Which one (XFX)?

[_____A-L-E-X_____]

Ive been going over this in my mind several times and looking over different sites for comparison, but here is my question: Which one would be more suitable for my system: the 7900GS 450/1320 (256mb) agp or the 7950gt 550/1300 (512mb) agp? Here is my system config:

Pentium 4 (Northwood - Socket 478) 2.8GHz (FSB = 533MHz L2 Cache = 512k)

Memory = 2GB PC2700

Two Hard Drives (120 GB each - 7200rpm)

450 W Antec Smartpower 2.0 PSU SP-450 (22A on dual 12V rails)

one 80mm Vantec Tornado 5700rpm case fan

Motherboard is the Intel D845GRG Micro ATX

Right now I have a Geforce 6600 GT (128MB) Dual DVI with two LCDs... Viewsonic 20 inch (1600 by 1200) and 19 inch (1280 by 1024) I will be using the 19 inch for my gaming and 3D work.

The reason I cant decide between the two cards is the memory issue. Ive heard that games like Oblivion, GRAW, Quake 4 and Half Life 2 can make use of the 512mb of the 7950GT for high res textures (there are mods like Qarl's for Oblivion that implement this) and there is an "Ultra Quality" mode in some of the games that requires 512MB video memory - even at 1280 by 1024 resolution. Also, there are newer games coming out (Crysis, Bioshock) that might need the extra VRAM in high quality modes.

Ive also noticed that reviews of the 7950GT agp on newegg have gotten better recently (newer version of the card?) so that is another positive in favor of that card.

Here is what's in favor of the 7900GS agp. Using a Pentium 4 2.8GHz with PC2700 memory would I even be able to utilize the high res textures in those games or would my cpu slow me down and bottleneck the 7950GT and would the extra VRAM be wasted? One thing I forgot to mention is that I have an AGP 4x port on my computer-- would that affect high resolution textures if I do go for the 7950GT ? Also, will newer games use up more bandwidth, more than my 4x port can provide, thus wasting the 512MB vram ?

Another thing I havent mentioned yet is that my case runs pretty hot (thats why Im adding a Vantec Tornado case fan - despite the noise, they have a good rep of reducing temps by up to 10C). Even with my 6600GT in there right now, GPU temps are over 60C at idle (!) and during testing (such as 3DMark) theyve gotten up to 100C. I dont notice artifacting even at 100C, so there's at least one positive. I think the 7950GT runs hotter than the 7900GS but Im not sure about this. Hopefully my new case fan will help lower temps somewhat.

Anyway, that's my situation in a nutshell. Which one do you guys think purchase? The 7950GT is 70 dollars more than the 7900GS so it's not much of a difference, but would my system be able to utilize the full capabilities of the 7950GT (i.e.- 512mb VRAM ?) even with a 2.8GHz P4, PC2700 memory and an AGP 4x port?

 

[kpo6969]

You know my recommendation Alex.

 

[lunyone]

You know my recommendation Alex.

Which would be????? Complete upgrade?

 

[teh_boxzor]

haha i think upgrade is right


p4?

7950GT if you can't upgrade.....


i'd wait til november to ugrade

 

[Kamrooz]

yea...a 2.8 northwood?..I have a 3.2 prescott and I know it's time for a complete new rig. Just save up your cash and get a new mobo, cpu, ram, and gfx card. You need a overhaul. But do wait a bit till november or so. G92 should be out...x38...barcelona (hopefully) and penryn near launch...prices should drop on most parts.

 

[lunyone]

Here's a link to a budget PC that I put together at newegg.com.
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=7256488
It's not the best, but for $50 of MIR's, it puts this in the sub $500 category for a complete budget rebuild. Just add existing HD or buy a new one for $50 or so. Which still is a deal for this price range.

 

[_____A-L-E-X_____]

Yup I plan on a FULL system upgrade to Vista SP1 when it comes out and a new mobo, processor, pci-e, the works. I was just wondering whether my aging system can make use of the additional video memory @ 1280 by 1024 for ultra modes and running Qarl's Hi Res Texture Pack 3 which all need 512M vram to run well- or will my cpu and memory lag me too much even with the 7950GT to run them in ultra mode or with the hi res texture pack mods. What concerns me is this Toms article which depicts a system spec'ed like mine, with an x1950pro (512) only pulling out 30fps @ 1280 by 1024 in unmodded Oblivion. With those hi res mods added would it go under 20fps because of the week processor even with 512M of VRAM at 1280 by 1024?

Also, I found this on Tom's

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/...is/page11.html

Where would the 7900GS and 7950GT sit between the 7600GT and the X1950 Pro? Would they be closer to the ATi or the nVidia?

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/...uremark_3dmark

What about in 3DMark06?

The last two links are interesting-- they show possible bottlenecks.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...uremark_3dmark


http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...is/page10.html

haha i think upgrade is right


p4?

7950GT if you can't upgrade.....


i'd wait til november to ugrade

 

[lunyone]

Yup I plan on a FULL system upgrade to Vista SP1 when it comes out and a new mobo, processor, pci-e, the works. I was just wondering whether my aging system can make use of the additional video memory @ 1280 by 1024 for ultra modes and running Qarl's Hi Res Texture Pack 3 which all need 512M vram to run well- or will my cpu and memory lag me too much even with the 7950GT to run them in ultra mode or with the hi res texture pack mods. What concerns me is this Toms article which depicts a system spec'ed like mine, with an x1950pro (512) only pulling out 30fps @ 1280 by 1024 in unmodded Oblivion. With those hi res mods added would it go under 20fps because of the week processor even with 512M of VRAM at 1280 by 1024?

Also, I found this on Tom's

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/...is/page11.html

Where would the 7900GS and 7950GT sit between the 7600GT and the X1950 Pro? Would they be closer to the ATi or the nVidia?

My guess is "yes" it would probably fit between the 7600gt and x1950pro, but would probably be a shade closer to the ATI than the nVidia. Not knowing for sure, but just guessing.

 

[_____A-L-E-X_____]

Would you say the 7900GS and 7950GT would be fairly close to each other @ 1280 by 1024 with that kind of system? (say within 5 fps or so?)

My guess is "yes" it would probably fit between the 7600gt and x1950pro, but would probably be a shade closer to the ATI than the nVidia. Not knowing for sure, but just guessing.

 

[jwolf24601]

7950gt is much more powerful than the 7900gs probably 10fps+

 

[_____A-L-E-X_____]

Thats what I was thinking too-- just wondering how that would translate in a system like mine (P4-2.8GHz) and playing Oblivion at 1280 by 1024 with HDR, where the x1950Pro averages 30 fps and the 7600GT averages 20 fps. Does that mean the 7900GS would be close to the 7600GT in performance and the 7950GT close to the x1950Pro? Or would they both be in between?

7950gt is much more powerful than the 7900gs probably 10fps+