How Much More Performance?

[jbs2222]

I currently have an x800xl gaming at 1600x1280 and i was just wondering how much more juice an x1800xt or an 7900gt give me. I can also afford an x1900xt but would this be overkill for me? Also i would like this card to last a good solid year/year and a half so if the x1900xt would give me that i would be glad to pay the extra cost.

Also would an antec neo 480w PSU enough juice for any of thses cards?

 

[Polish3d]

I would go X1900xt myself. Probably wont be overkill, certainly isnt for me depending on what games you use and your expectations, I game at 1680x1050

 

[Ika]

I would say X1800XT (very cheap now), but if you want a little more performance stock, then the 1900XT would be the way to go. If you have good GPU cooling and like to screw around with your components, then go for the 7900GT, which, after voltmodding, gives crazy performance.

 

[Todd33]

Depending on your budgget, the 7900GT with default cooling and easy OCing (550?) will be damn near a X1900XT for $100 cheaper and less noise/heat. The 1900 is a great card too, but the 7900GT is a underclocked beast.

Edit: The 7900GTs are now round $240 AR while the X1900XT was $370AR. If you are into the volt mod thing the GT is a clear choice.

 

[Captante]

The biggest boost according to the vast majority of benchmarks I've seen would be the X1900XT/XTX and although any of the cards you mentioned would be faster then the XL you have now, (oc'ed 7900GT in particular) I'd say you won't get enough boost to make it worth the hassle unless you go with either it, a 7900GTX or GX2. (if you can afford it)

 

[morgash]

if u belive ATI the x1900xt is gonna give u a longer lifespan because "all games are moving to shader heavy rendering". the fact that doing that would hurt nvidia kinda makes that claim stupid since any new games wouldnt run well on arguably the top graphics acrd companies hardware. whether or not its true the x1900 WILL give u a hefty lifespan on the card well into dx10 territory. im perfectly fine with my voltmodded 7900gt runnin oblivion at 650/1900 but hey, its ur decision

Morgash

 

[jbs2222]

ok so ive come down to an evga 7900 gt or and msi x1900xt and yeah i like to mess around with overclocking but dont want to touch voltmodding (too dangerous to be playing around with $280 specially when money is hard to come by for a 18 year old going to college) so can i get good performance from a little overclocking on the 7900gt or should i just pay the extra for the 1900xt?

Also noise is kinda of concern i wouldnt want anything louder than my x800xl is now.

 

[hardwareking]

An x1900 xt is no where around $280,itsmore around $400.
The x1900 xt outperforms the 7900 gt by quite some margin.As for noise x1900 xtx is like a leaf blower in ur comp.
U could switch the stock cooler with something like the arctic accelero x2.But if u don't do volt-modding then i don't think u'll change the cooler either.
So i suggest u get the e-vga 7900 gt signature series cards for around $360.They are nearly as fast as a gtx but quite cheaper.

 

[jbs2222]

yeah i saw those cards are they really close to the gtx if so thats a great buy with the free game and all

Oh yeah how big of a diffrence is the lacking of 512 mb of ram on the 7900gt gonna limit it in the future?

 

[akshayt]

get a radeon 1900xt, hoqw about powercolour ot BBA.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: jbs2222
Oh yeah how big of a diffrence is the lacking of 512 mb of ram on the 7900gt gonna limit it in the future?

It will only be significant in higher resolutions (16x12 and beyond) with high IQ settings.

 

[akshayt]

no, the difference between 256mb and 512mb may be visible even at 1024*768 or 12X10 espeically if you use aa and af.
here: xbitlabs.com/articles/video

 

[Captante]

X1900XT's arn't as loud as many would have you believe unless your case isn't cooled very well & theres a Sapphire retail card going for $370 after rebate on Newegg right now, which is what I would suggest you go for. Otherwise if thats too much money, but you don't want to do that volt-mod on the 7900GT, the 256mb X1800XT would be the next best bet & would actually outperform ther 7900GT in many games at stock speed.

 

[jbs2222]

ok well i have decided on the msi x1900xt for 419.99 with a 30 MIR any objections cuz i want to order by 3 CDT