The Best Gaming Video Cards for the Money: October 2006

[cleeve]

You're a funny guy, Anoobis...

 

[Lyseria]

This was a perfectly timed article for me... Just when my already strained budget was beckoning me to upgrade.

Now here's my problem, what about dual card solutions?

I'm fully aware that involving ATI's dual GPU solution and trying to compare it, using price versus performance as the variables... well, it'll make quite a tough article to write. At least, compared to SLI, in which both cards must be identical.

But combining two 7300s (because you're a cheap bastard and you really, really need to upgrade), just how much more horsepower does it give you than the nearest single card solution at comparable price?

That's pretty much where I'm in the dark. I don't mind buying at a later date yet two more cards (as I can shove the old stuff on a second machine). I just need to compare the price/performance ratio not just on single card solutions, also on the duals. I don't blame the writer for the article (as I said, oh how convenient); I'm aware it's a tall order. But a rewarding one, when executed.

 

[cleeve]

As a rule... Price/performance, a single, more powerful card is better than two cheaper cards.

For example, a single X1900 GT for $200 would be more powerful than two $100 7300 GTs... and a single $350 7900 GTX is more powerful than two $200 7900 GS'.

Multi-GPU solutions rarely make sense unless you can afford two top-tier cards at the time of purchase, for a level of performance that single top-end cards can't provide.
On the downside, SLI/Crossfire has massive power requirements, and generate a great deal of heat... another reason why single card solutions are alot nicer to work with.

 

[krazyIvan]

Buying two cheap cards at the same time for SLI over a slightly more expensive single card that might be a fraction slower doesn’t make any fiscal sense.
Once you’ve purchased the two cards SLI solution you’ve shot your load.
If on the other hand you buy the slightly more expensive single card now you can upgrade later to SLI after prices come down when new cards come out and add an inexpensive 1-2 yrs service life to your rig. The big down fall to the "Buy one now and SLI later" idea is DX10 may add additional features your current card(s) can’t handle.

 

[sojrner]

;-)

You kinda did get me tempted on the X1900XT but 256mb only keeps it well below £200.

Whats the key difference between 256mb - 512mb cards performance wise, and what games are making use of 512mb? Any idea?

EQ2 is my main game right now, so trying to squeeze every frame out of that on AGP.

I know GRAW uses the 512 megs... it wont even allow certain features to be enabled w/o the bigger buffer. (you can do it in the .ini file for a nice dip in performance )

firingsquad did a test on it a few months ago... testing if more mem gave better performance. They showed that GRAW did use ~450 megs, but most others saw smaller benefits w/ it. Too lazy to find it but you should be able to search on their site and get it. Good info.

most games don't use it, but future ones will follow the likes of GRAW...

 

[Sunburn]

ON the downside, SLI/Crossfire has massice power requirements, and generate a great deal of heat... another reason why single card solutions are alot nicer to work with.

QFT. By "heat" we mean "more money," spent on a moboard with the right circulation, expensive case with big fans, liquid cooling for the CPU and GPUs, a PSU that spits out only clean power, UPS to prevent the grid from ruining your rig, and if you get any of that wrong, you have to pay more money to replace the parts that melted/shorted/exploded. Which is why game consoles exist.

 

[kaotao]

8O :roll:

 

[angry_ducky]

Nice article, Cleeve. It's great for those who are too stupid to use the "search" feature, and instaed start stupid threads like, "Is a 7300GS for $375 a good deal?" and the like.

 

[pauldh]

Hey, Good job Cleeve. I imagine alot of people will be relieved to find such help right on Tom's homepage. Maybe we will have a lull in the "what card should I buy" threads.

I'm Kinda surprised though to see almost no mention of the X8xx series apart form 128MB X800's. I realize this was probably written before the latest possibly short-lived X850XT and XTpe AGP deals, but cards like a $125 AGP X800GTO 256MB and $140 AGP X850 pro have been around and consistently in stock for a while and IMO are better cards than the 6600GT for $125 or $130 X1650 pro & 7600GS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102606

And the X800GTO 256MB PCI-e has been under $100 for a while, which I think deserves to make the list instead of the now somewhat rare 128MB versions. I think the faster 256MB versions are typically within $5-10 of the 128MB ones now. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131007



BTW, you may just have to add these in next time as it's good to see the BBA X850XTpe AGP as well as the plain XT are back in stock for $175.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102502

Shoot they have been more available than the Leadtek AGP 7600GT lately. Although it's now back in stock today given 3 great AGP cards to choose from for $175. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122009

Anyway, apart from feeling these good ole X8xx's offer some of the best performance for the money now, I agree with you on all the other choices and think this guide could be very usefull for alot of THG readers.

 

[sojrner]

Not all benchmarks tell the same story. At Firingsquad, the X1900 GT consistantly beat even the overclocked 7900 GS, sometimes by a notable margin:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7900_gs/page5.asp

you know, not sure if most ppl know this (I know you do cleeve... but others like cubanaso) in that firing squad article, and in all of their other recent reviews they have HQ settings on the Nv cards and not the default that so many others test w/. That removes the crappy texture shimmering and makes the quality on-par w/ the ati cards. With that performance hit they perform much lower than what other reviews show. That might help explain why sites like anand and others show the Nv cards better... they are doing less.

 

[pauldh]

True, and it's good to see more apples to apples compared for a change. But you know, Anand's uses default settings and the X1900GT still managed to beat even the OC'ed 7900GS in most games.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2827&p=13

I think everyone but maybe ole Game should be able to see X1900GT>7900GS and X1900XT 256MB > 7950GT.

 

[cleeve]

Good points Paul, good points.

I'lll revisit these when I do the November article.

 

[Multiplectic]

These articles will be released on a monthly basis?
That'll be a lot of work, for sure. 8O

 

[pauldh]

Seriously, you are doing this monthy? That's sweet. What else is on the burner?

 

[prince_vegeta]

The X1900 GT is based on the X1900 XT core, except it is crippled with some pixel shaders disabled and has a lower clockspeed. There are now two versions: the original 575 MHz core/600 MHz memory version, and the new 512 MHz core/6600 MHz memory version. Both perform similarly.

8O
The new version has 6.6Ghz memory! that must be like some new GDDR6 or somethign? hahaha. Just a small typo there. would be great if true. :lol:

 

[r0x0r]

Why does the AGP 7600GS (Page 6) have an SLi connector?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Why does the AGP 7600GS (Page 6) have an SLi connector?

Not enough money left at THG after all the 10th birthday bashes to photochop it out and overlay the universal AGP connector. :twisted:

Stock images are a pain, I doubt Cleeve picked it, probably someone at the head office with beer goggles on. 8)

 

[espergre]

anyone find a lower price than $249 for the x1900xt on newegg? looking to buy soon

 

[Vinny73]

Agree, this was a perfectly timed article for me too ;-)

However, still hasnt tipped the balance for me to do a total rebuild to PCI-E and an X1900XT. The extra effort and cost gets out weighed by the fact the 7800 GS+ will see me through until the 2nd batch/run at least of DX10 cards become available.

And it seems I have a buyer for my more than capable X800 XT PE, which makes the outlay on the 7800 GS+ a little easier to swallow.

 

[pauldh]

Are you talking the 24-pipe Gainward? How much can you find that card for?

 

[pauldh]

Newegg is still the cheapest I have seen for the card. It went up $10 to $249, but has a $15 rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102051

Ewiz is about the same for most people, cheaper for me because of newegg sales tax. Slower service though from my expereinces.
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=AT-19XT256&c=pw

 

[sojrner]

True, and it's good to see more apples to apples compared for a change. But you know, Anand's uses default settings and the X1900GT still managed to beat even the OC'ed 7900GS in most games.

true dat, totally agree. It is nice that it still beat it, but the anand article did not show the sound thrashing that it gave the gs that the firingsquad one did. I figured that w/ the anand articles and others ppl were thinking that they were more or less = and that is not the case.

With the X1900 GT costing only slightly more than a modestly overclocked 7900 GS, the value of these two cards is very close.

I really don't think these are that close at all. 8O The 7900gs is not a bad card, but the 1900gt is just that much better. I think the firingsquad article backs that thought up.

Regardless, I am in agreement w/ ya paul and Cleeve is doing a great job on this info. My whole point was to back him up on the decision for the gt over the gs.

 

[pauldh]

My whole point was to back him up on the decision for the gt over the gs.

LOL, Gotcha. I totally agree and back Cleeve up on that one. X1900GT currently costs the same as the 7900GS and outperforms in almost all games. The OC'ed 7900GS fairs a little better, but also cost another $20 or so more. And anand always seems to have to get a plug in there for NV in my eyes. Not sure where they get their prices from, but they always seem to price ATI cards much higher than the everyday prices I see online...even just checking Newegg.

It's not a bad a idea to mention other cards in case at the time people are reading the article the 7900GS can be found alot cheaper. NV has a nice lineup of cards, just above the 7600GT they all seem IMO overpriced and outclassed for the same or less money. Shoot, a $50 price drop on 7900GS/7900GT/7950GT would put them in a whole different situation in my eyes. And that was my point with X8xx series, as when they are found at good prices they offer such great bang for the buck.

 

[sojrner]

NV has a nice lineup of cards, just above the 7600GT they all seem IMO overpriced and outclassed for the same or less money. Shoot, a $50 price drop on 7900GS/7900GT/7950GT would put them in a whole different situation in my eyes. And that was my point with X8xx series, as when they are found at good prices they offer such great bang for the buck.

agreed. 8)

 

[Anoobis]

I don't understand where everybody keeps seeing the X1900GT and the 7900GS as almost equal. When the X1900GT first came out the Firing squad review didn't look promising for it. However, that's because you could get crazy $200 deals on X1800XTs which beat the X1900GT in most games while the X1900GT was priced initially at $300 making it's price/performance lousy. Performancewise, though, the X1900GT was able to stay close to both the 7900GT and the X1800XT in that review which would make it a threat to the 7900GT if it's price ever came down.

Well, it's price has come down, much lower than the 7900GT's and now it has a very good price/performance ratio but now people see it in the same light as the 7900GS?? It seems like people want to kick the X1900GT in the nutz by classing it with the 7900GS.

Pauldh's right, the only way nVidia is going to compete right now is if they give the 7900GS some cement shoes and drop the prices on the 7900GT because they really aren't competitive at anything above the 7600GT and below the 7900GTX right now.