need your opinions

[Yregouth]

The setup should be based on a single card (NO SLI/Xfire), yet have enough power to deliver good FPS in latest games with maximum settings at resolutions of up to 1920 x 1200.

What would you do if you had to make a decision for a new rig?

Feel free to post your opinion here at Anandtech (registration would be required on 3dchipset.com)! Please vote here.

Thanks!

 

[avi85]

what's your budget?

 

[sisq0kidd]

I believe the card you are looking for does not exist yet

x1900xtx perhaps?

 

[cmdrdredd]

ATI x1950xtx when it releases

 

[Yregouth]

Originally posted by: avi85
what's your budget?

bleeh, let's not talk about budget . I'm building a speedy rig that will look like that:

(purchased [2]/planned [1] parts, so far)

* Thermaltake Armor LCS case [1]
* Intel Core 2 Duo E6700, NOT-exactly-@-stock-speed CPU [1]
* (NV nForce chipset based mainboard) [1]
* OCZ GameXStream (600 W) PSU [2]
* 2 x 1 Gb OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum (Dual Channel) memory[2]
* (next gen. DX10 GPU?) [1]
* 300 Gb Seagate 7200.9, 16 Mb Cache [2]
* LiteOn SHM-165H6S DVD Burner [2]
* Dell Ultrasharp 2407 WFP [1]

I just don't want/need more than one video card.

 

[Wreckage]

I am building a similar rig. I may just pick up an eVGA 7900GT and hope to "step up" to a G80.

Otherwise you may just want to get a 7950GX2, no single card will touch that.

 

[Yregouth]

how does the step up work? I couldn't find an answer on the evga page.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: Yregouth
how does the step up work? I couldn't find an answer on the evga page.

http://www.evga.com/stepup/default.asp?switch=3

Anytime within the first 90 days after your original date of purchase you can step up your video card to a new card graphics card from our website at http://evga.com/products/ of greater value.

So if you buy a 7900GT for $300 and next month a G80 comes out for $350, you send them your card and $50 and you get the new card.

 

[akshayt]

For games like oblivion and GRAW you need CF/SLI, and I am not even sure whether I am considering AA here or not.

But the closest you can get for the time being is 1950XTX.

 

[akshayt]

bte get 4gb ram

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: akshayt
For games like oblivion and GRAW you need CF/SLI, and I am not even sure whether I am considering AA here or not.

But the closest you can get for the time being is 1950XTX.

?????
You don't "need" CF/SLI. When I had to RMA one of my 7900GT's, the other one (at the same high speed) played Oblivion just fine. Everything MAX at 1280x1024. And it ran even better after tweaking the ini file.

Originally posted by: akshayt
bte get 4gb ram

Unless your doing extream 3d editing/rendering you really don't need 4gb of ram. 2gb for any gamer is fine at the most. Most games out barly go over 1gb, but they do go over sometimes. It'll be years before games go over 2gb of ram usage.

 

[PianoMan]

I'm running an X1900XT on a Dell 2407FPW (1920x1200). I can max out settings in GRAW and still get pretty playable framerates. I play Oblivion at 1920x1200 as well, but just loaded it on yesterday, and it seemed to play just fine as well.

If you want future proof, I'd wait for the next-gen GPU's. If you want something to play now - the X1900XT(X) can play those games, at max (or near max) settings, with decent framerates, AND at 1920x1200.

PM

 

[Yregouth]

thanks for the replies. I've been told you have to register to be able to vote. That was NOT my intention, sorry for that. Regarding Oblivion: I'd be totally happy to get 30 fps in that game on a new rig. This is not a shooter where maximum fps is essential. Just my 5 cents

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: akshayt

But the closest you can get for the time being is 1950XTX.

There is no 1950. So, you can't get one. :roll:

 

[Nelsieus]

I'd love to know about this secret, underground store selling Radeon x1950XTXs. Because last I heard, they aren't due to launch until the middle of September.

 

[PianoMan]

Yreg,

If you don't want uber-good framerates, you can probably go with the eVGA step up program (that is, if the next-gen comes out within three months) and get a 7800/7900GT right now.

But with the rig you're building, better pair it up with something gud - perhaps eVGA's 7900GT w/512MB? Of course, with the 1900 price drops, there's pretty much parity now at the $300 level.

Again, another rec for at least an X1900XT - the main reason why I stepped from the 7800GT was to game at the 2407's native resolution.

PM