any suggestion for video card upgrade

[ricken]

i am running an old system: dell e51 (p4 HT 3.0, 2gb 2 dimms 667hz, HD 250gb+80gb,ati x600,...)

right now, i consider upgrading my video card. after reading many articles, i realized that there are several options as follows, 7600gt,7900gs, ati 1900 series.

my budget is $80-150. i dot care whether it supports DX 10.0 or not. for me i just want to play mainstream games (shooting game mostly) and watching movies.

so, any good suggestion? i will not try new technology cuz my cpu and psu unable to afford it.

thanks a lot, guys!

 

[RussianSensation]

I'd get 7900GS or X1950Pro under $150 to extend the life of your system as long as long as possible. Hopefully it'll be satisfactory for you for 1 year or so.

 

[ricken]

i know people talk about 7900gs vs x1950pro a lot. how to compare them? can they run smoothly in my pc platform? i am worring about power, noise and heat issues? so, are there any one sharing their real stories to me?

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
I'd get 7900GS or X1950Pro under $150 to extend the life of your system as long as long as possible. Hopefully it'll be satisfactory for you for 1 year or so.

 

[airhendrix13]

I recommend the x1950. Although it is a slight bit louder and warmer, it packs slightly greater clock speeds.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: airhendrix13
I recommend the x1950. Although it is a slight bit louder and warmer, it packs slightly greater clock speeds.

It is not really reasonable to compare cards from different manufacturers based on clockspeeds for a lot of reasons. Some being different GPU architecture (20 pipes in 7900GS and 36 pixel shaders on X1950Pro) and factory pre-overclocking (7900GS might have stock speeds of 450 but can sell as high as 600mhz on GPU core).

X1950Pro and 7900GS - power and noise compared

Of course not all 7900GS and X1950Pro cards are created equal. Different companies have different stock coolers and fans. Some X1950Pro cards ship with loud fans and same can be said for 7900GS.

OP if this bothers you, you can always pick up a cheap aftermarket cooler like Thermalright V-1 Ultra or Arctic Cooling X1/2.

 

[airhendrix13]

Yeah RussianSensation is right, there are some differences and more to it than just clock speed, but overall I've heard better things about the x1950xt.

 

[SolMiester]

I doubt very much if your dell PSU will power the x1900 series card.....

 

[ricken]

that is the problem i am concerning now. i dot need to get a luxurycard so far, mid-range is fine to me. so is 7900gs fit my PSU or not? do i have to go back to take 7600GT from XFX or EVGA (i found they both have nice prices on newegg)?

my budget is $120 actually, havent considered upgrading PSU yet.

Originally posted by: SolMiester
I doubt very much if your dell PSU will power the x1900 series card.....

 

[Cheex]

First off...Welcome to AT!

Next...
I would suggest that you get this eVGA 7900GS OverClocked @ Newegg for $125.

It consumes a good deal less power than the X19x0s and is a good competitor in terms of performance. It is also a lot cheaper. Plus...it's factory overclocked!!

IMHO...Good deal!!

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Cheex
First off...Welcome to AT!

Next...
I would suggest that you get this eVGA 7900GS OverClocked @ Newegg for $125.

It consumes a good deal less power than the X19x0s and is a good competitor in terms of performance. It is also a lot cheaper. Plus...it's factory overclocked!!

IMHO...Good deal!!

Good suggestion! It also makes you eligible for the step-up program should Nvidia surprise us with a nice DX10 refresh card in the near future.

 

[ricken]

what about XFX? it is on sale on newegg as well. few bucks more just. which brand should i go for? someone said the price would drop very soon, do i need to wait for a while?

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Cheex
First off...Welcome to AT!

Next...
I would suggest that you get this eVGA 7900GS OverClocked @ Newegg for $125.

It consumes a good deal less power than the X19x0s and is a good competitor in terms of performance. It is also a lot cheaper. Plus...it's factory overclocked!!

IMHO...Good deal!!

Good suggestion! It also makes you eligible for the step-up program should Nvidia surprise us with a nice DX10 refresh card in the near future.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: ricken
what about XFX? it is on sale on newegg as well. few bucks more just. which brand should i go for? someone said the price would drop very soon, do i need to wait for a while?

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Cheex
First off...Welcome to AT!

Next...
I would suggest that you get this eVGA 7900GS OverClocked @ Newegg for $125.

It consumes a good deal less power than the X19x0s and is a good competitor in terms of performance. It is also a lot cheaper. Plus...it's factory overclocked!!

IMHO...Good deal!!

Good suggestion! It also makes you eligible for the step-up program should Nvidia surprise us with a nice DX10 refresh card in the near future.

XFX is okay, the cards will perform with 1-2% of each other, but with Evga you get the step-up deal.

 

[RussianSensation]

That 7900GS looks like a good deal after MIR. The cooler on the EVGA card is quieter than the smaller sized 7900GT coolers usually installed on 7900GS cards.

Since your budget is $120 or so, you might want to consider Foxconn $115 after MIR 7900GS

It comes with an even bigger fan which should be quieter. It also comes with a controller and its GPU is clocked at 560mhz vs. 500 for the EVGA card.