A Tale of Two GTs: Radeon X1900GT

[pschmid]

ATI\'s Radeon X1900GT is a new upper mid-range product that packs a punch.

 

[torque79]

bravo to this article! I hope the benchmarks are added to the interactive chart soon. I have always found it frustrating that the chart does not include "budget" versions such as GT, GTO, etc. One has to make some educated guesses themselves, rather than have true comparisons.

I hope more such articles are written for those of us gamers who are looking for the best performance value for our (limited) budgets. For those of us with girlfriends/wives to live with, we have to consider the almighty dollar more than we'd like to sometimes.

also, it's nice to see that although the ATI cards did overall fare better for a (slightly) lower price, the competition and pricing are such that buying the Nvidia card would not be a total loss. It is good to know the budget line video cards are pricing their cards appropriately.

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

The artical is wrong.

"Nvidia first used this marking in conjunction with its GeForce 6600 GT. It continued to use the GT moniker with subsequent generations (GeForce 6800 GT, 7300 GT, 7600 GT, 7800 GT and 7900 GT)."

The first one was the Nvidia geForce 2 gt and GeForce 2 gts.

 

[sojrner]

also, it's nice to see that although the ATI cards did overall fare better for a (slightly) lower price, the competition and pricing are such that buying the Nvidia card would not be a total loss. It is good to know the budget line video cards are pricing their cards appropriately.

yep, competition is always good for us. Good competition is even better. lol

 

[aramarc]

Sapphire x1800xts are about US $20 less than a x1900gt at certain etailers. I still recommend it plus an Accelero X2 cooler as the best $250 range video card, but have yet to find any articles which compare it directly to a x1900gt. 8O

 

[joex444]

looks like the sapphire is going for $230 at newegg...

 

[Anoobis]

Uh....Home -> Consumer Electronics -> Dell?

Now we're really grasping at straws!

Why no X1800XT in the compared cards?

 

[prolfe]

The artical is wrong.

"Nvidia first used this marking in conjunction with its GeForce 6600 GT. It continued to use the GT moniker with subsequent generations (GeForce 6800 GT, 7300 GT, 7600 GT, 7800 GT and 7900 GT)."

The first one was the Nvidia geForce 2 gt and GeForce 2 gts.

Hi Comptia. I'm not sure the GTS used back in those days had the same meaning. In fact, I'm sure of it. Geforce2GTS meant, "Giga-Texel Shader". If you'll recall, a measurement of performance back then (and maybe now, I'm not sure) was the "textured pixel" or texel. The Geforce2GTS was the first one that could process one billion Texels per second, therefore Giga-Texel Shader. There was no Geforce2 GT, only GTS and MX200. Hope this helps!

 

[torque79]

Uh....Home -> Consumer Electronics -> Dell?

Now we're really grasping at straws!

LOL took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about there (I just linked from the article). I cannot figure out any meaningful pattern to where article discussions are posted.

Is it that difficult to make a new forum called "Article discussions" or the like? then sub-forums for each Tom's site (News, Hardware, Network, etc).

If I am looking through the forums (not direct linking from the article), I find it impossible to predict where the discussion could be posted.

Also, I have seen this question asked more than once, and have not yet seen an answer. Maybe if we ask enough times, someone will answer us?

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

The problem is Tom really doesnt exsist.
There is nobody running this site, it is completly AI driven. They just want you to think a human is in charge! mwhahaaa.


Now, if only the AI had beter judgement on were topics go, unless the point is to consume and confuse us all (aka the pingwen MTG)

 

[4745454b]

I to am upset about that also. Two 1900GTs, check. A 7900GT, check. A 7800GT, check. Then they compare it to a 7600GT instead of a x1800XT??? I'm thinking people have been asked not to compare the x1900GT to the x1800XT. Seeing as the x1900GT is the replacement card, I suspect the x1800xt might be better...

 

[torque79]

well if they add the benchmark results from this article to the VGA charts, we can compare ourselves to the x1800XT.

of course, they may wait so long to do so, you will not be able to find them any longer in stores. I smell conspiracy. On the other hand, I ALWAYS smell conspiracy!

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

you telln me i should get the x1800xt now and not the x1900xt (xtx).


Because maybe I will just buy a matrox 750.... oh what now ???

 

[4745454b]

you telln me i should get the x1800xt now and not the x1900xt (xtx)

No, the question is which is the better card, the x1900GT, or the x1800XT? I, and others, are surprised that this article didn't include an x1800XT. If the x1900GT is the new card to compete against the 7900GT, why not show how it competes against the old card that did? ATI released the x1800XT, Nvidia fired back with the 7900GT, now lets see all three cards so we all know which is best, x1800xt, 7900GT, or 1900GT. To answer your question, the x1900xt(x) is the best card out of all four, no doubt about that...

 

[torque79]

perhaps you missed a part of this article discussing nomenclature? we are suggesting the x1800xt graphics card COULD be equivalent in performance to the x1900GT (notice the GT suffix, indicating the SECOND best performing card in this x19xx product line, behind the obviously superior x1900xt/x).

Most of us would not consider buying a 1900xtx card, just because of the cost. If you can afford it go nuts, it's one of your best possible choices at the moment.

the x1800XT or x1900GT are FAR more affordable (and around the same price), and therefore very interesting to value-conscious consumers.

EDIT: please note this post was in response to Comptia Rep, I was typing while the next post came up.

 

[sojrner]

you telln me i should get the x1800xt now and not the x1900xt (xtx)

No, the question is which is the better card, the x1900GT, or the x1800XT? I, and others, are surprised that this article didn't include an x1800XT. If the x1900XT is the new card to compete against the 7900GT, why not show how it competes against the old card that did? ATI released the x1800XT, Nvidia fired back with the 7900GT, now lets see all three cards so we all know which is best, x1800xt, 7900GT, or 1900GT. To answer your question, the x1900xt(x) is the best card out of all four, no doubt about that...

I think you mean 1900GT there yes?

 

[4745454b]

OOPS....
Thanks for the heads up, we really don't need to be confusing anyone here... My posts has been corrected, thanks again. (for anyone still confused, I did mean the x1900GT there.)

 

[Aurimas]

How come I have "Club 3D ATI X800GT 256MB 256bit" if ATI has never released GT card before? 8O

However, ATI has never used the same naming scheme Nvidia has used until now

All the benchmark programs report, that I have X800GT! including all versions of 3dMark, Everest and other 8O

 

[raven3x7]

hmm... no OpenGl tests! Why? We all know that the 7900GT would have destroyed the X1900GT but is Quake4 still playable at max quality on the X1900GT? I think this is rather important to potential buyers. I know it is for me. Also testing it against the x1800xt should also have been done to see how they compare.
p.s. someone needs to move this topic

 

[yyrkoon]

Im curious to see benchmarks for the 512MB Saphire x1800GTO2, newegg lists it for $239, looks like an interresting card, and is SUPPOSEDLY flashable to a x1800xtpe

 

[sojrner]

x1800xtpe

:?:

 

[yyrkoon]

x1800xtpe

:?:

Something one of the reviewers on newegg said about the card, I'm personally not into ATI cards, but would be interrested in its benchmarks all the same.

 

[sojrner]

x1800xtpe

:?:

Something one of the reviewers on newegg said about the card, I'm personally not into ATI cards, but would be interrested in its benchmarks all the same.

my question was about the "pe" moniker... there was an x1800xt, but the pe (platinum edition) was in the X series. (x850xtpe) it was dropped in the x1k series.

1800xt was the top for the 1800s... and I would bet that a 512 meg 1800gto2 would get stomped by an 1800xt 256 meg easily, and right now anoobis picked one of those up for $200 even. so why risk the fact that it may not flash up and just get the real McCoy for less $?

 

[yyrkoon]

x1800xtpe

:?:

Something one of the reviewers on newegg said about the card, I'm personally not into ATI cards, but would be interrested in its benchmarks all the same.

my question was about the "pe" moniker... there was an x1800xt, but the pe (platinum edition) was in the X series. (x850xtpe) it was dropped in the x1k series.

1800xt was the top for the 1800s... and I would bet that a 512 meg 1800gto2 would get stomped by an 1800xt 256 meg easily, and right now anoobis picked one of those up for $200 even. so why risk the fact that it may not flash up and just get the real McCoy for less $?

Because the 512MB x1800XT is actually $50 more, and Im willing to bet the GTO2 runs cooler. the XT's core and memory are clocked higher however.

Also, I dont even know if it can be flashed sucsessfully, was a comment by one of neweggs reviewers as I've already said, and wouldnt even be an issue for me personally, I'd leave the card stock. 4 of the main reasons WHY I like the card:

1) 256 bit memory controller
2) rear exaust
3) 512MB memory (very important in some situations, adding third party texture packs into Oblivion for instance)
4)uses GDDR3 memory

I'm pretty much an nVidia guy, however, if I had the extra cash, I would have bought this instead of my current 7600GT(which I've had for 3 days, and am completely happy with it). My eVGA 7600GT KO runs Oblivion very well, but I bet this card would perform better, although, I dont think looks wise, It could get much better, as this 7600GT, looks much much better compared to the 6600GT I had in my older system. *shrug*

 

[sojrner]

well, that card could certainly perform better then a 7600... but that is what it is made to compete w/...

I was comparing the 256 meg 1800xt for the simple reason that it would do better and be cheaper then the gto2. That 512 megs may give you better performance in a game like oblivion but reading the firingsquad review on frame buffer size leads me to believe that unless you get the high-end card then the memory is a wasted expense.... I will try to find that article tonight. I doubt it will give the boost you are really looking for over your 7600 ko though.