Video Card Selection, Which One?

[Fagaru]

well u may think im a n00b for asking this, but if i get a computer, but im probably just gonna have it for a year, what video card is better... now remeber im only gonna have it for a year, so id assume it should be based on the brute power...but then thats me, here is the line-up (if i have the possibility of getting a higher end card im gonna get the x1800xt)

- x850xt: 16 PixelShaders, 6 VertexShaders, 16 TextureUnits, 16 RasterOpsProcessors, 256-bit memory bus, 520 Mhz core, 540 Mhz DDR(1080 Mhz Effective)

- 7600gt: 12 PixelShaders, 5 VertexShaders, 12 TextureUnits, 8 RasterOpsProcessors, 128-bit memory bus, 560 Mhz core, 700 Mhz DDR (1400 Mhz Effective)

- x1800gto: 12 PixelShaders, 8 VertexShaders, 12 TextureUnits, 12 RasterOpsProcessors, 256-bit memory bus (512-bit internal ring bus), 500 Mhz core, 500 Mhz DDR (1000 Mhz effective)

so those are them... this is worst case scenario and it is if i cant get more money off of the pc i have at this moment.

I am gonna be running at a resolution of about 1152 x 865 or 1024 x 768, so i do not know what card would be better at that resolution, and i also see that the 7600gt is only 128-bit memory bus, while the other two cards are 256-bit memory bus... rember it is only for 1 year


Also, how important are the texture units and pixelpipelines, because the 7600gt and x1800gto only have 12 pixelpipelines and only 12 texture units, im also asking this because i was looking around and the x1800xt has 16 texture units and 16 pixelpipelines, while the 7900gt has 24 texture units and 24 pixelpipelines, well many people say the x1800xt meets the 7900gt (256mb version of teh x1800xt), so if i do have the money to get an x1800xt/7900gt, whatcard will you recommend? i hear the 7900gt is a tad glitchy (factory oc'ed versions) im open ears! THANK YOU VERY MUCH

 

[prozac26]

Of the three mid-range cards, go for the 7600GT. But, if you're into overclocking, then go for the X1800GTO.

Now, you can't just look at pipelines, since ATI has different pipelines, so you can't just compare them by pipelines and "specs"

X1800XT is actually little better than 7900GT at stock. If you have the extra money, go for the X1800XT. It can be found at about/below $250US. 7900GT is also available at that price.

 

[Fagaru]

yeah i know the prices for the x1800xt and 7600gt, i can get a 7900gt for 230 and an x1800xt at 230, thanks for teh advice

 

[cleeve]

Between the three, the X1800 GTO has the most overclocking potential.

At stock speeds they are all great cards though, no losers.

 

[nottheking]

As mentioned, specs are nearly worthless for derriving a precise comparison, even when you ARE factoring in all of the aspects, like you are. They are merely useful for achieving a general idea of how powerful it is; all three, hence, could be considered "equal."

Now, we know that you'll be keeping this card for roughly a year. However, we're not sure exactly what you'll be using on it. You mention resolution, though, which is good; at 1024x768, the low memory bandwidth of the GeForce 7600GT isn't as much of a problem as it is at 1280x1024 and above.

However, in some more intensive games, it will still be a problem; if you plan on playing, say, a lot of Oblivion, I wouldn't get the 7600GT. However, in most cases, it would make the most sense; it might not quite equal the same brute power of the X850XT in many cases, but your demands don't quite mesh as well with what the X850XT provides. (chiefly higher resolutions)

Lastly, there's also the consideration of overclocking; the X850XT is based on the R480 core, which is infamous for its poor ceiling; at best, you could hope for maybe an additional 20MHz for the core, and an additional 80-100MHz for the RAM. Likewise, the 7600GT is pushed close to the end of its envelope, though not as badly. The X1800GTO, on the other hand, sports the least-stressed version of the R520 core. I haven't heard of people "unlocking" it, (producing a full X1800XL) but certainly, when the core was designed to go to 625MHz and beyond, and it ships at 500MHz... I'd expect quite a lot of room with that, even if, in this case, the memory isn't designed to go past 1200MHz.

 

[Fagaru]

yeah sorry for not mentioning my use...i intend to use it to play games such as battlefield 2, battlefield 2142, maybe oblivion, and counter strike

 

[nottheking]

yeah sorry for not mentioning my use...i intend to use it to play games such as battlefield 2, battlefield 2142, maybe oblivion, and counter strike

Counter-Strike, even under the Source engine, is very light on the graphics card. Heck, any of those, even the 7600GT, could probably get a constant 60fps at 1600x1200 in CS:S. (any drops would be due to your CPU, RAM or connection, NOT your video card)

Likewise, Battlefield 2 isn't all that intensive on the GPU; it's like Morrowind or Unreal Tournament 2003 with a couple of shaders thrown in, when it comes to graphics. Likewise, at your resolutions, any of the cards will be excellent. Your real problem here is RAM performance, CPU performance, and connection, in that order. (and the game will NEVER run well with a 16+ player melee going on)

As for Battlefield 2142, that's still in the pipeline, right? I can't quite be certain, but it's not as intensive as some games out there already. (it is, though, much beyond Battlefield 2) Given your resolution, perhaps this is one spot where one would actually have a winner, in the form of the GeForce 7600GT.

However, when it comes to Oblivion, you'll be running into problems, especially with the GeForce 7600GT over the Radeons. In that case, I'd actually heartily recommend the X850XT; the game is exceptionally friendly to R4xx arcitecture. HDR support can be had for SM 2.0 cards through a mod for that game.

 

[Fagaru]

thats pretty good, cleared some issues, im probably gonna get 1-2gb rams with a latency of 2 (for the 1gb) or 3 (if i get 2gb), and as in for the cpu im either getting and amd athlon 3500-3800, conroe E6300, or some x2...it all depends on how much money i get off my pc

 

[pauldh]

They all perform fairly similar depending on the game, so I'd go for the one that is significantly less money than the others. If the prices were $130, $150, $170...I'd buy the $130 one.

 

[badge]

I'm looking at either the x850xt or the x1800xt. Before I buy the x1800gto, I would spend the extra bucks from that card (how much extra is it?)and go ahead and get the x1800xt.

 

[Fagaru]

yeah i was thinking the same thing, what is it...like 40 bucks more and i get an x1800xt...and that thing will spank all the other cards and send them crying to theyre mommies jejeje...im liking it

 

[badge]

yeah i was thinking the same thing, what is it...like 40 bucks more and i get an x1800xt...and that thing will spank all the other cards and send them crying to theyre mommies jejeje...im liking it

xactly. I don't have the stats in front of me, but the jump to x1800xt (40 bucks you say) gives you like a world class 650 mhz core. I don't own any cards that fast and efficient. yet.

 

[Fagaru]

yeah i was thinking the same thing, what is it...like 40 bucks more and i get an x1800xt...and that thing will spank all the other cards and send them crying to theyre mommies jejeje...im liking it

xactly. I don't have the stats in front of me, but the jump to x1800xt (40 bucks you say) gives you like a world class 650 mhz core. I don't own any cards that fast and efficient. yet.

yeah, but then u have an x2 4800 with 2 7800gt's in sli... id prefer ur setup it seems very ... fast

 

[ikaz]

If your really going to get a better video card in 1 year I would say get the cheapest of the three cards. Any of the three should get you gaming for the next year at the 10x7 res with out too much of a problem. It really depends on how much you eye candy do you think you need to be happy with your gaming. However the only thing that maybe a concern is if you currently have or plan to purchase a flat screen monitor. If so then you want to make sure the card you get can run at your native rez and in that case it would be best to spend a little more to make sure you get a better picture.

 

[badge]

yeah i was thinking the same thing, what is it...like 40 bucks more and i get an x1800xt...and that thing will spank all the other cards and send them crying to theyre mommies jejeje...im liking it

xactly. I don't have the stats in front of me, but the jump to x1800xt (40 bucks you say) gives you like a world class 650 mhz core. I don't own any cards that fast and efficient. yet.

yeah, but then u have an x2 4800 with 2 7800gt's in sli... id prefer ur setup it seems very ... fast

I think any of the three cards you mentioned would work great for the next year or so. The PICE cards in the price range give a good bang for the buck these days. Lots of competition there amongst the manufacturers with PCIE cards these days. I just set my son, the gamer, up in SLI. He went from an AGP8 x800GTO 400/980 to 2 PCIE 7600GT's 580/150 in SLI. That meant from Nforce 3 to Nforce 4. And from 1.5 gigs of PC3200 DDR to 2 gigs of PC3200 DDR. Needles to say, the upgrade was a success.

I am leaning towards getting the x850xt for my Pentium D 805 micro build. The 7600GT is a much smaller card and doesn't require an additional power plug. It woud fit in the micro case easily. But, the x850xt is slightly cheaper and is 256 bit. Makes Katie Couric look fuller, more senseous. 8O I can't stand waking up to a scrawny looking, underfit 128 bit Katie. Did I say that right? 8)

 

[Fagaru]

If your really going to get a better video card in 1 year I would say get the cheapest of the three cards. Any of the three should get you gaming for the next year at the 10x7 res with out too much of a problem. It really depends on how much you eye candy do you think you need to be happy with your gaming. However the only thing that maybe a concern is if you currently have or plan to purchase a flat screen monitor. If so then you want to make sure the card you get can run at your native rez and in that case it would be best to spend a little more to make sure you get a better picture.

i have a crt, thats why im running at that resolution, but next pc i get (next septmeber) i am going to invest in a TFT monitor... but by that time i am going to have a lot of money (off the pc im gonna sell by next year, i live in a foreign country where good pc's are rare and where everybody thinks that more hd space the better teh pc, so happent to be that my pc now has 320gb :d), and by next year DX10 will be out with wicked sick cards :d

 

[Fagaru]

yeah i was thinking the same thing, what is it...like 40 bucks more and i get an x1800xt...and that thing will spank all the other cards and send them crying to theyre mommies jejeje...im liking it

xactly. I don't have the stats in front of me, but the jump to x1800xt (40 bucks you say) gives you like a world class 650 mhz core. I don't own any cards that fast and efficient. yet.

yeah, but then u have an x2 4800 with 2 7800gt's in sli... id prefer ur setup it seems very ... fast

I think any of the three cards you mentioned would work great for the next year or so. The PICE cards in the price range give a good bang for the buck these days. Lots of competition there amongst the manufacturers with PCIE cards these days. I just set my son, the gamer, up in SLI. He went from an AGP8 x800GTO 400/980 to 2 PCIE 7600GT's 580/150 in SLI. That meant from Nforce 3 to Nforce 4. And from 1.5 gigs of PC3200 DDR to 2 gigs of PC3200 DDR. Needles to say, the upgrade was a success.

I am leaning towards getting the x850xt for my Pentium D 805 micro build. The 7600GT is a much smaller card and doesn't require an additional power plug. It woud fit in the micro case easily. But, the x850xt is slightly cheaper and is 256 bit. Makes Katie Couric look fuller, more senseous. 8O I can't stand waking up to a scrawny looking, underfit 128 bit Katie. Did I say that right? 8)

true, the x850xt is more eye catchin, and here where i live the bigger the better, im considered a millionare because i have an amd athlon xp 2800, 2 hs with a total of 320gs, 1gb ddr 333, ati 9600xt...and i have the possibilty of getting around 700 bucks off this piece of crap , thats more than what i paid for, so imagine an amd x2, x850xt, 2gb ram, 250gb sata hd will get in one year, i mean WOW! plus when i sell my next pc im gonna sell it with my crt monitor so im gonna be a true millionare, by next year i think i can get around 800-1000 dollars off my next pc :d and if any chilean (i live in chile) looks at an x850xt they are willing to spend a lot more money because its nice n fat and needs such a beefy fan to cool that beast...lol i love this , and whats nice is that they dont get ripped of and im getting a very nice price :lol: ... considering a pc that isnt as good as mine goes for more, but with a tft monitor, but it has a sempron, 512mb ram, 80-120 gb hd...so yeah, we all come out winnin

hmm if i were u i wouldve gone for a 1 big card instead 2 7600gt's...maybe u already knew this (hopefully) but i read that the 7900gt beats two 7600gt's in sli...good luck with u micro pc ...hope it all goes well

 

[badge]

If your really going to get a better video card in 1 year I would say get the cheapest of the three cards. Any of the three should get you gaming for the next year at the 10x7 res with out too much of a problem. It really depends on how much you eye candy do you think you need to be happy with your gaming. However the only thing that maybe a concern is if you currently have or plan to purchase a flat screen monitor. If so then you want to make sure the card you get can run at your native rez and in that case it would be best to spend a little more to make sure you get a better picture.

i have a crt, thats why im running at that resolution, but next pc i get (next septmeber) i am going to invest in a TFT monitor... but by that time i am going to have a lot of money (off the pc im gonna sell by next year, i live in a foreign country where good pc's are rare and where everybody thinks that more hd space the better teh pc, so happent to be that my pc now has 320gb :d), and by next year DX10 will be out with wicked sick cards :d

Yeah, I had a gal who wanted me to upgrade her computer. All she knew was hard dive. If itss bigger its better and go faster. There is no sense in telling her any different. I Let her wear herself out. Then she brought over her notebook. The had like 18 thousand spyware instances on it. There was no hard drive, the whole thing was one big spyware installation. Does weird things, she says. Won't let in. Keepe telling me there is error. I don't do nothing. I reformat the thing and reinstall windows. I show her there is no error anyware of the vicinity of her computer. She looks at it and says, 'it's not connected to the internet?" It was before. I said, "You have to take it home, it can't connect from 50 miles away from your router." She says, "Oh, sometime it connect when I'm in skool." 8O I'm thinkin', damn if I was married to this woman I would have my body creamated so there would be no chance. So, she takes it home and her husband says, "This is not connected to the internet...THROW IT IN THE TRASH!" 8O

 

[Fagaru]

If your really going to get a better video card in 1 year I would say get the cheapest of the three cards. Any of the three should get you gaming for the next year at the 10x7 res with out too much of a problem. It really depends on how much you eye candy do you think you need to be happy with your gaming. However the only thing that maybe a concern is if you currently have or plan to purchase a flat screen monitor. If so then you want to make sure the card you get can run at your native rez and in that case it would be best to spend a little more to make sure you get a better picture.

i have a crt, thats why im running at that resolution, but next pc i get (next septmeber) i am going to invest in a TFT monitor... but by that time i am going to have a lot of money (off the pc im gonna sell by next year, i live in a foreign country where good pc's are rare and where everybody thinks that more hd space the better teh pc, so happent to be that my pc now has 320gb :d), and by next year DX10 will be out with wicked sick cards :d

Yeah, I had a gal who wanted me to upgrade her computer. All she knew was hard dive. If itss bigger its better and go faster. There is no sense in telling her any different. I Let her wear herself out. Then she brought over her notebook. The had like 18 thousand spyware instances on it. There was no hard drive, the whole thing was one big spyware installation. Does weird things, she says. Won't let in. Keepe telling me there is error. I don't do nothing. I reformat the thing and reinstall windows. I show her there is no error anyware of the vicinity of her computer. She looks at it and says, 'it's not connected to the internet?" It was before. I said, "You have to take it home, it can't connect from 50 miles away from your router." She says, "Oh, sometime it connect when I'm in skool." 8O I'm thinkin', damn if I was married to this woman I would have my body creamated so there would be no chance. So, she takes it home and her husband says, "This is not connected to the internet...THROW IT IN THE TRASH!" 8O

lol thats pretty funny... can sound like my mom once in a while, asking the most stupid questions...ahh classic