Is it worth to upgrade to 7900 from a 7600?

[reichter]

I've had my 7600gt for a year now and it was considered a mid-ranged card back then. There's a huge number of great games coming out this fall (Bioshock, Crysis, UT3) and I'm looking to upgrade so that I can run them all well on at least medium settings. Is the increase in performance of a 7900 worth the $150 or so price tag? Should I aim a little higher? I won't be bothering with Vista for at least another year so DX10 is a non factor. I'm on a budget (got to be able to afford all those games) so staying under $200 is my goal. Any advice would be most welcome.

 

[VinDSL]

I'm not a gamer -=- I'm a case pimp -=- so take this for what it's worth...

I just spent 100 bones 'cause I couldn't stand the red PCB on my ATI video card any more! I mean, red is like sooooo last year!

I bought a XFX 7600 GT. Why? It had black PCB!

Only YOU can answer whether or not upgrading is worth it or not!

Period, end of story...

 

[kmmatney]

My video card is roughly the same speed as yours. I'm planning on waiting until I can at least double my speed for less than $200. I don't think the 7900 will do that.

 

[tigersty1e]

Wait till those games come out.

 

[MegaVovaN]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: tigersty1e
Wait till those games come out.</end quote></div>

Golden words.

Remember the story of ppl buying new computers for 5 years saying DOOM 3 COMES OUT REAL SOON I NEED HARDWARE TO HANDLE IT!!! and then they bought Radeon 9700


7900 is a high end card (of 7 series), and 7600 is mid end. 7900 will give you boost.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Remember the story of ppl buying new computers for 5 years saying DOOM 3 COMES OUT REAL SOON I NEED HARDWARE TO HANDLE IT!!! and then they bought Radeon 9700

I'm into coding stuff like this so speed realy doesn't matter so much as looks, you know?

I guess I'm a visual kinda guy...

 

[MarcVenice]

There is a awesome deal at newegg for a 150$ x1950xt, it beats the crap out of a 7900gt in some games, and beats it fair and sqaure in all other games. Consider 2 things, for 150$ you'll get to enjoy a card right NOW instead of later, but when bioshock, crysis and ut3 come out, in like 3 months, it will of course cost less, so does a x1950xt mean you can play games at considerably higher settings right now ? I think it will, and 150$ for that kind of performance is an offer you can't refuse

 

[MegaVovaN]

Marc - good suggestion, 1950xt totally pwns 7600gt and probably 7900 too.

 

[reichter]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
There is a awesome deal at newegg for a 150$ x1950xt, it beats the crap out of a 7900gt in some games, and beats it fair and sqaure in all other games. Consider 2 things, for 150$ you'll get to enjoy a card right NOW instead of later, but when bioshock, crysis and ut3 come out, in like 3 months, it will of course cost less, so does a x1950xt mean you can play games at considerably higher settings right now ? I think it will, and 150$ for that kind of performance is an offer you can't refuse

Very intersting. Hadn't been really looking at the ati cards much. Also, I wasn't planning on purchasing the card right away. Bioshock is still a month and a half away so I've got some time. I just like to research these things early. Thanks for all the input.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: reichter
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: MarcVenice
There is a awesome deal at newegg for a 150$ x1950xt, it beats the crap out of a 7900gt in some games, and beats it fair and sqaure in all other games. Consider 2 things, for 150$ you'll get to enjoy a card right NOW instead of later, but when bioshock, crysis and ut3 come out, in like 3 months, it will of course cost less, so does a x1950xt mean you can play games at considerably higher settings right now ? I think it will, and 150$ for that kind of performance is an offer you can't refuse </end quote></div>

Very intersting. Hadn't been really looking at the ati cards much. Also, I wasn't planning on purchasing the card right away. Bioshock is still a month and a half away so I've got some time. I just like to research these things early. Thanks for all the input.

Research when you buy, not early. In 1.5 months many thing will happen in VGA world.

 

[covert24]

how does a 1950xt compare to a 7950GT KO SuperclockeD?

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: covert24
how does a 1950xt compare to a 7950GT KO SuperclockeD?

They are almost same.
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/....php?topic_id=25723170

 

[MarcVenice]

gamespot sucks for hardware reviews. But, they are in fact nearly identical, the price difference is rather big though

 

[rmed64]

Nah, I don't think it will be that big of a difference.

I say overclock the hell out of your card if you haven't yet.

If you still want to, sell your 7600GT and go for 8600GTS. Around 7900GS performance + DX10 for you as a bonus.

If you REALLY want to be sure to handle everything like you want it to, splurge a little more and get a ~$250 8800GTS 320.

 

[Munky]

I just read the AT DX10 article, which only further underlines the fact that anything less than a 8800gts for DX10 is a waste of money. So if you're not switching to Vista/DX10 for another year, don't bother with the midrange DX10 cards - they don't offer competitive performance in DX9 or DX10. The 1950xt is the fastest card under $200, and is easily 2x as fast as a 7600gt. When you do switch to Vista and more DX10 games are available, there will be newer and better DX10 cards available, offering more performance for the money than current generation HW.

 

[doggyfromplanetwoof]

Originally posted by: munky
I just read the AT DX10 article, which only further underlines the fact that anything less than a 8800gts for DX10 is a waste of money. So if you're not switching to Vista/DX10 for another year, don't bother with the midrange DX10 cards - they don't offer competitive performance in DX9 or DX10. The 1950xt is the fastest card under $200, and is easily 2x as fast as a 7600gt. When you do switch to Vista and more DX10 games are available, there will be newer and better DX10 cards available, offering more performance for the money than current generation HW.

DX10 video cards are pointless for DX10 games right now. Why bother?

 

[MarcVenice]

they are ? Hmz, I seem to be playing CoH just fine with my 8800gts, same for call of juarez, and lost planet. Man does it stink !!! I'm getting better framerates then everyone with a dx9 card out there, sure sucks, this 8800gts of mine, doesn't it ? It also outperforms any dx9 card in any dx9 game.

Munky is right though, anything less then the 8800gts isn't worth it, coz the x1950xt will outperform it. So if it isn't for future dx10 games, and you need some extra videocard power right now, x1950xt is the way to go. If you want more power though, like me, and you wanna be playing DX10 games, like crysis, before the newer generation dx10 cards come out, dont get anything below the 8800gts 320.

 

[niggles]

BF2 looks sooo much better with my current rig, buying a 7900 at this point seems a little old to me. I'd suggest getting just a cheap 8800 GTS 320 meg until the good games come out, then switch it up to an 8800 GTX.

 

[big4x4]

Upgraded my 7800gtx 256 to a 7950gt and saw a very nice difference in the games I played

 

[evolucion8]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN

Originally posted by: covert24
how does a 1950xt compare to a 7950GT KO SuperclockeD?

They are almost same.
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/....php?topic_id=25723170

The X1950XTX which has 200MHz higher in RAM speed than the X1950XT and 25MHz higher in core clock speed can outperform the almighty 7900GTX which has 100Mhz higher in core clock against the standard 7950GT. The X1950XT trade blows with the 7900GTX, so it should outperform the 7950GT easily, even if the 7950GT OC has a core clock of 650MHz, the X1950XT will be as fast or slighly faster overall.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_...hp?card1=442&card2=467