Looking to upgrade from an X1900XT

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Silmatharien

Member
Mar 21, 2005
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I've had this card since 2006 (about time for an upgrade, I know). I upgraded my system last June to an i5 4670k and an Asus Z87 Pro motherboard with 2x4GB of Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1866 MHz 9-10-9-27 RAM. My power supply is a 600w FSP. I meant to buy a video card but just never got around to it because I was so busy. I haven't overclocked this yet but I did delid the processor when I got it.

Anyway I'm only looking to do a single display and currently I have a 1680x1050 monitor with no plans to ugprade it any time soon. I would consider using my TV which does 1080p. I want to be able to play games on high settings. I don't have any games in mind in particular (I haven't been able to game properly on my computer in years) but Eve comes to mind. I enjoy shooters and RPGs especially, so any RPGs coming out I'll likely play. I was thinking of a max budget of around $500 Canadian because I don't game a ton, but I'm not sure if I even need to spend that much. I had my eye on a 4GB GTX 770 awhile back.

I'm not biased towards AMD or nVidia but given how expensive AMD cards are right now I'm not sure there's any point in going that direction. Given my upgrade frequency I would like this card to last me for awhile.

Can someone give me some suggestions for cards I could be looking at? Thanks.
 
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Ancalagon44

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2010
3,274
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What CPU and RAM do you have?

if your rig is that old, you would be better off buying a cheaper card along with a new CPU, MB and RAM.
 
Will Robinson

Will Robinson

Golden Member
Dec 19, 2009
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A GTX780 for a 1680x1050 monitor o_O

That's a bit excessive isn't it?

A decent $250 card will own that resolution then buy a faster card in a few years when he needs more power.
 
Shmee

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
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A 760 or 770 would be good I think.
 
Termie

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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I'd go with a GTX 760 for your monitor and gaming preferences.

By the way, an X1900xt is about half the speed of a $90 GT 640, so it's quite slow by today's standards. A GTX 760 is 8x faster than your card. That's about the biggest upgrade I've seen anyone make on this forum!
 
Essence_of_War

Essence_of_War

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2013
2,650
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2nd'ing/3rd'ing the GTX 760. It's great for gaming at ~1920x1080, and pretty good price/perf as well. In the neighborhood of the 760/770 ($250-$350 or so) is the inflection point for diminishing returns on $'s invested.

I had my eye on a 4GB GTX 770 awhile back.
Click to expand...

Generally, switching between different versions of the same card with different amounts of VRAM is not as efficient as switching to higher tier card, assuming that the original amount of VRAM is adequate. 2 GB should be more than enough for gaming at 1920x1080 or 1680x1050.
 
tweakboy

tweakboy

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2010
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In all honesty. Can I have that 1900XT. This card is a pos. Im surprised desktop works.

You deserve a special video card. I say pick up a 760 Ti which is 1000000x faster then a pos 1900XT desktop card, not a gaming card. Also you will OC the Ti and your good to go.
 
TeknoBug

TeknoBug

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2013
2,084
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Wow an X1900XT, that goes a long ways back, I sitll have ATI X700Pro and X1650Pro cards here, can't use them since they're AGP. lol

Yeah I vote 760, decent value for performance right now, a 770 is a good step up and is only roughly $50 more depending on where you live. Don't bother with the 4GB version of the 760.
 
N

nwo

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2005
2,308
0
71
lavaheadache said:
He should just buy my $150 evga gtx 660 ti sc and send me his x1900 and be done with it
Click to expand...

GTX 660 Ti SC would be perfect for a 1680x1050 monitor.

But if the OP wants something new, I would recommend GTX 760 2GB. Not much point going higher than that for his monitor resolution or even 1080p since the performance/$ drops significantly.
 
Deders

Deders

Platinum Member
Oct 14, 2012
2,401
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Ideally you wouldn't want a 660 as it has a 192 bit memory bus. I still have to overclock my 256 bit memory to get the desired performance from a 670.

If you can afford it go at least 760.
 
frozentundra123456

frozentundra123456

Lifer
Aug 11, 2008
10,451
642
126
Will Robinson said:
A GTX780 for a 1680x1050 monitor o_O

That's a bit excessive isn't it?

A decent $250 card will own that resolution then buy a faster card in a few years when he needs more power.
Click to expand...

Or buy a 250 to 300 dollar card and a nice 1080p monitor. That would give you a nicer experience in everyday use as well as gaming.
 
Bubbleawsome

Bubbleawsome

Diamond Member
Apr 14, 2013
4,834
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Will Robinson said:
A GTX780 for a 1680x1050 monitor o_O

That's a bit excessive isn't it?

A decent $250 card will own that resolution then buy a faster card in a few years when he needs more power.
Click to expand...

My GTX 770 at 1306/9Ghz can't max every game even at 1280x1024. I might be a bit limited by my 870, but I doubt it is all my procs fault.
 
S

Silmatharien

Member
Mar 21, 2005
147
2
81
Thanks for all the suggestions on the 760. I'm gonna take a look at that tonight. My video card before this was a 9800 Pro. I really need to upgrade more often. Monday is really no issue for me so the 760 looks like a nice fit given how much I game.
 
Essence_of_War

Essence_of_War

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2013
2,650
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My video card before this was a 9800 Pro.
Click to expand...

But to be clear, not an nvidia 9800, an ati/radeon 9800? If AMD hadn't changed their numbering scheme again, you could have gone full circle this year :p
 
N

nwo

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2005
2,308
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71
Bubbleawsome said:
My GTX 770 at 1306/9Ghz can't max every game even at 1280x1024. I might be a bit limited by my 870, but I doubt it is all my procs fault.
Click to expand...

Unless you have a beastly OC on your 870, it certainly would be a limiting factor and a bottleneck for your OCed GTX 770. CPU plays an important role in your fps performance at lower resolutions.
 
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