apoppin re-evaluates nvidia [Formerly nm] ... back to x1950p

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
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alienbabeltech.com
3/9 Well, my 850w OCZ arrived ... which is mindboggling fast from NewEgg via UPS cheapie

and evidently the spec has been *improved* i see a sticker covering the *18 amp* ... with now 4 x 20a on the 12 v rail ... that should give me 70a total, right?


anyway, it is a HELL of a lot *lighter* then i imagined possible ...

and really 'cheap' metal for the housing - which is 'fine', IF that's 'where' they saved money

Huge-ass fan


and the wire bundle is *massive* ... almost the same 'volume' as the PS itself

i'll work on it after dinner.
============================================

3-7 UPDATE

It doesn't look like anyone wants it [after *full disclosure* about Sapphire, i am NOT surprised] ... so i dropped the price to $210 with a game - shipped ... Sale ends after work ... today

ANYWAY - NewEgg offered full credit on my 7800GS OC - provided i spend $200 on a Power Supply ... so i will buy it tonight and withdraw my x1950p from FS/T ... love NewEgg
:thumbsup:
. . . . . FORGET zzf ... they are "fair" but ... :p

What bang-for-buck *NewEgg only* PS for ~$200 will run SLI'd 8800GTX and Core2 Duo



===============================
[3/5 update] i might get *stuck* with my x1950p ...

the RMA period for my 7800GS OC is coming to an end - this week ... i MUST make a decision as my x1950p is NOT selling in FS/T [even with a free game bundled with it :D]
Sapphire AGP x1950p/512MB *Brand New* returned-from-RMA factory-sealed - $220 shipped

so ... if i don't sell it, i *will* buy a $200 PS [with the 'credit' i should have at NewEgg] and stick it back in my rig [after testing the x1950p - tomorrow - to make *sure* it is not DoA]

Are there any *comparisons* or *tests* you would like me to run on my 7800GS?
-Power Supply recommendations - for SLI 8800gtx ?
or - *suggestions* ?

========================================


VERY latest ... 02/13 PM ... well it came and i have been playing with it ... look at my latest post

as if anyone else cares :p
:confused:

:D

*surprising*

;)

Here is that [condensed] post so you dont' have to look for it:

i got my 7800GS and have been playing the last few hours.

the card looks and feels *solid* --unlike that cheap and flashy Sapphire card...

the heat sink is heavy and fan is QUIET [unlike Sapphire's fan ... cheap cheap cheap]

installation was routine and the drivers installed without a hitch - latest Certified Drivers 93.71 ... love NOT having CCC ... and played around with the basic settings ... nice ... no Net 2.0 and more streamlined


3DMark05 was a hair under 6K ... totally stock and my CPU still running at only 3.01Ghz [instead of the usual 3.2 or 3.31Ghz] .... seems a little low ... but performance was *excellent* in games ...

i played Fable at identical setting to the x1950p and gameplay is as smooth as butter

FEAR's x-pack actually was more stable with nvidia drivers than ATi's with either the x850xt or x1950p ... it was *buggy* and would hang or hitch and sometimes crash ... so far ..... no prob with the GS
--but slightly lower settings for smoothness

Oblivion was on a par with my x850xt's performance -- with the exception that it would allow for *grass* [and HDR] and still be smooth ... the x1950p is definitely faster [but i am 'done' with Oblivion, anyway]


i haven't installed RivaTuner yet ... so don't know about the core or o/c'ing

and i can't see ANY *shimmering*

so far ... really nice video card ... kinda like a slightly beefier x850xt with SM3.0 and a better IQ ... probably very close to the x1950p's IQ [excellent] ... but i don't have it to compare anymore ... colors are vibrant too
both card's IQ are 'top notch' in my book ... and a big improvement over what i remember of nvidia cards.

so far for $160 after MIR ...
[i saw it yesterday *on sale* at Best Buy for $250 .... no rebate ... "marked down" from $379 ]

a *solid* :thumbsup:

and 'recommended' by apoppin
================

Latest ... bought a BFG Tech 7800GS AGP for $160 after MIR from NewEgg ... should arrive Wed ...
. . . will keep you [annoyingly] informed :p
==============

UPDATED:

Gonna buy a 7x00 series AGP ? whaddaya think?


No . . . really :p
:Q

as you may know my x1950p [edit] died and its gonna take some time for a replacement ? and my 8MB pci SIS card will not do.

I am slightly out of ZZf?s 30 day replacement policy ? I emailed them anyway and hoped they can?t count [Feb is 28 days ? but I am really at their mercy and do not expect any

even if there is a miracle ? its? still gonna be 2 weeks and I am an impatient gamer in the middle of a couple of really good games.

ANYWAY, that means I must go the dread Sapphire RMA route?.
Weeks?

So

I am gonna buy a 7900gs [or 7800] and ?play? with it ? compare everything ? I was totally willing to put up with my x850x --till I upgrade next year ? it isn?t that much of a difference ? really. Unfortunately, I was hooked by x1900 series? advertising and promises of a better sex life ?

IF I think the GS is ?garbage? ? I will return it and [gladly] pay the restocking fee or get credit for a 1000w PS ? as I will finally know more about nvidia ? it?s been ?awhile? since my last nvidia card ? an Asus GeForce256 SDR ? fugly IQ but fast compared to it?s weak ass competitor, Rage Fury32

IF I like it, I will keep it and will sell my x1950p when I get it back ? if I keep the x1950p, I will then want a new PS as mine is marginal ? although I am certain it was not the cause of the video card?s failure [1 DVD ReWriter/1HD/1 slightly o/c?d CPU ? tt 480w/18a]

Either way ? you guys will hear all about it ? each painful step?
from the RMA process with Sapphire to the possible Shimmering on nvidia cards and a comparison between Ati and nvidia?s current AGP mid-range products

Fair ?


:confused:

Suggestions ?

Good nvidia card for cheap?

Going green as soon as I find one ? 2nd day AIR ?
:shocked
==============================


i hate wasting posts so i thought i'd *fix* my misfired post ... lots of views
[it was supposed to be posted in another forum ... so i simultaneously MissFired and CrossFired my Thread] :p

ANYWAY, my sapphire 512MB AGP x1950p had a single crash to desktop after several VPU recoveries ... then ARTIFACTING ...

at startup, in Windows . . . all the time ... pretty colours to be sure ... but hard to game :p

anyway, its not the AGP slot and Power is going to the card

WORST of all it is 31 days {counting Feb's 28 days} since i got it from ZZF ... so i am STUCK going thru Sapphire [i tried, anyway ... maybe they will misscount]

and filled out a Support ticked from Sapphire [to start the process]

How long does that? ... Weeks :p

i doubt its my PS
 

LittleNemoNES

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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I refuse to let this topix die. Replace it with something else...about dolphins or something...a FPS that stars a dolphin

::needs to stop sniffing electrical hardware::
 

ronnn

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
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Actually I thought is was one of the op's best posts. Should be stickied. :music:
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: ronnn
Actually I thought is was one of the op's best posts. Should be stickied. :music:
Originally posted by: Paratus
And another reason why AGP rocks.........



well, then let me make an announcement:

my x1950p is dead :p

G-dmn Sapphire ExtremeGarbage :|
:thumbsdown:

the *warning* was several VPU recoveries and a single crash to desktop ... recovered then .... then Artifacting ... kinda pretty ... but useless to play games

i am starting a RMA ... it is just *over* a month :(
 

ronnn

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
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Bad news. Did the fan go? After a month seems like an odd time. Have heard that Sapphire is good with rma, but pains to pay shipping.
 

CaiNaM

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2000
3,718
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Originally posted by: Paratus
And another reason why AGP rocks.........

of course; it's not as if there's EVER been a defective pci-e card :roll:

Originally posted by: apoppin
well, then let me make an announcement:

my x1950p is dead :p

G-dmn Sapphire ExtremeGarbage :|
:thumbsdown:

the *warning* was several VPU recoveries and a single crash to desktop ... recovered then .... then Artifacting ... kinda pretty ... but useless to play games

i am starting a RMA ... it is just *over* a month :(

sorry to hear about your issues :(

unfortunately, from what i hear, it can take around 30 days if the card has to be sent to sapphire (they ship it overseas apparently).

one thing for people to keep in mind, while i have some gripes with newegg, if you purchase a sapphire card from them, newegg is contracted by sapphire to replace the card for the first year; zzf has no such agreement with sapphire.

what happened with the visiontek you had in there originally (it's listed in your system specs)?

also, what are you running for a PSU? I'm not asking because i think replacing it will fix your dead card, but curious as they have been known to cause damage to video cards, and especially ram (leading cause of ram rma).

 

ronnn

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by: CaiNaM
Originally posted by: Paratus
And another reason why AGP rocks.........

of course; it's not as if there's EVER been a defective pci-e card :roll:

Actually the title about the defective card was edited in after that post. He was commenting on a bad joke on my part. :beer:
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
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alienbabeltech.com
Gonna buy a 7x00 series AGP ? whaddaya think?


No . . . really :p
:Q

as you may know my x1950p [edit] died and its gonna take some time for a replacement ? and my 8MB pci SIS card will not do.

I am slightly out of ZZf?s 30 day replacement policy ? I emailed them anyway and hoped they can?t count [Feb is 28 days ? but I am really at their mercy and do not expect any

even if there is a miracle ? its? still gonna be 2 weeks and I am an impatient gamer in the middle of a couple of really good games.

ANYWAY, that means I must go the dread Sapphire RMA route?.
Weeks?

So

I am gonna buy a 7900gs [or 7800] and ?play? with it ? compare everything ? I was totally willing to put up with my x850x --till I upgrade next year ? it isn?t that much of a difference ? really. Unfortunately, I was hooked by x1900 series? advertising and promises of a better sex life ?

IF I think the GS is ?garbage? ? I will return it and [gladly] pay the restocking fee or get credit for a 1000w PS ? as I will finally know more about nvidia ? it?s been ?awhile? since my last nvidia card ? an Asus GeForce256 SDR ? fugly IQ but fast compared to it?s weak ass competitor, Rage Fury32

IF I like it, I will keep it and will sell my x1950p when I get it back ? if I keep the x1950p, I will then want a new PS as mine is marginal ? although I am certain it was not the cause of the video card?s failure [1 DVD ReWriter/1HD/1 slightly o/c?d CPU ? tt 480w/18a]

Either way ? you guys will hear all about it ? each painful step?
from the RMA process with Sapphire to the possible Shimmering on nvidia cards and a comparison between Ati and nvidia?s current AGP mid-range products

Fair ?


:confused:

Suggestions ?

Good nvidia card for cheap?

Going 'green' as soon as I find one ? 2nd day AIR ?
:shocked:
 

nullpointerus

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2003
1,326
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Originally posted by: apoppin
I am gonna buy a 7900gs [or 7800] and ?play? with it ? compare everything ? I was totally willing to put up with my x850x --till I upgrade next year ? it isn?t that much of a difference ? really. Unfortunately, I was hooked by x1900 series? advertising and promises of a better sex life ?

IF I think the GS is ?garbage? ? I will return it and [gladly] pay the restocking fee or get credit for a 1000w PS ? as I will finally know more about nvidia ? it?s been ?awhile? since my last nvidia card ? an Asus GeForce256 SDR ? fugly IQ but fast compared to it?s weak ass competitor, Rage Fury32

IF I like it, I will keep it and will sell my x1950p when I get it back ? if I keep the x1950p, I will then want a new PS as mine is marginal ? although I am certain it was not the cause of the video card?s failure [1 DVD ReWriter/1HD/1 slightly o/c?d CPU ? tt 480w/18a]

Either way ? you guys will hear all about it ? each painful step?
from the RMA process with Sapphire to the possible Shimmering on nvidia cards and a comparison between Ati and nvidia?s current AGP mid-range products

Fair ?


:confused:

Suggestions ?

Good nvidia card for cheap?

Going 'green' as soon as I find one ? 2nd day AIR ?
:shocked:

Was the 7900 GS AGP ever released? I can't seem to find information about it. The two nVidia AGP mid-range cards ATM seem to be the 7600 GT and 7800 GS.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Originally posted by: apoppin


credit card in hand ...

this one?:

BFG Tech GeForce 7800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X-Retail
its 400/1250
$209.99

($159.99 after $50.00 Mail-In Rebate)

3 Business Day Shipping $7.78

Thats the one I have. It overclocks to 500, 1450 and is ran everyday at 490, 1440. Had it for allmost a year and never had a problem . Idle's at 43c and runs in the high 50's under load. Got my 250.00$ worth. 3d 2006 score is 3400 and 3d 2005= 6500. My slow memory bus holds it back a little I think.

Edit: It should easily run with your psu. It ran in my Dell with a 250 watt ,15 amp rail

 

CaiNaM

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2000
3,718
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Originally posted by: apoppin


credit card in hand ...

this one?:

BFG Tech GeForce 7800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X-Retail
its 400/1250
$209.99

($159.99 after $50.00 Mail-In Rebate)

3 Business Day Shipping $7.78

had one of those.. decent card, overclocks like mad.. still not much faster than my oc'd 6800GT tho (20% range), and no comparison to the x1950pro - well, one that works, anyway :p

nice they finally dropped the price on that card, cause it was overpriced for a long time...
 

nullpointerus

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2003
1,326
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0
Originally posted by: apoppin


credit card in hand ...

this one?:

BFG Tech GeForce 7800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X-Retail
its 400/1250
$209.99

($159.99 after $50.00 Mail-In Rebate)

3 Business Day Shipping $7.78

I suppose that's the best "green" card you'll find for AGP these days. Gainward used to sell a 7800 GS that was really a 7900 GT core w/ 512 MB, but I can't seem to find these cards anywhere without a huge price premium.

Don't expect X1950 Pro level performance out of the BFG 7800 GS. One customer review said he had little improvement over his 9800 Pro. I've got a 9700 Pro AGP that I could sell you cheap, and there are probably others you could find used @ same price.

There's a HIS X1950 Pro AGP at Newegg for $199 after rebate -- not sure if that means anything to your current situation (what with possibly selling one of these cards later?)
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: CaiNaM
Originally posted by: apoppin


credit card in hand ...

this one?:

BFG Tech GeForce 7800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X-Retail
its 400/1250
$209.99

($159.99 after $50.00 Mail-In Rebate)

3 Business Day Shipping $7.78

had one of those.. decent card, overclocks like mad.. still not much faster than my oc'd 6800GT tho (20% range), and no comparison to the x1950pro - well, one that works, anyway :p

nice they finally dropped the price on that card, cause it was overpriced for a long time...

done

thank-you

i only expect it to be faster then my 'stock' x850xt ... with SM3.0 :p

if i like it, i'll o/c further ... if not ... back she goes

i should have it Wednesday
:thumbsup:

 

chizow

Diamond Member
Jun 26, 2001
9,537
2
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There was a limited run 7900GS AGP, although it may have been sold/marketed as a 7800GT AGP. It was made by Gainward and had all 4 pixel quads intact. I believe the 7800GS sold by BFG only has 3 of the 4. Might be able to unlock them with RivaTuner as there have been reports they started using the same cores as the 7900.

As for which to get, the 7800GS AGP is the fastest nVidia AGP option in most games and resolutions although there are some instances the 7600GT outperforms it with its much higher core and memory clocks. The 7800GS has some OC'ing headroom, but so does the 7600GT. Both will be considerably slower than the X1950Pro though...so I'm not sure if it can really be considered a replacement.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: hellokeith
My HIS X1950 256MB AGP has been flawless.

my Sapphire x1950p 512MB AGP also ran flawlessly ... for 33 days :p

:D

and now i wanna see what a nvidia card will do ... it'll cost me a few bucks ... but i might as well learn something while 'waiting' ...

and perhaps even 'share'

btw, i was *satisfied* with my x850xt ;)

EDIT: thanks, chizow for confirming the 7900gs ... as i remember it was only sold in Europe and had a pretty limited run and an inflated price

the 7800gs seems about *right* for $160 ... i will keep that in mind as i compare

and now i'm 'off' to hunt down and destroy all traces of ATi on my computer
:evil:

:shocked:
 

Painman

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2000
3,728
29
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Hmm... well, you split from Camp Green well before I did (Ti4600 was my last nV before now). nV really seems to have whipped themselves into shape in the IQ department; some of their former board partners used terrible quality components on their boards' output stages. This eVGA I have now is very good - I'd even go so far as to say it has better analog 2D output than my ATi branded X1900. Hopefully your 7800 will have similar quality.

 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
Are the 7800/7900 even considerably faster than your old X850pro?

It's too bad the card burned up on you. I'm still thinking about getting one, but only if it will run Crysis reasonably well.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: SickBeast
Are the 7800/7900 even considerably faster than your old X850pro?

It's too bad the card burned up on you. I'm still thinking about getting one, but only if it will run Crysis reasonably well.

wow ... you remember my history!?!
:Q

i better be careful which story i tell :p

actually, it was my 9800xt that fried when the fan got disconnected

my x850xt got warm ... but that's about all ... i only o/c'd it to PE to 'test' it and i sold it last month for $100 and shipping costs ... it was a *great* card for $200 2 years ago ... and frankly i wish i kept it

since i did not ... i might as well turn my *bad* experience into a learning lesson ... i recommend video cards here - often nvidia - but frankly, i am very one-sided ... i have no actual *experience* with nvidia cards [except for my friend's rigs]

at the most it will be 15% plus shipping ... and i may well end up keeping it

at any rate ... i have to spend money or *do without*

EDIT:

DeathReborn ... i AM getting one ... by Wed

and how to check the core ... RivaTuner?
[i ain't taking anything off]

damn ... i gotta learn nvidianese :p

:D