X1950XT vs HD2600

[jay2tall]

I've heard if you "cut the fat" of Vista you can deffinitly get better gaming performance. Obviously XP is a better choice since you can cut the fat even more. But since you said you've removed unneeded items you might be a little better off. Everyone I know who plays games sticks with XP. A few of them loaded Vista for a day at the most and went back to XP.

 

[lakedude]

OK I'm confused. It looks like one of the cards you are looking at is a $300+ 1950pro.

http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Viper-X1950PRO-512MB-Video/dp/B000K8P96C/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-6889432-2172918?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1193062593&sr=1-1

DO NOT GET THAT CARD AT THAT PRICE!!!!!!!!

The XT is a better card and is listed some $60 cheaper!!! Both 1950 cards are power suckers.

If you want a PRO check this card out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161071

It is only about $150 after rebate. NewEgg Rulz!! Ask around, do not buy from Amazon (they are OK for some stuff) buy from NewEgg!

If you don't want to buy a new PSU the 2600 is a nice card. I've got a 1950xt(PCIx16), it is fast but it is also loud and obnoxious. That system started with a 6800, then got a 7800gt, then the 1950xt and now a HD2600XT. The 2600 is not as fast as the 1950xt but the 2600 is small and QUIET. I've got a whole new system with a 8800GTS for gaming so now the HD2600XT system is going to be a theater system.

 

[Warlord88]

@jay2tall: Now I'm definitely going to try the games on XP. Not installing games on Vista will also keep me away from them during project work

@lakedude: I too found X1950XT on Amazon and there also, it appeared cheaper. Basically I was was confused with so many prices and told my cousin to get the cheaper among the two. (He had actually told me not to look at the prices.. but its really hard to do so when I'm not earning myself). He is in google and has some friends in AMD. He said he can get the card for a big discount and told me to give amazon link and that he'll handle the rest
Thanks for the newegg link though. I'll pass over to him just in case.

 

[randomizer]

I was monkeying with my friends Vista laptop last night and it sat idle at 800MB, mine sits at 390MB and thats because the ATI Video drivers take up 100MB themself.

The drivers taking up 100Mb is not a problem with vista, it's a problem with the drivers.

Vista is all warm and fuzzy looking, but is a hog.

Spoken like a true ignorant XP user. When will people learn how vista works (ie. much better than XP at memory management)? Oh, and I hate vista FYI.

 

[Warlord88]

Spoken like a true ignorant XP user. When will people learn how vista works (ie. much better than XP at memory management)? Oh, and I hate vista FYI.

I had too read a report somewhere that Vista does not actually affect gaming performance. Can you elaborate on the memory management thingy? And for what reasons do you hate vista?

 

[jay2tall]

ATI drivers are memory hogs, But they work really well and have alot of features to toy around with.

I personally don't like Vista because with the same hardware and apps it runs slower and hinders performance. I am sure one day I will make the jump but not till my next system. I would really like to see 64 bit come further before I do this because 4+GB of ram would be nice with an OS that requires more memory.

And you are right I am ignorant when it comes to Vista. I just know what I have seen and heard from others. I will let everyone else monkey with it while I sit back and play games on my nice stable XP machine.

 

[kpo6969]

I had too read a report somewhere that Vista does not actually affect gaming performance. Can you elaborate on the memory management thingy? And for what reasons do you hate vista?

No opinion, but here's some info:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/display/graphicsmemory.mspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940105

http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=3060&p=2

 

[lakedude]

lakedude: I too found X1950XT on Amazon and there also, it appeared cheaper. Basically I was was confused with so many prices and told my cousin to get the cheaper among the two. (He had actually told me not to look at the prices.. but its really hard to do so when I'm not earning myself). He is in google and has some friends in AMD. He said he can get the card for a big discount and told me to give amazon link and that he'll handle the rest
Thanks for the newegg link though. I'll pass over to him just in case.

Good luck whatever you decide to do. If you want an idea which cards are better check out Tom's VGA charts:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

Tom's "best card for the money" is another good place to look:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/01/the_best_gaming_graphics_cards_for_the_money/

The problem with the forum is that there are many nVidia or ATI fanboys who refuse to see the benefit of the other brand. Tom's is doing a good job being balanced and offering a pretty fair assessment of what is currently available.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

1950XT is better hands down

 

[randomizer]

I had too read a report somewhere that Vista does not actually affect gaming performance. Can you elaborate on the memory management thingy? And for what reasons do you hate vista?

I was referring to SuperFetch, just google it. I hate vista almost solely because of UAC (fortunately you can disable it) but also because of driver signing problems with vista x64 (the workarounds don't seem to work for me) and some of the new interface stuff.