Can't decide between these two...

[Boom782]

SAPPHIRE 100134L Radeon X1800XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail for $264 SHIPPEd at Newegg

OR

eVGA 7900gt 256MB GDDR3 for $280 shipped

Any thoughts?

 

[Corporate Thug]

they are pretty much equal but the 7900 Gt has massive OC potential if you are willing to volt mod soooo....

a. if you want the volt mod, get the 7900
b. if you arent, i would get the x1800 (slightly faster and a little cheaper)

 

[Boom782]

By volt modding, you just mean OC in the BIOS? or do you mean messing with the actual card itself.

 

[dfloyd]

Messing with the actual card itself. The potential is there for much improvement but you void your warranty, and you do have a chance of messing it up if you dont feel comfortable messing with small parts on your card.

If you do, there is a potential for a big upgrade in performance. Personally I say buy a card as is for what it is and decide later on overclocking, volt modding and so on.

Edit: Personally I would take the X1800XT, but I am a huge Oblivion fan.

Edit 2: In fact see this Link thats at the top of the video forums for more info on Volt Modding.

 

[Boom782]

Haha, Oblivion is the very reason I am building a new system. So from your comment Im guessing it runs well with the x1800XT?

 

[Cookie Monster]

The X1800XT.

 

[Boom782]

Ah, thanks for the link dfloyd. Im not too comfortable doing any modding of that sort.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Make sure you buy a new cooler, like a vf900 as the X1800XT can hit 60dbs when playing oblivion.

 

[dfloyd]

Right now Ati definatly has the crown on Oblivion performance and features (Ati can do HDR + FSAA in Oblivion where Nvidia cannot) at the moment.

My X800XL beat the 7800GT in one Oblivion benchmark, quite funny I thought.

 

[Boom782]

Well no idea what HDR + FSAA is but thanks for the info. 😛 Leaning towards X1800XT now.

Man do I feel out of touch with technology lately.

 

[dfloyd]

HDR is High Dynamic Range, its something to do with lighting. It makes the lightning much more dynamic as in one person explained it to me, it makes the lights lighter and the darks darker. Things like the gleam on a sword or shadows atmosphere and so on. Never saw it personally so I cant honestly comment on it but from those who have seen it, it is apparently pretty amazing. Especially when you can combine it with FSAA (Full Screen Anti Aliasing). FSAA helps to eliminate Jaggies, very very nice in certain games.

Hope the nfo helps friend.

 

[Boom782]

Thanks