X1800XT - how hot and hungry?

[mattdp]

I keep reading the X1800XT cards run hotter and need more power than 7900GT cards. Will this lot keep an X1800 running satisfactorily?

Aluminium midi tower w 3x8cm fans
580w Hiper PSU
Athlon X2 4200
Gigabyte K8NF-9 nForce4
250GB SATA HDD
2GB 6-Layer V-Data PC3200 DDR RAM
CD/DVD multi-format rewriter
Card Reader

 

[cleeve]

Jesus christ, yes. It's not so bad that a 500+ watt PSU anfd a couple of case fans can't handle it easily.

 

[bluntside]

Cleeve's being an ass. Dont pay attention 2 him. Yes the x1800xt needs more power hence run hotter. but the onboard Gpu cooler will do the trick for cooling. My bro's got a Evga 7900gt SUPER CLOCKED and it rund silent , cool, and doent need that much power. The 7900gt easily outperformes the x1800xt, so my bet would to be, get a 7900gt, oc it and you'll have some insane performance. Think logically, runs faster than the x1800xt, runs quieter, consumes less power, performs better.
Go w/ the 7900gt.
The x1800xt is a great card too! It all depends on what games you will be playing, Like oblivion, the x1800xt is the way to go. On others the 7900gt. The x1800xt has a much better image quality for movies and games. The 7900gt has lots of room for Oc'ing. They are both great cards, depends on what you want, so in the end it you call :twisted:
-Good Luck-

 

[raven_87]

I dont think Cleeve was being an ass.
Anywho, you kinda killed your own arguement when you said the X1800XT is superior for shader heavy games (much like Oblivion) and better IQ.
If your into a gaming machine and looking for the goods, then a few watts and
a couple degress C doesnt mean much at all.

I own an X1800XT, I might not have updated my sig lately, but I can tell
you from experience (and on the stock cooling solution none the less)
it is no slouch in overclocking.... :twisted: '

7900GT: Look it up in power consumption, the difference between it and the X1800XT isnt much.

 

[bluntside]

Agreed, on Ravens post :twisted:

 

[mattdp]

The 7900gt easily outperformes the x1800xt

Does it? Not what I'd heard...

The x1800xt has a much better image quality for movies and games. The 7900gt has lots of room for Oc'ing. They are both great cards, depends on what you want, so in the end it you call

I'm leaning heavily toward the X1800 XT at the moment for three reasons:

1) Bigger box of tricks in terms of visual effects - AA and HDR at the same time for example. I like to think my games are looking the best they can, even if the framerate isn't blistering

2) I've heard the X1800 gives better video encoding performance. I'm planning on doing quite a bit of video editing in the near future, so that's a big plus. Mind I can't seem to confirm this anywhere except the sticky on this forum

3) At the moment I can get an X1800 quite a bit cheaper than a 7900GT. A good £40 cheaper in fact. The X1800 I'm looking at is only £50 more than a 7600GT.

 

[cleeve]

Cleeve's being an ass. Dont pay attention 2 him.

wtf? I'm being an ass because I said an X1800 XT is easily handled with a 500 w PSU and a couple of case fans? Hell, a 450w generic PSU and a single case fan will work with an X1800 XT.

Alright smart guy. You show us all exactly why a 500w PSU and a couple of case fans aren't enough for an X1800 XT.

If you don't have a good answer, I guess it's you who are the jackass. :lol: