$700 budget, what video would you get?

[Elfear]

If you get in on a some of Dell's deals you can pick up a 2005fpw for ~$350 and an X1800XT for about the same price. If you really hurry than Dell has an X1900XT for ~$365 which would be killer with that monitor (2005fpw). IMO SLI is wasted on a small 17" monitor.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: Elfear
If you get in on a some of Dell's deals you can pick up a 2005fpw for ~$350 and an X1800XT for about the same price. If you really hurry than Dell has an X1900XT for ~$365 which would be killer with that monitor (2005fpw). IMO SLI is wasted on a small 17" monitor.

Dell has an X1900XT for ~$365

Where?!!!

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
Um that 17 inch CRT has better dot pitch res and response than most flats out there..
CRTs are still superior for gaming weather yall want to see it or not...

why pay so much for a FP...
id rather have the much bigger faster res and response for cheap..

I'll be hanging onto my 19 and 21 ADIs for a long time to come..
1600x1200 is not even a problem for them..

and they are over 5 years old.

only thing that will make me upgrade is Vistas new requirements for HD vid.

CVSin, most 17" CRTs max out at 1280x1024. That is why people are criticizing this guy's decision to get 2 7900GTs (the best solution with a $700 budget). If he had a 21" CRT with a max res of 2048x1536 that would be a different story. It's a BIG pet peeve of mine that people invest $3000 on their PC, and have a sh!tting monitor. The guy SHOULD have bought an Opteron 165 and a X1900XT and he would have had money for one bad ass monitor. It's all about balancing a system out. And a 17" monitor with 2 7900GTs is WAY out of wack.

 

[nitromullet]

It's all about balancing a system out.

:thumbsup:

 

[Topweasel]

Originally posted by: ST

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
LOL dual 7900 GT's for a 17" CRT, that's hilarious! With a 17" CRT you wouldn't need anything more powerful than an X1800XL card. Your best bet is to save some cash and get an X2 4400+ instead and then use the money you save (~$150) + the $700 you got on a decent monitor (e.g. Dell 2005 FPW) that costs around $500 and then spend the leftover $350 on a single card like an X1800XT 512 MB.

X2 4400?! Nah get a x2 3800 Week 060X...OCs to FX speeds pretty readily. But the 2005/7 is a definite. I'd still stick with a 7900GT...volt moded and OC'd, the x1800XT can't touch it, image quality withstanding...

Do you guys ever read the first Post. In the title he says that he is getting this for a 4800+

To OP for that cost the best Performance is going to be 7900GTs SLIed. But to really take in the power of these cards a monitor that can do 1600x1200 Should really be used although you can use some of the SLI only AA settings on games that you have performance to spare at your resolution cap.

Otherwise a 7900GTX or X1900XT would be good choice with each side taking a couple wins he and there for single card performance, The will do better in games that don't really use two cards and also require much less power.

Me I would go with the 7900GTs though.

 

[Alaa]

i think gaming at 1280x1024 with everything maxed is still good..7900GT SLi is a good choice if he likes playing at this res.

 

[Wreckage]

My vote is for a single 7900GT and a Dell 2005FPW 20" widescreen LCD. $300GT + $400LCD = $700.

Then instead of getting a new monitor down the road you can just drop in another 7900.

Or ride it out till summer and get a G80.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Alaa
i think gaming at 1280x1024 with everything maxed is still good..7900GT SLi is a good choice if he likes playing at this res.

It's great actually, but for $700 it's overkill. You can play 1280x1024 maxed out for less. A $450ish X1900XT should cover that just fine. Plus, you get 512MB if RAM which will let you run higher resolution textures than with dual 7900GT's. 1680x1200 (or 1680x1050) is pretty much where you start really seeing the benefit of dual high end cards. Anything lower than that, go with a single IMO.

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
Why get a 7900 GT, hard volt mod it for OC'ing and possibly risk destroying it? It would be far better and logical to get an X1800XT 512 MB card that doesn't require one and if he chooses to OC, he can use it's software voltage controls to do so without running the risk of killing his card through a hardware volt mod. So not only would he have software voltage control over the card he'd also get beter IQ.

We are talking in the context of bang for the buck right (since you mentioned dual core)? AFAIK you can get a BFG OC 7900GT mod it to your heart's content without any warranty concerns. And a volt mod is so miniscule only pushing the core to the same levels as that of a 7900gtx. Anyhow, instead of getting ruffled up because someone suggested a different choice (u sure you're not ATI's AEG again?), if we are talking no mods and in the context of spending only $700, a better alternative would actually be getting dual 7800GTs in SLI (probably around $400 max). This would all be contingent on what games/apps he plays/uses of course.

 

[Jules]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: CVSiN
Um that 17 inch CRT has better dot pitch res and response than most flats out there..
CRTs are still superior for gaming weather yall want to see it or not...

why pay so much for a FP...
id rather have the much bigger faster res and response for cheap..

I'll be hanging onto my 19 and 21 ADIs for a long time to come..
1600x1200 is not even a problem for them..

and they are over 5 years old.

only thing that will make me upgrade is Vistas new requirements for HD vid.

CVSin, most 17" CRTs max out at 1280x1024. That is why people are criticizing this guy's decision to get 2 7900GTs (the best solution with a $700 budget). If he had a 21" CRT with a max res of 2048x1536 that would be a different story. It's a BIG pet peeve of mine that people invest $3000 on their PC, and have a sh!tting monitor. The guy SHOULD have bought an Opteron 165 and a X1900XT and he would have had money for one bad ass monitor. It's all about balancing a system out. And a 17" monitor with 2 7900GTs is WAY out of wack.

Well said.

 

[kylebisme]

A nice refurbished 21"-24" aaperture grill based CRT would be the first thing I'd be after with that setup, and then you'd have about 400$-500$ left for a respectable 7900 or x1900 card.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: ST

We are talking in the context of bang for the buck right (since you mentioned dual core)? AFAIK you can get a BFG OC 7900GT mod it to your heart's content without any warranty concerns. And a volt mod is so miniscule only pushing the core to the same levels as that of a 7900gtx. Anyhow, instead of getting ruffled up because someone suggested a different choice (u sure you're not ATI's AEG again?), if we are talking no mods and in the context of spending only $700, a better alternative would actually be getting dual 7800GTs in SLI (probably around $400 max). This would all be contingent on what games/apps he plays/uses of course.

No offense ST but I agree with Joker. Unless you have some very good soldering skills or you want to do a subpar job with super glue, you'll have to pay someone to do the voltmods and that isn't cheap. The good guys charge $75-100 a card so you're talking an extra $150-200. You might be able to eek out a little more speed than a comparitive X1900 that is limited to software voltmods but the difference is very small. I've seen guys do 790/1800 with only software voltmods.

The main reason I sold my voltmodded 7800GTs was because ATI's cards offered software voltmods that could be scaled up or down at the touch of a button. I was always worried about my GTs because they were running at high volts all the time, even just surfing the net.

Also, your warranty is void on the BFg cards if you modify them or overclock them. Warranty

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Elfear

No offense ST but I agree with Joker. Unless you have some very good soldering skills or you want to do a subpar job with super glue, you'll have to pay someone to do the voltmods and that isn't cheap. The good guys charge $75-100 a card so you're talking an extra $150-200. You might be able to eek out a little more speed than a comparitive X1900 that is limited to software voltmods but the difference is very small. I've seen guys do 790/1800 with only software voltmods.

The main reason I sold my voltmodded 7800GTs was because ATI's cards offered software voltmods that could be scaled up or down at the touch of a button. I was always worried about my GTs because they were running at high volts all the time, even just surfing the net.

Also, your warranty is void on the BFg cards if you modify them or overclock them. Warranty

No offense taken and thanks for the info on BFG warranty, it must of been another vendor then. Anyhow, the volt mods for the 7900gt is very simplistic and just requires the basic knowhow of connecting 2 dots together: http://peecee.dk/uploads/pics/7900gt_vmod1.jpg via conducting paint pen that is easily erasable (times have changed in the modding world!) . This will allow you to get to gtx speeds readily (at gtx volts). I must admit, I'm more of an extreme person with first hand hardware engineering knowledge, and these mods are probably not for the meek. If the choice merely came down to stock options without any mods, I would still suggest a 7800GT/7900GT for the OP, because he is utilizing a NForce 4 mobo and would have an SLI updradability path. If it was on an RD580 based chipset, my suggestion would be the other way around.

 

[Veech]

Originally posted by: WhoBeDaPlaya
No, Ferrari engine with golf-cart wheels 😀
BTW : Shoutout from a fellow Hardware Group member 😉

Hey amigo 😉

*heh* sorry then for the duplicate posts!

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: ST

No offense taken and thanks for the info on BFG warranty, it must of been another vendor then. Anyhow, the volt mods for the 7900gt is very simplistic and just requires the basic knowhow of connecting 2 dots together: http://peecee.dk/uploads/pics/7900gt_vmod1.jpg via conducting paint pen that is easily erasable (times have changed in the modding world!) . This will allow you to get to gtx speeds readily (at gtx volts). I must admit, I'm more of an extreme person with first hand hardware engineering knowledge, and these mods are probably not for the meek. If the choice merely came down to stock options without any mods, I would still suggest a 7800GT/7900GT for the OP, because he is utilizing a NForce 4 mobo and would have an SLI updradability path. If it was on an RD580 based chipset, my suggestion would be the other way around.

I see your point about the pencil trick voltmod. That does work well but it only gives you a small boost in volts (unless it's significantly different than the 7800 series pencil trick). If it's still only a .1V increase than the X1900 will trump it as it can get another .175V to the core and even more to the memory through software voltmods.

The pencil trick is a viable option though and doesn't require any special skills or money outlay.

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Elfear
I see your point about the pencil trick voltmod. That does work well but it only gives you a small boost in volts (unless it's significantly different than the 7800 series pencil trick). If it's still only a .1V increase than the X1900 will trump it as it can get another .175V to the core and even more to the memory through software voltmods.

The pencil trick is a viable option though and doesn't require any special skills or money outlay.

Actually the stock 7900GT voltage (1.2V) can be manipulated from 1.25V-1.7V!! 😵 For me, I just stuck with the 7900GTX volts (1.4V) since many have reported diminishing returns afterwards. I too am awaiting for folks to crack to the 7900 BIOS codes so we can do soft mods, but this will suffice for now. Remember though, we were comparing the 7900GT to the X1800, the X1900 is a whole other beast that ATi has done a wonderful job on!

 

[Veech]

Originally posted by: MyStupidMouth

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: CVSiN
Um that 17 inch CRT has better dot pitch res and response than most flats out there..
CRTs are still superior for gaming weather yall want to see it or not...

why pay so much for a FP...
id rather have the much bigger faster res and response for cheap..

I'll be hanging onto my 19 and 21 ADIs for a long time to come..
1600x1200 is not even a problem for them..

and they are over 5 years old.

only thing that will make me upgrade is Vistas new requirements for HD vid.

CVSin, most 17" CRTs max out at 1280x1024. That is why people are criticizing this guy's decision to get 2 7900GTs (the best solution with a $700 budget). If he had a 21" CRT with a max res of 2048x1536 that would be a different story. It's a BIG pet peeve of mine that people invest $3000 on their PC, and have a sh!tting monitor. The guy SHOULD have bought an Opteron 165 and a X1900XT and he would have had money for one bad ass monitor. It's all about balancing a system out. And a 17" monitor with 2 7900GTs is WAY out of wack.

Well said.

OK OK I get it! hah!! Yeah, I recall this topic from my last try at deciding on a system upgrade about five months ago (then the holidays got in the way), I really like the idea of the dual 7900GTs in sli. So, if I did go with this set-up, what monitor/LCD would yopu folks recommend to take the fullest advantage of this setup? Budget about $600 for a monitor...

 

[Veech]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
My vote is for a single 7900GT and a Dell 2005FPW 20" widescreen LCD. $300GT + $400LCD = $700.

Then instead of getting a new monitor down the road you can just drop in another 7900.

Or ride it out till summer and get a G80.

G80?

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: ST
Actually the stock 7900GT voltage (1.2V) can be manipulated from 1.25V-1.7V!! 😵 For me, I just stuck with the 7900GTX volts (1.4V) since many have reported diminishing returns afterwards. I too am awaiting for folks to crack to the 7900 BIOS codes so we can do soft mods, but this will suffice for now. Remember though, we were comparing the 7900GT to the X1800, the X1900 is a whole other beast that ATi has done a wonderful job on!

Looks like the pencil trick will only increase vgpu to 1.4V (see post #188 here), which is still better than I was originally thinking. 1.7V is possible but only with some variable resistors and a little soldering. It didn't look like the vdimm could be increased like with the X1*** cards, but that isn't as important as the vgpu since the memory does pretty well on stock volts.

Didn't realize you were comparing the 7900GT to the X1800XT. 😱 My statement still stand though about the clock speeds. In general, guys are hitting higher clocks with the X1800 series than the X1900 series. I'll have to do some looking to see how well the 7900GT's are doing.

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Elfear
Looks like the pencil trick will only increase vgpu to 1.4V (see post #188 here), which is still better than I was originally thinking. 1.7V is possible but only with some variable resistors and a little soldering. It didn't look like the vdimm could be increased like with the X1*** cards, but that isn't as important as the vgpu since the memory does pretty well on stock volts.

Didn't realize you were comparing the 7900GT to the X1800XT. 😱 My statement still stand though about the clock speeds. In general, guys are hitting higher clocks with the X1800 series than the X1900 series. I'll have to do some looking to see how well the 7900GT's are doing.

nah, it depends on how much voltage you want to go, see the follow up thread here. There so many options, but for most non XS folks, 1.4 is sufficient. VMem can also be increased via a resistor mod (pencil again). All of this is kinda hokey right now, but what do u expect from a new card. 😉

haven't followed up too much on the x1800 OC to be fair, but if it can OC as much, i might get a RD580 sys to play with as well...

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: ST

Originally posted by: Elfear

No offense ST but I agree with Joker. Unless you have some very good soldering skills or you want to do a subpar job with super glue, you'll have to pay someone to do the voltmods and that isn't cheap. The good guys charge $75-100 a card so you're talking an extra $150-200. You might be able to eek out a little more speed than a comparitive X1900 that is limited to software voltmods but the difference is very small. I've seen guys do 790/1800 with only software voltmods.

The main reason I sold my voltmodded 7800GTs was because ATI's cards offered software voltmods that could be scaled up or down at the touch of a button. I was always worried about my GTs because they were running at high volts all the time, even just surfing the net.

Also, your warranty is void on the BFg cards if you modify them or overclock them. Warranty

No offense taken and thanks for the info on BFG warranty, it must of been another vendor then. Anyhow, the volt mods for the 7900gt is very simplistic and just requires the basic knowhow of connecting 2 dots together: http://peecee.dk/uploads/pics/7900gt_vmod1.jpg via conducting paint pen that is easily erasable (times have changed in the modding world!) . This will allow you to get to gtx speeds readily (at gtx volts). I must admit, I'm more of an extreme person with first hand hardware engineering knowledge, and these mods are probably not for the meek. If the choice merely came down to stock options without any mods, I would still suggest a 7800GT/7900GT for the OP, because he is utilizing a NForce 4 mobo and would have an SLI updradability path. If it was on an RD580 based chipset, my suggestion would be the other way around.

Do you realize how absurd your suggestion is that the OP use a conducting pen to volt mod a card? You're assuming the OP is some hardcore modder when he's given no indication that he is interested in risking burning out his $300+ card on the chance of increasing vcore using a conducting pen. As I said before, the much safer alternative is to get an X1800XT that supports software voltage adjustment (no hardmod risk at all) and he can OC to his hearts content. You advising joe sixpack to hardmod a card for "bang for the buck" has to be one of the dumbest suggestions I've read in a long time, congratulations.

 

[Veech]

yeah, thanks for the ideas but I'm a wuss. I haven't had much luck overclocking and truthfully prefer to not do so. I want a stable system that is as low maintenance as possible. So, everything is stock other than a tweak here and there for efficiency as needed.

Let's say assuming a $1000 - $1100 budget for video card(s) and a monitor, what would you folks recommend? I love the benchmarks of the dual 7900GTs, but apparently availability is an issue? So anyway, given a $400 - $500 budget for a monitor, what would you folks recommend spec-wise that would put the twins to good use? Gaming is the main use here...

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: Veech

Originally posted by: Wreckage
My vote is for a single 7900GT and a Dell 2005FPW 20" widescreen LCD. $300GT + $400LCD = $700.

Then instead of getting a new monitor down the road you can just drop in another 7900.

Or ride it out till summer and get a G80.

G80?

NVIDIA is due to release the first DirectX 10 card this summer (probably late summer). G80 is the internal chip name like the 7900's are G70, G71.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: Veech
yeah, thanks for the ideas but I'm a wuss. I haven't had much luck overclocking and truthfully prefer to not do so. I want a stable system that is as low maintenance as possible. So, everything is stock other than a tweak here and there for efficiency as needed.

Let's say assuming a $1000 - $1100 budget for video card(s) and a monitor, what would you folks recommend? I love the benchmarks of the dual 7900GTs, but apparently availability is an issue? So anyway, given a $400 - $500 budget for a monitor, what would you folks recommend spec-wise that would put the twins to good use? Gaming is the main use here...

If you have $500 for a monitor and $600 for video cards, then I'd suggest you go for dual 7900 GT's since you'd have an SLI board already.