1900XT vs 7900GX2

[pointman71]

Hello everyone and cograts to all for making this site as good as it is. I'm a regular reader of AnandTech

My question is simple and I'm sure you'll help me decide for question posted as a topic

Does it worth it moving to 7900GX2 compared to 1900XT? Of course the main reason would be framerate but there're things I'm worried about the 7900GX2 like:
- Noise Level (2 fans)
- Would my Antec 550W be sufficient?
- Heat (tho my case has plenty of fans (7 in total on the case)


I thought I could get an extra 1900XT but I realise that I HAD to get an SLI verion of my card in order to get another 1900 *bummer*

Thanks for your replies

 

[Mavrick007]

I don't think the 7950GX2 will be that much better than your current card.

The only way that you can link up 2 x 1900xt cards is to have a Crossfire board, and you have an Nvidia SLI board so you will not be able to do that unless you bought a different motherboard, which is not suggested that you do.

I would probably try overclocking your 1900xt card and see how it performs. You have a pretty decent machine already.

Welcome to the Anandtech Forums too!!

 

[VERTIGGO]

at the risk of shooting myself in the foot, i'd say the GX2 would be quiter than an X1900. It's quite underclocked, and doesn't have the blower like the Radeons. Your psu sounds like plenty, and it shouldn't be any hotter than a normal SLI setup.

BTW, I love my crossfire when it works correctly, but what's wrong with getting a crossfire version card? They cost the same and work the same as any other card. It's no different than SLI where you have buy two IDENTICAL cards.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: VERTIGGO
at the risk of shooting myself in the foot, i'd say the GX2 would be quiter than an X1900. It's quite underclocked, and doesn't have the blower like the Radeons. Your psu sounds like plenty, and it shouldn't be any hotter than a normal SLI setup.

BTW, I love my crossfire when it works correctly, but what's wrong with getting a crossfire version card? They cost the same and work the same as any other card. It's no different than SLI where you have buy two IDENTICAL cards.

He can't get a crossfire card because he has an Nvidia motherboard.

OP, your PSU should be fine. There are a couple reviews out there for the 7950GX2 that will show you the rest of what you're looking for.

 

[josh6079]

If you have the money to think about the 7950GX2, then why don't you keep your current hardware, get a water cooling set up, and overclock to your hearts content? You save money, run things quieter, have a better cooling solution for future products, and deal with less trouble (the 7950GX2 is really buggy right now) That's what I would do anyway.

 

[TheRyuu]

The 7950GX2 will only shine at 1920x1200 and higher. Pretty much anything below that a X1900XTX should win since the 7950GX2 is downclocked so much.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
The 7950GX2 will only shine at 1920x1200 and higher. Pretty much anything below that a X1900XTX should win since the 7950GX2 is downclocked so much.

i think i would change that to 1600x1200 and higher especially with maxed out settings.

 

[beggerking]

of course 7900GX2 will be faster and probably less heat and noise..But since you already have a pretty good videocard, its hard to justify buying another videocard until G80/R600...

 

[Sunrise089]

With your probable budget, upgrading makes sense since the GX2 will probably be faster, but I wouldn't do it. I'm no authority, but reliability/stability of this new part doesn't seem like its exactly top notch, and since it's so different from all other GPUs and since it's such a low volume part I don't know that fixing its issues will be job number one at nVidia.

 

[hardwareking]

u have a great gfx card already.And the 7950 gx2 software/driver support is not up to par.
In some cases u'll find that two 7900 gtx's in sli is faster than 1 7950 gx2.
I'd suggest u get some better cooling for ur x1900 and oc it(and volt mod it if necessary).
That should get u through games until directx 10 cards come out.

 

[Munky]

Of course 2 7900gtx's in SLI will be faster. The 7950gx2 is more on par with 2 7900gt's, if you check the core and mem clocks. At any rate, I'd wait until the card is released and some official benches are published before buying anything. It may or may not be a good upgrade.

 

[BFG10K]

Agreed, this is all just speculation until the card is actually released and tested.

 

[aatf510]

If you were really looking to go SLI, then I think it would be easier just to get 2 x 7900GTs for under $550. At least they are likely going to be cooler running because they are further apart from each other, and they are going to be much easier to resell.
Who is going to want to buy a pair of stuck together GTs when there are simplier and faster solutions out there.

 

[fierydemise]

I'm going to echo what most have said, wait for benchmarks. We all know the 7950GX2 will be faster but the initial quad SLI reviews weren't pretty whether that is the problem of the 7950GX2 or quad SLI has yet to be seen. The GX2 will probably consume about as much power as your current card so if you're fine now you should still be, in terms of noise I don't know, those fans look small so they'll be spinning really fast (not good for noise) not to mention there are 2 of them, heat should be similar to what you have now.

 

[tallman45]

Originally posted by: toattett
If you were really looking to go SLI, then I think it would be easier just to get 2 x 7900GTs for under $550. At least they are likely going to be cooler running because they are further apart from each other, and they are going to be much easier to resell.
Who is going to want to buy a pair of stuck together GTs when there are simplier and faster solutions out there.

A $550 solution that is really only a 256mb solution. Stay with the single 512mb x1900xt

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: tallman45

Originally posted by: toattett
If you were really looking to go SLI, then I think it would be easier just to get 2 x 7900GTs for under $550. At least they are likely going to be cooler running because they are further apart from each other, and they are going to be much easier to resell.
Who is going to want to buy a pair of stuck together GTs when there are simplier and faster solutions out there.

A $550 solution that is really only a 256mb solution. Stay with the single 512mb x1900xt

7950GX2 use 1gb GDDR3 memory clocked at 1200mhz.
500mhz on Core.

So its pretty much a OCed 7900GT SLi, except is takes up 1 PCI-e slot. (2 Slots in total like a dual slot card)

Theoretically it should be faster than the X1900XT by quite a margin. But then theres the driver issues, etc.

Wait til the real benchs are released.

 

[nitromullet]

The only reason to switch from an X1900XT to a 7950GX2 would be to go quad-SLI. That being said, the preliminary performance numbers for quad-SLI are not very impressive IMO. If I was in your shoes and just had money burning a hole in my pocket that just had to be set free, I'd go for an Asus A8R32-MVP and a CrossFire edition X1900. Honestly though, you should just stick with the rig you have, since it should be able to play anything you throw at it up to 1600x1200 with a decent level of eye candy.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

get a good cross fire ready mobo and a x1900 crossfire card. cost will be around the same but performance will rival quad-sli (atleast untill the bugs are worked out)

 

[Bull Dog]

Is it worth upgrading?

Answer this question. Would you replace your X1900XT with 2x7900GT's (factoy OCed to 500MHz core)?
No? Then don't get the GX2.
Yes? Well its your money.

 

[Kalessian]

Eh, wait for Conroe.

 

[Cooler]

Most of newer games seem to favor crossfire so if you wanted a dual card set up I would have to go with that. I would stick it out with 1900XT untill the 580+ late this summer or R600 next year.

Note: I still play games on my x850xt PE

 

[Captante]

The short answer to the OP's original question is no, its not worth the upgrade.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: VERTIGGO
at the risk of shooting myself in the foot, i'd say the GX2 would be quiter than an X1900. It's quite underclocked, and doesn't have the blower like the Radeons. Your psu sounds like plenty, and it shouldn't be any hotter than a normal SLI setup.

it does have 2 small fans spinning at high rpm to push a lot of air through small heat sinks. i'm guessing it'll be as annoying as anything else. and it won't have the benefit of an easy 3rd party solution, such as the accelero, to quiet it down.


now if only i could kill the power coil whine... goddamn this is annoying.

 

[imported_Crusader]

Do you need the power or speed?

This is a card for a man's man. If you run 16x12 or higher with AA/AF.. its going to be unmatched.

Lower res than that, who cares? Makes no sense in that case to buy a $600 video card.



So to sum up your answer: yes its worth it.
Reasoning? If you dont run 16x12 or higher with AA/AF and you are looking at swapping out for this card, you are a moron.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: Crusader
Do you need the power or speed?

Uh, the OP's got an X1900. He's already got both.

This is a card for a man's man.

Are you saying its for gay guys or something? Cause the way you put that means like a man under the ownership of another man?

If you run 16x12 or higher with AA/AF.. its going to be unmatched.

If they can get the drivers right before DX10 is widely popular. Plus, its not unmatched since it still can't do HQAF and HDR + AA. Its just that it is yet another 7 series GPU that is going for the "greater-than-60" mark, a mark that is easily obtainable with several other (and cheaper) Nvidia hardware.

Lower res than that, who cares? Makes no sense in that case to buy a $600 video card.

Agreed.

So to sum up your answer: yes its worth it.

To the OP: So to sum up your answer: (look at this guys sig--which needs to be updated)

Reasoning?

You don't seem to have any reason as you never point out the flaws in the things you recommend.

If you dont run 16x12 or higher with AA/AF and you are looking at swapping out for this card, you are a moron.

Obviously you didn't look at the OP's sig and research what his monitor can put out. 1600x1200 is his max resolution.

OP, most everyone here (besides a very, very big Nvidia fan) has suggested to either stick with what you have and wait for DX10 cards, or invest into some good overclocking capabilites. Honestly, I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'm going for a water cooling setup to overclock my X1900XTX like crazy, then wait until DX10. That way, I ride out my current setup very nicely while preparing for DX10. Once it hits, you can then buy a better card than both another X1900 or a 7900GX2 and still have a great cooling solution to go with your new card(s).

But, if you have a hole in your pocket, then go for it if you really want to.