Difficult video-card choice

[xXDracoXx]

I plan on making my next PC a 'future-proof'(if that's possible) gaming rig. The basics are a dual-core cpu and 2GB of ram. All my choices for the parts are made except for the video-card.

7800GT vs X1900XT. I know that the latter is literally twice as powerful on the benchmarks but I don't think I really need that power to run games with tons of eye-candy at 1280x1024. Basically, if I can save a few hundred bucks, I will.

What bugs me the most about the GT is the 256MB. I'm guessing many games today are capable of using more than that and that doesn't make it seem too future-proof. I build with the idea that I will never upgrade, except perhaps memory if needed because it becomes inexpensive.

I want this computer to last me a solid 3 years. (My current PC is in my benchmark comparisons. It passes all minimum requirements yet by a fair margin but not being able to play at native resolution on a 19 inch screen sucks )

If it may help, the games I intend on playing are: Oblivion, UT2007 and any good mmorpg/rts that the future throws at me(although these two latter are not usually a performance problem for their time).

The price difference in my system between the two cards comes up to 304$ CAD. This converts to 263.11$ USD.

Also, is the XT bigger than the GT? I've heard it would be the same size but more confirmation on this would be great. The case I picked (Antec P150) was a tight fit for a 7800GT in a review I read, and no comments about size were made in another review using a 6800 Ultra.

 

[TheRyuu]

If you can afford the X1900XT....then get it.

That should last you a while.

 

[moonboy403]

games today don't really take advantage of the 512mb
name a few that do?

and i can tell you that 1280x1024 w/ 4aa/8af on the gt is beyond it's capability
you can run it, but it'll cause occasional slow down even when the card is oced to 500/1110 like mine

i'm sure you won't regret getting the xt
but if you decide to get the 7800 gt
why not wait till after tonight and see if the 7900 gt has any ocing headroom?

the 7900 gt should be priced at around 300 to 350...so it's a much better buy than the current 7800 gt theoretically

 

[xXDracoXx]

Well, high-quality textres today probably use between 128 and 256MB. If you add the several samples of each texture that the video-card takes for good AF, I'm guessing it could rack up past 256MB. Then again, I might be wrong (I don't claim to be all that knolegable).

 

[moonboy403]

reviews have already shown that the extra 256mb doesn't give you much performance at all

games like doom3 and quake 4 have ultra quality mode that do require 512mb of ram
but it looks pretty much the same in terms of quality of graphics

 

[kmmatney]

I think the 7800GT is a better choice if you have a 19" LCD. You will be able to run "most" games at 1280 x 1024 with AA and high quality settings. It may be worth waiting for the 7900GT, which should be coming out in a few weeks.

 

[moonboy403]

should be coming out tonight

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Gt for 1280 res the 1900 is a better card IMHO BUT for 1280 res and money wise the GT will do fine.

 

[n7]

I too would have recommended the 7800GT.

But i sure as hell cannot since you mention you want it to last 3 yrs.

Get the X1900XT, since i'm quite sure UT2k7 & the games after that will start to rape a 7800GT a little hard.

If you were buying for short-term, the 7800GT/7900GT (if it ends up priced well) would be great. But for a couple years? Get the X1900XT minimum.

 

[moonboy403]

i don't think any single card right now can last you 3 years if you're to game at 1280 x 1204 w/ aa and af on a regular basis

 

[mazeroth]

Get the 7800GT or 7900GT. Sell it for $150-$200 in 12-18 months, then put the $250 you saved on not getting the 1900XT plus the $150-$200 from selling the last card together and you'll have $400-$450. In 12-18 months that should get you a card that will crush the X1900XT.

 

[Elfear]

I think everyone replying is thinking in terns of current games. If you want to keep the rig 3 years and play at 1280x1024 with eye-candy turned up, than you're much safer going with the XT. If there are even current games that bring a 7800GT to it's knees than imagine the games coming out in the next three years.

I wish I could find the site that did a comparison between the amount of ram on video cards and how it affected gameplay. I was surprised that it showed nice gains going from 256MB to 512MB in quite a few games.

 

[moonboy403]

i remember the only one that had any gain was cod2

but i could be wrong