9800Pro or X800Pro for 300W PSU?

[baldurga]

Hi to everybody,

I am thinking to buy a new graphic card, but I don't want to change my current setup: 300W generic psu :frown: , 2500+ mobile, 512 RAM, Samsung 160Gb 7200, CD-R, DVD, Terratec 7.1, 2 fans, GF4 Ti 4200

My idea is to replace GF4 with 9800Pro or X800Pro based on power consumption analysis (so far I read Anandtech and THG). My plan is also the help the PSU taking out the DVD.

Another consideration is that, even X800Pro is much faster (and expensive, but still reasonable from cost/performance ratio), could be overkill to my system. The max I can obtain from my CPU is in the 2Ghz range, because I have a KT266A mobo (anything above 150Mhz sounds no good for the other devices)

What is your vote going for? Any additional consideration?




Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown:

 

[Coyote]

My vote goes for the 9800pro. I think you'll have too much of a cpu bottleneck with the X800pro to make it worth your while now. Hope that's a good psu

Mobile XP 2600+ (11X200)
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
BBA 9800 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win98SE

 

[xeenrecoil]

heya bald;

Man i would be seriously worried about that PSU, most generics only put out a little over half their max wattage continuously, which worries me, i bet its only putting out about 180 watts at 100% duty cycle and there is no way its going to support either card.
I hate to tell you but your going to have to spend $60-US and buy a Fortron Source 400W PSU, which isnt necessarily a bad thing considering you will have a very nice PSU if you buy it.
Thats the deal though, you better plan buying a new PSU even if you dont want to or your gonna regret it, because you will have a graphics card you probably cant even use.

 

[sweatlaserxp]

That's a difficult question because the X800 and 9800 Pro are in two completely different price ranges; in fact, the X800 costs more than twice as much at this time. Since you are uprading from a Ti4200, you won't see any difference really in DX8 games, because both of them perform so well in the older games, but in DX9 games with lots of shaders there will be a big difference. I am always of the opinion that anything over $200-225 for a card is too much because of how quickly the prices drop. Either way, both cards are a good choice, but the X800 is a beast, and it costs bank.

300W from a high-quality PSU like Antec or Fortron is enough for either card, but since you are using a generic PSU, it is no safe bet. You may experience random reboots during gaming, so if you're willing to drop several hundred bucks on a card then spend the extra $50 and get a real power supply.

 

[baldurga]

Thanks XeenRecoil and sweatlaserxp.

It seems that my PSU won't be enough ... :frown: even for the X800Pro ...

I know X800 Pro is much expensive, but I think it offers almost twice the performance, and due to low-K even lower power consumption. That's the reason I have it on my mind.

If I had to add a PSU to my budget, 9800Pro is the way ... hate to buy a PSU that will be unusable with new form format!



Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown:

 

[twofruitz]

new psu's are an ass to put in, but since you've got the money for a high end gfx card, throw in a new one

2.6C @ 3.25G (Zalman 7000AU-ALCU HSF)
ABIT IC7-Max3
2x Kingmax SuperRam 512 DDR433
GeXcube 9800pro @ 450/750
80G Seagate S-ATA150
Antec Super Lanboy w/ 350 Smart Blue PSU