe HDCP compliant as well, mine is :)
 
I was thinking of upgrading my graphics card recently and was looking at the same range of cards as you have been. As I mentioned before, I think the 7900GT and 7950 cards are wrong for your current needs.

I also looked at the ATi selection of cards and whilst on paper they sound good, the x1900 cards having so many pipelines and all, but the sad reality is that ATi cards are TECHNICALLY better but in terms of real-world performance, somehow the nVidia cards always come out much more respectably in the whole range of games out there, not just a few. ATi cards will shine through in Half Life games but they're going to show their weaknesses when asked to do anything in OpenGL. Sure, the x1800 and x1900 cards won't be slow, but give it a bit of time and, in my belief, they'll age faster because I think they're developed specifically to certain engines, whereas nVidia cards punch well across the board.
 
Yeah, I think I've made up my mind on the 7900GTX OC'ed card, it will suffice my needs more than well, BF2142 around the corner and everything 8)
 
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