Getting a vid card for X-mas what would you get?

[eros28]

Hi all, need to tell the girl friend which card I'd like for X-mas within the day or so.

My current card is a few years old and I haven't been following with what new and exciting.

My choices are (as per the sub $500 dollar mark, in Canadian funds)

1) VGA nVidia GeForce 7800GT CO 256MB PCI-Express x16 ($460)

or

2) ATI X1800 XL 256MB ($465)

I don't to a lot of gaming, although I'm playing CoD2 often. I'll eventually rebuild the PC around it and maybe use it as a HTPC. Guys, any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Wentelteefje]

If you're going to use it as a HTPC, I would pick the X1800XL... It supports Avivo, which is a very handy feature, and is in benchmarks very nearly, or just, as fast as the 7800GT...

EDIT: Read this if you want to know more about Avivo...

 

[eros28]

Thanks for your quick reply Wentelteefje!

I'll read up on Avivo. However, I have another question. I know that if I happen to go with the 7800GT I can later add another card for SLI action but can this be done with the ATI card?

I was reading another thread that said something about 'Crossfire'. Is this ATI's answer to SLI? Would I be able to do the same with the ATI card as the NVidia card?

Thanks again for your input.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: eros28
Thanks for your quick reply Wentelteefje!

I'll read up on Avivo. However, I have another question. I know that if I happen to go with the 7800GT I can later add another card for SLI action but can this be done with the ATI card?

I was reading another thread that said something about 'Crossfire'. Is this ATI's answer to SLI? Would I be able to do the same with the ATI card as the NVidia card?

Thanks again for your input.

If you have an nForce4 SLI motherboard, oyu can do SLI, if you have an ATi Crossfire motherboard, you can do Crossfire, but you can't do Crossfire on an nForce4 mobo and vice versa.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Don't start with CrossFire OR SLI IMO... Remember the 6600GT? It was as fast as the 9800XT and sometimes faster, while it costed only half its price... The same case with the 6800GS... With some overclocking, it beats a 6800 Ultra, and again for half the price...

Investing the $ 450 in a second card is a waste... Better is to spend it on a card within two generations from now... Your SLI/CF will be blown out of the water...

 

[SheepMan]

Also if you decide to go for a dual GPU setup, right now SLI is available right now and is a better performer than Crossfire. However, there are rumors, I say rumors since its getting hard to trust release dates from ATI, that a better form of Crossfire is coming out in Jan/Feb.

If you ignore availibility, I think of it this way. If you want speed and performance go with the 7800gt and think about SLI, if you want better image quality and a HTPC I'd go with the x1800xl and think about crossfire.

Also Ive read in another thread that the X1900 all in wonder card is coiming out in early 2006, maybe Feb, very nice for a HTPC. you could ask for cash and wait for it too come out .

Sorry if I confused you. I tend to do that