7900GT: First thoughts

[buzzsaw13]

I recently traded my BBA X1900XT for an EVGA 7900GTCO+cash (didn't know it was CO so I was pretty suprised when I opened the box)

I was sick of the loud X1900 fan since temps were so high I had to run it 100 percent at all times. I have to say the first thing I noticed is how much quieter the 7900GT is. Another thing I noticed is the ease of overclocking the 7900GT. I downloaded coolbits, detected optimal frequencies, and called it a day. The detected speeds was 546/848, very nice considering I didn't have to do anything other than point and click.

I did a quick run of 3dmark05 to compare with the X1900XT. Scored 9540, very impressive since these are drivers from Nvidia's site, and the drivers I used for the X1900XT were the Omega Drivers.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the switch. Now I get to sleep at night when I leave the computer on!

I will be pushing the card a little more when I get some time on my hands.

 

[Exsomnis]

So you downgraded your card when you could've simply bought a VF900-Cu for £25? You do know that there was absolutely no need to run it at 100% fan speed, right? Those things can go up to 110ºc without batting an eyelid, and should only ever even get to 75ºc at 45% fanspeed, which on my X1800XT is almost as quiet as my VF900. :roll:

And, no offense, but there are X1800XTs kicking the crap out of that 3D Mark score at stock. I think you better take off those glases, they're turning an odd green tint.

*Golf clap.*

Edit: Re-worded for clarity.

 

[Zenoth]

You could just have tried to find an after market cooling solution instead you know ...

In my book what you've done is useless at best (changing GPU primarly caused by noise from reference cooling). Even if I had the money to buy myself a $4000 system I wouldn't exchange my X1800 XL until I really needed to.

Bah ... it's your money man.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
So you downgraded your card when you could've simply bought a VF900-Cu for £25?

*Golf clap.*

Edit: Also, you do know that there was absolutely no need to run it at 100% fan speed, right? Those things can go up to 110ºc without batting an eyelid, and should only ever even get to 75ºc at 45% fanspeed, which on my X1800XT is almost as quiet as my VF900. :roll:

It wasn't simply because of the noise, I also wanted to play with Nvidia since the last 3 cards I had were from ATI. Ever thought of that?

I've seen reviews of the VF-900, it cools poorly according to those, and I'm not going to waste $50+tax on a cooler that potentially could cool better.

And about the fanspeed, I ran it at 100 percent because the card was dipping into 90C on load. The card WILL NOT HANDLE 110C without artifacting heavily as I had it overclocked.

 

[Exsomnis]

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
It wasn't simply because of the noise, I also wanted to play with Nvidia since the last 3 cards I had were from ATI. Ever thought of that?

Then why not get a 7900GTX, Nvidia going too expensive? You downgraded your card, for no reason at all no less. Like I said, there are X1800XTs kicking the crap out of that, not to mention that no Nvidia card can do HDR+AA in Oblivion or Far Cry, your X1900XT could. :roll: Compared to downgrading your card, spending a mere £25 on aftermarket cooling would've been a serious investment.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
I've seen reviews of the VF-900, it cools poorly according to those, and I'm not going to waste $50+tax on a cooler that potentially could cool better.

I think that we can officially conclude that someone has been slipping cocaine into your coffee. The VF900-Cu and Arctic Accelero X2 are the best coolers on the market (besides that other big, metal thing), they are utterly silent and will cool an X1900 much better than the stock cooler (since fanspeeds above 60% are going to burst your ear-drums.)

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
It wasn't simply because of the noise, I also wanted to play with Nvidia since the last 3 cards I had were from ATI. Ever thought of that?

Then why not get a 7900GTX, Nvidia going too expensive? You downgraded your card, for no reason at all no less. Like I said, there are X1800XTs kicking the crap out of that, not to mention that no Nvidia card can do HDR+AA in Oblivion or Far Cry, your X1900XT could. :roll: Compared to downgrading your card, spending a mere £25 on aftermarket cooling would've been a serious investment.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
I've seen reviews of the VF-900, it cools poorly according to those, and I'm not going to waste $50+tax on a cooler that potentially could cool better.

I think that we can officially conclude that someone has been slipping cocaine into your coffee. The VF900-Cu and Arctic Accelero X2 are the best coolers on the market (besides that other big, metal thing), they are utterly silent and will cool an X1900 much better than the stock cooler (since fanspeeds above 60% are going to burst your ear-drums.)

Honestly, there isn't much going in the way for 7900GTX's in terms of value, when you can volt mod OC a 7900GT. If he's happy with his card, who cares? As for x1800XTs "kicking the crap" out of 7900GT's, read this .

 

[Exsomnis]

Originally posted by: ST
Honestly, there isn't much going in the way for 7900GTX's in terms of value, when you can volt mod OC a 7900GT.

The guy downgraded his card rather than fit a £25 cooler, you really think he is going to risk volt-modding a graphics card? Also, thanks for making a point for me; His 7900GT, even volt-modded, would never have the potential of an X1900XT. If you're overclocking both to the max, apples to apples, the X1900XT is still going to be the best choice, all he needed to do was go aftermarket if he cared so much about noise.

Originally posted by: ST
If he's happy with his card, who cares? As for x1800XTs "kicking the crap" out of 7900GT's, read this .

Where did I say that X1800XT's are kicking the crap out of "7900GTs"? Are you illiterate, or do you just enjoy making baseless straw man fallacies? :roll: Go back and read what I said, I in-fact said that X1800XT's are kicking the crap out of his score at stock. With that result he would've been better off sticking with his X1900XT and spending £25 on the amazing Zalman VF900-Cu, you know, like a person with half a brain.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis

Originally posted by: ST
Honestly, there isn't much going in the way for 7900GTX's in terms of value, when you can volt mod OC a 7900GT.

The guy downgraded his card rather than fit a £25 cooler, you really think he is going to risk volt-modding a graphics card? Also, thanks for making a point for me; His 7900GT, even volt-modded, would never have the potential of an X1900XT. If you're overclocking both to the max, apples to apples, the X1900XT is still going to be the best choice, all he needed to do was go aftermarket if he cared so much about noise.

Originally posted by: ST
If he's happy with his card, who cares? As for x1800XTs "kicking the crap" out of 7900GT's, read this .

Where did I say that X1800XT's are kicking the crap out of "7900GTs"? Are you illiterate, or do you just enjoy making baseless straw man fallacies? :roll: Go back and read what I said, I in-fact said that X1800XT's are kicking the crap out of his score at stock. With that result he would've been better off sticking with his X1900XT and spending £25 on the amazing Zalman VF900-Cu, you know, like a person with half a brain.

Wow you keep talking about spending money, I traded the card for another plus cash, if you were smart enough to grasp that from what I wrote then you'd understand I probably wouldn't be willing to spend an extra $50 for a cooler.

Oh yeah, how are X1800XT's kicking the crap out my score at stock? I had an X1800XT flashed to XTPE overclocked to 750/832 and that only scored me 10,000 on 3dmark so obviously youre talking out of your ass.

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis

Originally posted by: ST
Honestly, there isn't much going in the way for 7900GTX's in terms of value, when you can volt mod OC a 7900GT.

The guy downgraded his card rather than fit a £25 cooler, you really think he is going to risk volt-modding a graphics card?

Originally posted by: ST
If he's happy with his card, who cares? As for x1800XTs "kicking the crap" out of 7900GT's, read this .

Where did I say that X1800XT's are kicking the crap out of "7900GTs"? Are you illiterate, or do you just enjoy making baseless straw man fallacies? :roll: Go back and read what I said, I in-fact said that X1800XT's are kicking the crap out of his score at stock. With that result he would've been better off sticking with his X1900XT and spending £25 on the amazing Zalman VF900-Cu, you know, like a person with half a brain.

wow, the ati generation has degraded quite rapidly...I can see why buzzsaw switched...anyhow, an intelligent person would construed "Like I said, there are X1800XTs kicking the crap out of that" as the x1800xt atronomically, unequivocally outperforming the 7900gt score, unless you were implying something else? :roll But hey, let's see your 3dmark score "at stock" and how much beating it gives?

As for the Zalman, I can't comment on it's "amazing" prowness as I don't own one, but from what owners are citing, there is not much to be gain in speed/temps, but rather noise. Maybe the OP wanted more? Maybe he wanted to spend less after all and wasn't happy the value the X1900XT afforded him? Maybe he was more comfortable with the nVidia controls and nuances. Who knows, but he's happy, right?

 

[Exsomnis]

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Wow you keep talking about spending money, I traded the card for another plus cash, if you were smart enough to grasp that from what I wrote then you'd understand I probably wouldn't be willing to spend an extra $50 for a cooler.

I don't keep talking about spending money, I keep talking about downgrading when you could've simply made a £25 investment since clearly all you cared about was noise. :roll:

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Oh yeah, how are X1800XT's kicking the crap out my score at stock? I had an X1800XT flashed to XTPE overclocked to 750/832 and that only scored me 10,000 on 3dmark so obviously youre talking out of your ass.

Mate, you obviously have no idea of what you are talking about. OCuk forums, search for a user called "A random name" (yes, it's his real username). His X1800XT 256MB is doing 11-12k stable with an overclock, trust me these things can whip your score at stock. Sorry to turn your e-penis into a shrivelled party sausage and give you doubt, but if it wasn't me it would've been one of hundreds of others.

Originally posted by: ST
Honestly, there isn't much going in the way for 7900GTX's in terms of value, when you can volt mod OC a 7900GT.

The guy downgraded his card rather than fit a £25 cooler, you really think he is going to risk volt-modding a graphics card?

Originally posted by: ST
wow, the ati generation has degraded quite rapidly...I can see why buzzsaw switched...anyhow, an intelligent person would construed "Like I said, there are X1800XTs kicking the crap out of that" as the x1800xt atronomically, unequivocally outperforming the 7900gt score, unless you were implying something else? :roll But hey, let's see your 3dmark score "at stock" and how much beating it gives?

ATi generation, lol. I just told him that he should've gotten a 7900GTX if he was so set on Nvidia, rather than downgrade his graphics card. Were I a fan-boy I would suggest no such thing.

As for my X1800XT 256MB, even with the rest of my hardware being pitiful (ghetto motherboard, value RAM with latencies looser than a cheap hooker, and a pitiful CPU) I still score 9010 at stock and over 10k with a simple overclock (with crappy Cat Overdrive no less.) Feel free to eat your words, these things do 12k, and I'd love to see his do that without a volt-mod (or even with.)

Originally posted by: ST
As for the Zalman, I can't comment on it's "amazing" prowness as I don't own one, but from what owners are citing, there is not much to be gain in speed/temps, but rather noise. Maybe the OP wanted more? Maybe he wanted to spend less after all and wasn't happy the value the X1900XT afforded him? Maybe he was more comfortable with the nVidia controls and nuances. Who knows, but he's happy, right?

More comfortable? Did you miss the part where he said his last three cards were ATi? :roll: As for the Zalman, forget what you've read, pick one up and try it or just take my word for it that these and the Accelero X2's give amazing cooling and OCing.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Thank you ST, you get the reason why I decided to scrap the X1900, there were so many things that erked me:

Temperatures dipping into 90C+
Overclocking was a pain in the ass due to crappy drivers
Loud ass fan that couldnt be fixed without spending more

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
Mate, you obviously have no idea of what you are talking about. OCuk forums, search for a user called "A random name" (yes, it's his real username). His X1800XT 256MB is doing 11-12k stable with an overclock, trust me these things can whip your score at stock. Sorry to turn your e-penis into a shrivelled party sausage and give you doubt, but if it wasn't me it would've been one of hundreds of others.

Apparently the X1800XT "stock" are so good, they even beat my X1900XT scores too (Stock X1900XT (621/720) - 11667). =/

Why didn't ATi just stick to the X1800XT, screw the X1900s!?

 

[Exsomnis]

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Thank you ST, you get the reason why I decided to scrap the X1900, there were so many things that erked me:

Temperatures dipping into 90C+

Sorted easily with aftermarket cooling. If you could afford an X1900XT in the first place, I am not sure what the big deal is about spending £25 on what is really an investment.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Overclocking was a pain in the ass due to crappy drivers

Catalyst Overdrive is easy as ABC, and ATi Tool is about as simple as they come. What's wrong, couldn't you figure out how to open services.msc?

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Loud ass fan that couldnt be fixed without spending more

You were running it at 100%, what do you expect? :roll:

Originally posted by: ST

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
Mate, you obviously have no idea of what you are talking about. OCuk forums, search for a user called "A random name" (yes, it's his real username). His X1800XT 256MB is doing 11-12k stable with an overclock, trust me these things can whip your score at stock. Sorry to turn your e-penis into a shrivelled party sausage and give you doubt, but if it wasn't me it would've been one of hundreds of others.

Apparently the X1800XT "stock" are so good, they even beat my X1900XT scores too (Stock X1900XT (621/720) - 11667). =/

Why didn't ATi just stick to the X1800XT, screw the X1900s!?

Jesus wept, you should learn to read. I have bolded it for you.

PS. You might want to get your card fixed, 11k is pretty embarrasing for an X1900XT. =S

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Thank you ST, you get the reason why I decided to scrap the X1900, there were so many things that erked me:

Temperatures dipping into 90C+
Overclocking was a pain in the ass due to crappy drivers
Loud ass fan that couldnt be fixed without spending more

As the owner of both, I can understand first hand the nuances you dealt with...i still think the X1900xt is a great card, but for frugal folks like myself, it is a very very pretty penny to part with...

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis

Originally posted by: ST

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
Mate, you obviously have no idea of what you are talking about. OCuk forums, search for a user called "A random name" (yes, it's his real username). His X1800XT 256MB is doing 11-12k stable with an overclock, trust me these things can whip your score at stock. Sorry to turn your e-penis into a shrivelled party sausage and give you doubt, but if it wasn't me it would've been one of hundreds of others.

Apparently the X1800XT "stock" are so good, they even beat my X1900XT scores too (Stock X1900XT (621/720) - 11667). =/

Why didn't ATi just stick to the X1800XT, screw the X1900s!?

Jesus wept, you should learn to read. I have bolded it for you.

Wow, why don't you GTFO of my thread since all you did was come to flame me.

I traded my card for these reasons:

1. Noise
2. Temperatures
3. To SAVE MONEY as I received $115 to do the trade
4. I wanted to try out Nvidia again (I loved my 6600GT)
5. I wasn't playing anything to take advantage of the X1900XT
6. I'm sick of ATI's garbage drivers

All of this is worth the downgrade in my opinion, if you can't understand that please don't say anything else unless its constructive.

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis

And, no offense, but there are X1800XTs kicking the crap out of that 3D Mark score at stock.

Rehighlighted for you....and no worries, my 7900gt beats that score too

 

[Exsomnis]

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Wow, why don't you GTFO of my thread since all you did was come to flame me.

I treat fanboys with a certain degree of no respect, thanks.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
I traded my card for these reasons:

1. Noise
2. Temperatures
3. To SAVE MONEY as I received $115 to do the trade
4. I wanted to try out Nvidia again (I loved my 6600GT)
5. I wasn't playing anything to take advantage of the X1900XT
6. I'm sick of ATI's garbage drivers

1.) Aftermarket cooling.
2.) Aftermarket cooling.
3.) You already spent it, and had one of the best cards out!
4.) Good for you, but it's still a downgrade. Would've grabbed a GTX.
5.) I don't even understand your point here.
6.) Garbage in, garbage out.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
All of this is worth the downgrade in my opinion, if you can't understand that please don't say anything else unless its constructive.

Constructive? Your opening post read as follows: -

"OMGZ I bort a 7900GT it ov3rcl0x so much better than ATi hahaha and the driverz r t3h r0x. OMGZ the X1900 is so loud despite me bein' such a dumbass to run the fan at 100% because I dun hav a clue about heat tolerance and lololol did I mention its loud on 100% fan I am the master of the obvious! =D"

Don't talk to me about constructive. :roll:

 

[Exsomnis]

Originally posted by: ST

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
And, no offense, but there are X1800XTs kicking the crap out of that 3D Mark score at stock.

Rehighlighted for you....and no worries, my 7900gt beats that score too

I am trying to find what is wrong with that sentence. Are you trying to say that an X1800XT cannot get 9540 3D Marks at stock? Can you please pass the crack pipe my way when you're done so I can go buy 7900GT?

Considering mine does 9010 with a crappy Newcastle at stock, a ghetto motherboard, value RAM, and total stock cooling, maybe everyone in your world should start buying cheap crap like I do since it's obviously above average there.

Repeat after me: www.futuremark.com/orb, 9500 is childsplay and hell his X1900XT would've ripped that into little pieces even with the stock cooler on 45% and not loudly either.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Wow, why don't you GTFO of my thread since all you did was come to flame me.

I treat fanboys with a certain degree of no respect, thanks.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
I traded my card for these reasons:

1. Noise
2. Temperatures
3. To SAVE MONEY as I received $115 to do the trade
4. I wanted to try out Nvidia again (I loved my 6600GT)
5. I wasn't playing anything to take advantage of the X1900XT
6. I'm sick of ATI's garbage drivers

1.) Aftermarket cooling.
2.) Aftermarket cooling.
3.) You already spent it, and had one of the best cards out!
4.) Good for you, but it's still a downgrade. Would've grabbed a GTX.
5.) I don't even understand your point here.
6.) Garbage in, garbage out.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
All of this is worth the downgrade in my opinion, if you can't understand that please don't say anything else unless its constructive.

Constructive? Your opening post read as follows: -

"OMGZ I bort a 7900GT it ov3rcl0x so much better than ATi hahaha and the driverz r t3h r0x. OMGZ the X1900 is so loud despite me bein' such a dumbass to run the fan at 100% because I dun hav a clue about heat tolerance and lololol did I mention its loud on 100% fan I am the master of the obvious! =D"

Don't talk to me about constructive. :roll:

Now all your doing is trolling, never did I say that the 7900GT overclocked better than ATI. All I said was it was a hell of a lot easier.

Again, anything under 100 percent on the fan and the temps sucked and proceeded to lock up/artifact like crazy.

I wanted to switch to Nvidia and I needed the money, what part of that don't you understand troll.

 

[Exsomnis]

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Now all your doing is trolling, never did I say that the 7900GT overclocked better than ATI. All I said was it was a hell of a lot easier.

How can it be easier than Catalyst Overdrive? It's even easier than Coolbits since you don't have to install anything. It's right there in CCC and also has a "click and go" button. If you want simplicity, that's about as simple as it gets.

Though, if you want to OC, should be using Rivatuner or ATi Tool. Again, both very simple.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
Again, anything under 100 percent on the fan and the temps sucked and proceeded to lock up/artifact like crazy.

Again... My X1800XT with the stock cooler was 80ºc under load at 45% fanspeed. That's a high temperature, but nowhere near enough to artifact or lock it up, it would take pushing it to the 90-110º mark to do that and you would know it if you knew anything about the R520 or R580 cores since they perform very alike (read: refresh.)

Listen, if your X1900XT was artifacting on anything under 100% fanspeed, and read this carefully: You should have RMA'ed it, it was frigging broken. :roll: Ask anybody, seriously.

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13
I wanted to switch to Nvidia and I needed the money, what part of that don't you understand troll.

Oh I understand that part just fine, just not the part where you decided that you needed to start a troll thread about it. Like I said - I respond in kind. So how much did Nvidia pay you to take the 7900GT off their hands again, $155? You got robbed.

 

[fierydemise]

Exsonnis, give it a rest he chose to spend his money this way thats his choice. Whats done is done your not changing any minds so why bother arguing?

 

[peleejosh]

because he is a fanboy
Glad you are happy with the card

 

[Ackmed]

Overclocking a ATi or NV card is easy either way. I dont understand why you think its easier to OC the GT. You have to download something else to do so. With the ATi card, you do the same as you do with the NV card, "point and click". You unlock it, let it auto get the clocks, and thats that. Both are easy, ATis is even easier to me. No editing the registery, or installing coolbits (same thing).

Of course the XT is going to be loud at 100%. If you had lock ups at stock settings, its likely a defective card. If your card was hitting 100c as you claim, something was obviously wrong with the card. Or there was a problem with your case/setup. At idle the XT's are very quiet. And GTs are just as loud when under load, according to guru3d. Both are 50db's. Some users report the same thing.

In any event, glad you're happy. Thats really all that matters. I dont think I would have downgraded in performance and IQ, and features, but thats your, and your choice alone. Enjoy your games, and taste from the other side of the fence.

Originally posted by: ST
As for x1800XTs "kicking the crap" out of 7900GT's, read this

First off, he didnt say that. I prefer a none bias, real review, such as this; http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/powercolor_radeon_x1800_gto/page4.asp

 

[Munky]

I'm curious: do you run 3dmark while you sleep at night? Because in regular 2d mode the x1900xt fan is quiet, unless there was something seriously wrong with your particular card.

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
[I am trying to find what is wrong with that sentence. Are you trying to say that an X1800XT cannot get 9540 3D Marks at stock? Can you please pass the crack pipe my way when you're done so I can go buy 7900GT?

follow along now kids:

point 1 - you implied that a "stock" x1800xt can easily kill an overclocked 7900gt, although threw some guy on some forums overclocked x1800xt numbers to prove it. =/ care to link you futuremark scores?

point 2 - 3dmark05 scores are not really something to be proud of and in no way really indicative of real world gaming performance regardless. one can cite 3dmark06 or other benches, or better yet real games, comparatively.

point 3 - i have both a 7900gt and a x1900xt. you can cite all the online reviews and stranger's scores you want, but i do have first hand experience with both.

point 4 - while i agree the stock X1900XT's cooling and noise are more than acceptable, overclocked and (soft) volt modded, while heatsoaked during gameplay, the "leafblower" complex can get extrememly irratating.