7900 GS or 1900 XT?

[OVERKILL]

I've been reading so many damn reviews and posts and I've narrowed my search down to these 2 cards.

Would love to hear pros and cons for both.


Thanks guys.

 

[Saku]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=27&threadid=1929031

cliff notes: x1900xt

 

[josh6079]

X1900XT. Even if you are talking about the X1900XT 256 MB, the nod would still be towards ATI. That is unless of course you have other preferences that may rule out an ATI purchase. Strictly speaking from the performances, the X1900 would be better.

 

[OVERKILL]

Is it worth jumping to a 7950 GX2 or is the 1900XT a better deal?

Better deal meaning "price/performance ratio"

 

[josh6079]

The 7900GX2 is one of the worst price/performance ratio products you can get. In some cases the X1900XT can beat it, but it mostly trails with 10-15fps generally and costs ~$200 less. Of course, if you want absolutely the highest frames and don't care as much about price, or features limited to one company or the other, it is the purchase to make.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally posted by: josh6079
The 7900GX2 is one of the worst price/performance ratio products you can get. In some cases the X1900XT can beat it, but it mostly trails with 10-15fps generally and costs ~$200 less. Of course, if you want absolutely the highest frames and don't care as much about price, or features limited to one company or the other, it is the purchase to make.

This is the kind of information Josh that I was looking for. :beer:

I have no problem spending $500 on a video card but will I get $200 more performance as compared to a 1900 XT ($300).

From the sounds of it, the 1900 XT (512mb) is the smarter choice.

Btw, what are your thoughts on cooling this thing?

I've been reading about how hot it gets and was a bit curious.

 

[Ulfhednar]

The X1900XT is arguably the best bang-for-buck graphics card available right now, and as for cooling it the VF900 is the daddy in my experience.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: OVERKILL

Originally posted by: josh6079
The 7900GX2 is one of the worst price/performance ratio products you can get. In some cases the X1900XT can beat it, but it mostly trails with 10-15fps generally and costs ~$200 less. Of course, if you want absolutely the highest frames and don't care as much about price, or features limited to one company or the other, it is the purchase to make.

This is the kind of information Josh that I was looking for. :beer:

I have no problem spending $500 on a video card but will I get $200 more performance as compared to a 1900 XT ($300).

From the sounds of it, the 1900 XT (512mb) is the smarter choice.

Btw, what are your thoughts on cooling this thing?

I've been reading about how hot it gets and was a bit curious.

It is not worth the approximate $200 premium when you take into account the amount of frames it leads the X1900 by. Sure, it can sometimes be ~20 frames faster, but when it is, the X1900 is already doing playable frames. That and if you look at the cost per frame you'll be spending with the GX2, it can be $20 or more for one frame.

As far as cooling goes, the stock cooler is pretty effecient, but also loud. If noise is going to be an issue, there are several third-party coolers that work with less noise. However, it is only loud when running at higher speeds. The fan can adjust as well as even lock into a certain speed if desired. Nevertheless, if it heats up, you're going to hear a hair dryer.

Another thing to consider would be overclocking. If you do plan on doing it, the GX2 doesn't offer as much headroom as the X1900. Third-party coolers for it are scarce if existent at all and the only ones I've seen are for water loops.

I don't mind spending $500 on a video card either and just recently was in the market for another card. My old X1900XTX caught a drop of water from my loop and I was a little careless; I didn't let it evaporate for as long as I should have. I've been limping for a while on an X1900GT and it has done alright, but nothing compared to what I once had. I was thinking about the GX2 or even a 7900GTX, but I decided to just go with the X1900XT since it was so cheap and I already knew how well they performed in all of my games. I've been able to install any game and run it on its highest settings with that card and still get playable frames for about 7 months before I killed it. I didn't want to risk getting a GX2 and have to deal with chipset bios's or SLI profiles/quirks. Plus, I love to overclock and with the X1900 I can do it easier with software voltage settings; Nvidia doesn't have that capability.

So, if you ask me, the X1900 is an all-around great deal minus a few shortcomings. The GX2 is less of an all-around great deal minus a few shortcomings. As far as what specifics you may want that might rule-out one company over the other, that is up to you. (i.e. TrAA/AAA, HDR+AA/just AA or HDR, HQAF/AF, power consumptions, drivers, etc.)

 

[akshayt]

7900GS and 1900XT are not even in the same league. You should compare it with a 1800XL or 1800XT at most.

 

[Cookie Monster]

A 7950GX2 is the fastest single PCI-e slot card.
It has the potential to play every game with 4xTSAA if not 8xS at res of 16x12. The X1950XTX lags behind it as well. Power consumption is slightly lower than a X1900XTX which is quite amazing for such a card.

However the cheapest price of the 7950GX2 is $499 compared to other cards such as teh X1900XT 512 which is around the 300~ mark.
Yes the stock cooling can be quite annoying. Not because of high dbs, but due to the whiney pitch to its small 60mm fan. It does its job but the X1900 series cards are generally hot. With voltage + OC, the card has the potential to become even more hot. Same goes for the 7950GX2 which is also a hot card.

Id say X1900XT 512mb with accelro X2 ftw.

O and the 7900GS is completely out of the league with teh X1900XT unless the 7900GS is volt modded plus OCed into 600~/1800~ range which many are doing on stock volts.

 

[evenmore1]

Out of the two cards you listed, get the X1900XT. There is one on newegg for $240 (in a link in a different thread Saku presented) but is quite loud.

However, if you can max out at $500, get the X1950XTX. They are in stock at Newegg for $460 atm. They are quiet and use GDDR4 memory. And they already come with Crossfire so you get get it if you want.
However it only offers a small improvement in performance over the X1900XTX or even the X1900XT 512MB, so you might as well get the 1900XT with a 3rd Party cooler

 

[imported_Graeme]

On the aftermarket cooling for the X1900XT Tomshardware.com seemed to like these two fairly well -

Evercool Turbo 2
Accelero X2

These are the two that got a 4 out of 5 star rating.

-sidenote on the Accelero X2. Install it (one of the easiest according to Toms) and set the fan to 100% via ATI Tool and just leave it there. Virtually no increase in noise but a nice increase in cooling.

Due to the silence issue I went with the Accelero X2 myself. I also liked the fact it handled cooling the memory as well without using separate heatsinks.


Tomshardware.com review - http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/08/30/...at_pipe_cooler_roundup_2006/index.html

 

[hmorphone]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster

Id say X1900XT 512mb with accelro X2 ftw.

:thumbsup:

 

[Dribble]

7900GS is competing with the X1900GT. I just got a X1900GT (would have been happy with a 7900GS too, but the X1900GT was cheaper). With the next gen cards due out in a few months now didn't seem the time to splash big amounts of money on a video card, so I decided to get one of those and then I'll upgrade when the geforce 8800/radeon R600 come out (should be able to get most of my money back selling the X1900GT on ebay).

 

[OVERKILL]

If I get the 1900 XTX and go crossfire ( 2nd XTX) eventually, is it true that both cards at XT speeds?

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: OVERKILL
If I get the 1900 XTX and go crossfire ( 2nd XTX) eventually, is it true that both cards at XT speeds?

Yes. The X1900 Master cards run at XT speeds out of the box. If you couple that with an X1900XTX, they'll both run at XT speeds.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: OVERKILL
If I get the 1900 XTX and go crossfire ( 2nd XTX) eventually, is it true that both cards at XT speeds?

Yes. The X1900 Master cards run at XT speeds out of the box. If you couple that with an X1900XTX, they'll both run at XT speeds.

damn that sucks.


Thanks guys, I appreciate it

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: OVERKILL
I have no problem spending $500 on a video card but will I get $200 more performance as compared to a 1900 XT ($300).

in a word, no.

Originally posted by: OVERKILL
Btw, what are your thoughts on cooling this thing?

I've been reading about how hot it gets and was a bit curious.

regarding the cooler, it cools decently. not great, but does the job. on stock cooling i have my card overclocked to 700mhz.

my pc sits on top of my desk, about 14" away from me. 90% of the time the cooler of the XT is not noticeable. when i do notice it, it's when it the fan speed kicks up.. don't really hear it at high speed per se, just that the change is speeds (pitch of the sound) is audible. i suppose it will affect some people more than others, but it doesn't really bother me. perhaps i've grown used to it.

at any rate, it hasn't bothered me enough to replace the fan with an aftermarket cooler.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: evenmore1
However, if you can max out at $500, get the X1950XTX. They are in stock at Newegg for $460 atm. They are quiet and use GDDR4 memory. And they already come with Crossfire so you get get it if you want.

I'm sorry but this doesn't make sense. What do you mean by "they already come with Crossfire so you get get it if you want."?

OVERKILL, I have no problem spending $500 on a video card as well, its just that I recently had to decide whether to dump another amount of money in DX9 hardware or wait until the next rumored G80 release of October/Novemberish. DX10 and Vista and DX10 games might be a little further away, but the DX10 hardware that is rumored to play DX9 faster than any of the already existing DX9 hardwares is right around the corner.

However, maybe your spending practices are different than mine and it would be fine with you getting a 7950GX2 and then getting a G80. One thing the GX2 has over the XT is E.......V......G......A. $500 for a GX2 coud potentially be $500 taken off of a G80.

 

[Wreckage]

The 7900GS looks to be the best bang for the buck (going by the title of this thread). However if you don't mind spending the extra money a 1900XT would be the better card.

The 7950GX2 is the fastest card out there, but you do pay a premium for it. (I'm not one to spend that much on a video card).

I would not worry so much about DirectX10. Most games over the next 2 years will be DirectX9. In fact any DirectX10 games released over the next 2 years will probably have a DirectX9 path programmed into them, because it would be stupid to release a game that only works on 1% of the computers out there.

Of course if you can wait, you should wait as there is always either something better coming or a price drop just around the corner. Otherwise buy now and enjoy now.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: akshayt
7900GS and 1900XT are not even in the same league. You should compare it with a 1800XL or 1800XT at most.

i agree with akshyt ...thats a shocker
ah. its raining outside. no wonder.

 

[aka1nas]

I thought that was only with SLI and that Crossfire can clock the cards independently.

 

[evenmore1]

Originally posted by: josh6079

Originally posted by: evenmore1
However, if you can max out at $500, get the X1950XTX. They are in stock at Newegg for $460 atm. They are quiet and use GDDR4 memory. And they already come with Crossfire so you get get it if you want.

I'm sorry but this doesn't make sense. What do you mean by "they already come with Crossfire so you get get it if you want."?

OVERKILL, I have no problem spending $500 on a video card as well, its just that I recently had to decide whether to dump another amount of money in DX9 hardware or wait until the next rumored G80 release of October/Novemberish. DX10 and Vista and DX10 games might be a little further away, but the DX10 hardware that is rumored to play DX9 faster than any of the already existing DX9 hardwares is right around the corner.

However, maybe your spending practices are different than mine and it would be fine with you getting a 7950GX2 and then getting a G80. One thing the GX2 has over the XT is E.......V......G......A. $500 for a GX2 coud potentially be $500 taken off of a G80.

Sorry, I meant that the X1950XTX is already CF so he can get CF if he really wants. With the X1900XT however, he needs a specific CF card in addition to a regular X1900XT to run CF.

 

[josh6079]

The X1950XTX has a mastercard just like all of the other X1900 series. It's not

that the X1950XTX is already CF

the maser and slave cards still exist.

 

[aka1nas]

The only difference with x1950XTX is that the mastercard is the same price as the regular version. You still have to buy a mastercard.