Ok..So what do I do now

[vikingblade]

Ive got my new system all picked out except my damn video card choice. This is supposed to be fun, but Im really having a difficult time deciding.

I thought about waiting a month or so, to see what happens with ati's newest offerings, but my old athlon xp and 9700 pro is crapping out fast, and it doesnt look like they will be widely available anytime soon.

problem is, i cant afford to upgrade often. this card will have to do for at least 1-2 years. i want the maximum performance, resolution and image quality possible for $400 or under. And it needs to be as future proof as possible for new games.

so, i guess this leaves me the 7800GT or X850XT. now, i know the performance goes to the 7800gt, but im worried about all the image quality, artifacts, shimmering, blocky shadows etc.. How much of this stuff is now fixed or will be fixed by new drivers? Would a newly purchased 7800gt come with the new bios/driver or would they all require a bios flash. so, considering these issues, should i look more seriously at the x850xt?

what the hell is the best choice here... honestly.

 

[Polish3d]

Don't go with the XT, you won't have SM3.0 support or anything

 

[moonboy403]

7800 gt period....it can be had for like 320 after mail in rebate

 

[caz67]

7800GT , no other choice at all.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Duh... 7800GT > X850XT. I apparently just found this out a week ago and now I'm an even happier 7800GT owner =P. Well even more happy today after seeing the X1800XL get gg PWNED.

 

[vikingblade]

looks like the 7800gt may be the best bet. any updates on a driver fix etc.. for the image quality issues.

also, any idea where i can get a slightly used 7800gtx for under 400 bucks..hehe.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'm not sure if the 7800 and 6800 have the same shimmering issues... but using 16XAF, Trilinear filtering, with all optimizations turned off, and driver image quality set to the highest, I don't notice much shimmering. By that I mean, I have to intentionally create a situation where it happens... like intentionally view a surface at an extreme angle that I wouldn't normally. I don't see it at all in CoD2 demo, or FEAR demo, or HL2, or DoD:S, or CS:S... the only game I notice it in is MS Flight 2004 and World of Warcraft.

Either way... I'd go with the 7800GT. Those problems are driver issues that can potentially be fixed, either by nVidia, or by a 3rd party who modifies drivers. A little more performance can potentially be tweaked out of the x850XT with drivers, but I doubt enough to bring it up to 7800GT performance.

 

[dfloyd]

A friend of mine actually chose the XT over the 7800 but hes less of a gamer than I am and was hardcore on the idea of a HTPC. Depending on your purpose Ati still has the uper hand in video, or at least thats what I have read from most reviews this may of changed and I am just not up to date at the moment.

But for gaming and at $320 the 7800 GT is hard to beat, unless your like me and forgoing the pc upgrade for a while and jumping on the 360 bandwagon

 

[Rage187]

7800GT, or if you cna scrape together $25 more dollars, then get the 7800GTX.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: dfloyd
A friend of mine actually chose the XT over the 7800 but hes less of a gamer than I am and was hardcore on the idea of a HTPC. Depending on your purpose Ati still has the uper hand in video, or at least thats what I have read from most reviews this may of changed and I am just not up to date at the moment.

But for gaming and at $320 the 7800 GT is hard to beat, unless your like me and forgoing the pc upgrade for a while and jumping on the 360 bandwagon

Wait... what? Everything I've seen shows nVidia's DVD decoder is FAR superior to ATI's. Deinterlacing, color, etc. all much better on nVidia.

 

[vikingblade]

any links where i can find the 7800gt-7800gtx for 320-425

 

[Powermoloch]

Grab x800GT02...they cost around $200, it's freaking hot. Unlocked 16 pipes already, and can attain x850xtpe performance !

 

[ayabe]

Last gen tech though and still not as fast as 7800GT

 

[Topweasel]

Originally posted by: vikingblade
looks like the 7800gt may be the best bet. any updates on a driver fix etc.. for the image quality issues.

also, any idea where i can get a slightly used 7800gtx for under 400 bucks..hehe.

I was just going to send you a link but Newegg had a refurb PNY for $350 looks like they sold out though.

Edit: it was a GTX just incase someone was thinking that I was refering to a GT. At refurb GT at that price would be retarded.

Edit: Wierd they are now showing a GT from PNY at 358, which I think is to much. Maybe they did the wrong part originally.

 

[compgeek89]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...xPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

$419 After MIR

 

[Topweasel]

Originally posted by: compgeek89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...xPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

$419 After MIR

Those are nice because they are really only stock BFGs with a 1 year warranty.