Need help: Dual Geforce 7900GS OR Geforce 7950GX2

[leeyeegue]

I'm getting a new desktop as my old one is getting... And my laptop's Geforce Go6200 is not enough to play games in a satisfying way...

The question is going to be whether Dual Geforce 7900GS is going to be enough or not, because I don't want to change my computer very soon...

I'm not a Hardcore gamer, but I do play games a lot, and I want to play them at max... So is the 200dollar upgrade to Geforce 7950GX2 a waste of money or...?

The Config is going to be:
Pentium D 3.2ghz
2gb Ram
Dual Geforce 7900GS OR Geforce 7950GX2
rest is irrelevant to my topic...

Thanks.

 

[Stumps]

never heard of a 7900GS...you might be thinking of a 7900GT

 

[leeyeegue]

7900GS if for Dell XPS
I heard it's equivalent to a 7800GT

 

[Stumps]

link please?

 

[leeyeegue]

is this any help?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20060515072315.html

 

[TanisHalfElven]

isn't 7900gs the mobile model (i don't remeber)

7950GX2 is essentially 2 7900gts in sli at 50 MHz higher clock. so its faster but more expensive too.

 

[leeyeegue]

considering that 7900GS is a little below 7900GT, in SLI it should be enough to play most of the games right? Even later ones?
thanks

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: leeyeegue
is this any help?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20060515072315.html

interesting...will it work in a regular PC or only Dells?

 

[leeyeegue]

Technically it would work, but I don't know if you can buy it from any places other than dell.. hehe

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: leeyeegue
Technically it would work, but I don't know if you can buy it from any places other than dell.. hehe

you a probably better off buying a 7900GT or a pair of them if you want SLI

 

[leeyeegue]

I thought of that too, but XPS 700 only offers the following options:

1. 256MB NVidia GeForce 7900GS

2. Dual 256MB NVidia GeForce 7900GS

3. Dual 512MB NVidia GeForce 7900GTX (too expensive)

4. 1GB NVidia GeForce 7950 GX2 (little more expensive, still considering)

5. Dual 1GB NVidia GeForce 7950 GX2 (NO WAY LOL)

Do you think that the Dual GeForce 7900GS is enough or I should squeez an extra amount of money for the 7950GX2?

 

[Stumps]

ahhh now i see you have a lappy....well you'll probably be happy with the grunt of dual 7900GS's

 

[leeyeegue]

Thanks. I think I'll just get that.

 

[keeleysam]

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven
isn't 7900gs the mobile model (i don't remeber)

7950GX2 is essentially 2 7900gts in sli at 50 MHz higher clock. so its faster but more expensive too.

That is incorrect, as the GX2 has 512MB on each core.

 

[SpeedZealot369]

Originally posted by: keeleysam

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven
isn't 7900gs the mobile model (i don't remeber)

7950GX2 is essentially 2 7900gts in sli at 50 MHz higher clock. so its faster but more expensive too.

That is incorrect, as the GX2 has 512MB on each core.

Correct, it's basically 2 7900gtx's slapped together, although clock speeds are reduced.

 

[Fraggable]

Please don't buy a high-end Dell. You'll be throuwing away a bunch of money.

At the least, once you've customized the PC on Dell's site, go over to newegg.com and build a system like it by adding all the parts to your cart and just look at the price difference.

Dell is great for low-mid range throw-away PCs, but not for gaming PCs.

I'd bet you could afford a X1900XT CF setup with the price difference.


DFI Lanparty UT CFX3200-DR Socket 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon XPRESS 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Antec Performance I P180 Silver 0.8mm cold rolled steel for durability through the majority of chassis, 1.0mm cold rolled steel around the 4x HDD area ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Pioneer 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Read Black ATAPI Model DVR-111D - OEM

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model 991512 - Retail

BenQ FP202W Black 20.1" DVI 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 w/Update Rollup Release 2 OEM 1 Pack - OEM

OCZ OCZ600ADJSLI ATX12V 2.01, ATX, BTX, SATA, P4, and EPS12V 700 Watts Power Supply - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4800CDBOX - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100149L Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100159 Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - OEM

Grand total-$2750. A similarly configured Dell XPS 700 w/a D930 CPU and a 7950GX2 is $2699.

I don't think there's anyone here who would say a 7950GX2 is faster than a 1900XT CF setup, is there? And a D930 is no competition for a X2 4800 in games.

 

[akshayt]

dual 7900gs will have 512mb vram not 256mb

 

[akshayt]

dual 7900GTX will have 1 gb, however 7900gs sli will have 256mbX2 and 7900GTX with 512mb X 2

 

[996GT2]

Eh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think due to the limitations of SLi you can't use more than 512mb of active VRAM, even if you have 1 GB. Also even a GX2 cannot use its 1 GB, only 512MB I believe.

 

[Bobthelost]

The VRAM in SLI is different, you can't just add the two values together.

My vote goes for a different company than Dell, good for cheap machines, but for gaming ones i wouldn't touch em with a stick, not with those options.

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Eh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think due to the limitations of SLi you can't use more than 512mb of active VRAM, even if you have 1 GB. Also even a GX2 cannot use its 1 GB, only 512MB I believe.

I'm not correcting you, because I'm not sure myself, but if you check the benchmark results, you will see that with extra functions turned on (aniso/fsaa) the 7950 GX2 pwns the 7900GT SLI on many occasions. Unless there is some architectural difference between the cards, it has to be the RAM. And a 7900GT SLI can effectively use 512MB combined. So I can't find any other explanation but to assume that the 7950GX2 can indeed use the extra RAM. Of course, just as you, I could be wrong

Serious Sam 2 FSAA 4x + Aniso 16x : like 50% difference in performance

 

[Termie]

I just looked at the Dell website, and I see the options they offer on the XPS700. I will have to agree with a previous post that Dell desktops are probably not worth it - and I have one! (Dimension 8300, but I'm in the process of building my own now - waiting for Conroe)

Anyway, just to add one more option, if you're set on the Dell (and I know there are some HOT deals on it right now), you might consider the ATI x1900xtx for $50 more than the 7900gs dual set up. That 7900 is an unknown, will have no re-sale value, and frankly, even dual 7900gs cards probably won't top a single x1900xtx. Plus you might not want to have to deal with the SLI configuration issues (which the 7950gx2 also has).

I think the x1900 is your best option right now.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Kyanzes

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Eh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think due to the limitations of SLi you can't use more than 512mb of active VRAM, even if you have 1 GB. Also even a GX2 cannot use its 1 GB, only 512MB I believe.

I'm not correcting you, because I'm not sure myself, but if you check the benchmark results, you will see that with extra functions turned on (aniso/fsaa) the 7950 GX2 pwns the 7900GT SLI on many occasions. Unless there is some architectural difference between the cards, it has to be the RAM. And a 7900GT SLI can effectively use 512MB combined. So I can't find any other explanation but to assume that the 7950GX2 can indeed use the extra RAM. Of course, just as you, I could be wrong

Serious Sam 2 FSAA 4x + Aniso 16x : like 50% difference in performance

not really, because the texture data has to be stored on both cards. so there is a lot of ram that is duplicating what is on the other card. so, effectively, it's 2 256 meg cards, and the 7950 is 2 512 meg cards.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: Kyanzes

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Eh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think due to the limitations of SLi you can't use more than 512mb of active VRAM, even if you have 1 GB. Also even a GX2 cannot use its 1 GB, only 512MB I believe.

I'm not correcting you, because I'm not sure myself, but if you check the benchmark results, you will see that with extra functions turned on (aniso/fsaa) the 7950 GX2 pwns the 7900GT SLI on many occasions. Unless there is some architectural difference between the cards, it has to be the RAM. And a 7900GT SLI can effectively use 512MB combined. So I can't find any other explanation but to assume that the 7950GX2 can indeed use the extra RAM. Of course, just as you, I could be wrong

Serious Sam 2 FSAA 4x + Aniso 16x : like 50% difference in performance

Read the techreport.com (click) review of the 7950...it confirms that you only have a 512mb frame buffer, despite being marketed as a 1GB card. Even the 7900GT SLI can only use 256mb.

 

[cpacini]

Originally posted by: Kyanzes

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Eh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think due to the limitations of SLi you can't use more than 512mb of active VRAM, even if you have 1 GB. Also even a GX2 cannot use its 1 GB, only 512MB I believe.

I'm not correcting you, because I'm not sure myself, but if you check the benchmark results, you will see that with extra functions turned on (aniso/fsaa) the 7950 GX2 pwns the 7900GT SLI on many occasions. Unless there is some architectural difference between the cards, it has to be the RAM. And a 7900GT SLI can effectively use 512MB combined. So I can't find any other explanation but to assume that the 7950GX2 can indeed use the extra RAM. Of course, just as you, I could be wrong

Serious Sam 2 FSAA 4x + Aniso 16x : like 50% difference in performance

That review is comparing an overclocked 7950gx2 to a pair of stock clocked 7900 gt's. A pair of decently overclocked 7900 gt's (say, 650/1800) wouldprobably wipe the floor with the 7950.