On the topic of the X1950 Series

[Jschmuck2]

X1950 Pro 512mb

vs.

1950xt 256mb

Let's assume you're me (my God but you're gorgeous) and you want a nice DX9 upgrade to your 7800gtx until you build a new box in about a year's time, which of these cards do you choose? Both are right around $200.

 

[swtethan]

I would NOT upgrade.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Really? I'm thinking that my 7800 isn't going to hold up for the next year with the deluge of graphically intense games coming out.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Really? I'm thinking that my 7800 isn't going to hold up for the next year with the deluge of graphically intense games coming out.

Anything that will bring a 7800GTX to unplayable frame rates will do the same to the X1950XT. There is no reason to upgrade, unless it costs nothing (Ie; sell the 7800 to a friend, buy a X1950XT for same cost).

To be honest, I'd recommend waiting until the 2950Pro, and the Nvidia DX10 gen 2 cards hit the streets, then make an educated pick.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Really? I'm thinking that my 7800 isn't going to hold up for the next year with the deluge of graphically intense games coming out.

Anything that will bring a 7800GTX to unplayable frame rates will do the same to the X1950XT. There is no reason to upgrade, unless it costs nothing (Ie; sell the 7800 to a friend, buy a X1950XT for same cost).

To be honest, I'd recommend waiting until the 2950Pro, and the Nvidia DX10 gen 2 cards hit the streets, then make an educated pick.

Well, playable frame rates and things looking nice are two completely different things. What do you consider a playable frame rate?

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Really? I'm thinking that my 7800 isn't going to hold up for the next year with the deluge of graphically intense games coming out.

Anything that will bring a 7800GTX to unplayable frame rates will do the same to the X1950XT. There is no reason to upgrade, unless it costs nothing (Ie; sell the 7800 to a friend, buy a X1950XT for same cost).

To be honest, I'd recommend waiting until the 2950Pro, and the Nvidia DX10 gen 2 cards hit the streets, then make an educated pick.

Well, playable frame rates and things looking nice are two completely different things. What do you consider a playable frame rate?

(1)- The 7800GTX and X1950XT should have VERY VERY little difference in terms of visual settings @ playable framerates. Looking at Tom's VGA charts, for example, at the same res/detail/etc, the 7800GTX gets 70.7fps in BF2142, while the X1950XT gets 71.9. 1.2FPS! Big whoop! Same deal with Doom 3, Oblivion, Prey, etc, etc. The cards are so close in performance that you'd have a VERY hard time telling the difference. 1-2% in most cases.

(2)- I consider playable frame rates differently for different types of games. Another thing to consider is minimum FPS. Even if your Max/Avg FPS is 60fps, if it hits 15fps in spots, it makes things pretty nasty.

But simple answer : for RTS games, 25-40fps is decent, for FPS games, you want 40-60fps as a decent start, and ideally, you'd want to bounce between 80-100+FPS in anything.

Look at the THG VGA charts for yourself though, the 7800GTX and X1950XT are too close to remotely consider upgrading.

 

[Jschmuck2]

I think you might be looking at the wrong 7800gtx I have the original 256mb version.

Text

at least a 20fps difference in all benches.

And I'm playing at 1600*1050

 

[Arkaign]

Ah, well still not a drastic improvement. The only thing to move to at this point from a 7800GTX is an 8800GTS. They should drop in price quite a lot after 2950 hits.

 

[Laminator]

I beg to differ with what has been said in this thread. I recently sold my 7900GT 512MB @ 7900GTX speeds and bought an X1900 XT 512MB. The X1900 XT 512MB is much, much faster in Need for Speed: Carbon. I will test out newer, shader-intensive games like Rainbow Six: Vegas and BioShock and tell you the results when I'm done.

Forget Tom's Hardware charts. The games they use are pretty dated. It's now all about the SHADERS!

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Laminator
I beg to differ with what has been said in this thread. I recently sold my 7900GT 512MB @ 7900GTX speeds and bought an X1900 XT 512MB. The X1900 XT 512MB is much, much faster in Need for Speed: Carbon. I will test out newer, shader-intensive games like Rainbow Six: Vegas and BioShock and tell you the results when I'm done.

Forget Tom's Hardware charts. The games they use are pretty dated. It's now all about the SHADERS!

8800GTS >>>>>>>>>>>>> X1900/X1950

That is all

 

[Jschmuck2]

Yeah - but this isn't about the 8800gts.

Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[Arkaign]

Ask MarcVenice, he's outstanding, and also has experience with the above cards.

My main issue with 7900 to X1950 is that they're so close, being of the competing generation of cards. It's just weird to upgrade sideways like that. The 8800 is not much more $ than a 1950, but a LOT faster, and ready for next gen games and DX10.

EDIT : GTS 320MB @ $250 : From AT FS/FT

 

[bryanW1995]

i upgraded froma 7600 gt to an x1950xt 6wks ago and it's been night and day diff. I usually use toms guide for help when choosing vid cards, and the x1950xt was 4 levels above the 7600gt, so I felt pretty confident that it was a smart upgrade for $90 after selling the 7600gt. The 7800 gtx (256) is right in between my 7600 gt and the x1950xt, so I think that it will be a tough decision. I've upgraded just two levels in the past and I was very disappointed, I think that you need to go 3 or more to really make it worth your while for any length of time. If you can swing it for 40-50 bucks after selling the other card then it's probably worth it, but I think it would be a mistake to pay 130 or so which is probably more in line with what you're looking at for this swap. as a side note, the x1900xt 512 is quite a bit better at 1680x1050 than my x1950xt 256. Here's the link: http://www.tomshardware.com/20...ney/page7.html#summary

sorry, I just reread the OP. If you are determined to upgrade then get the x1950xt. you will be very disappointed with the x1950 pro as it is nearly identical in performance to your 7800gtx.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
i upgraded froma 7600 gt to an x1950xt 6wks ago and it's been night and day diff. I usually use toms guide for help when choosing vid cards, and the x1950xt was 4 levels above the 7600gt, so I felt pretty confident that it was a smart upgrade for $90 after selling the 7600gt. The 7800 gtx (256) is right in between my 7600 gt and the x1950xt, so I think that it will be a tough decision. I've upgraded just two levels in the past and I was very disappointed, I think that you need to go 3 or more to really make it worth your while for any length of time. If you can swing it for 40-50 bucks after selling the other card then it's probably worth it, but I think it would be a mistake to pay 130 or so which is probably more in line with what you're looking at for this swap. as a side note, the x1900xt 512 is quite a bit better at 1680x1050 than my x1950xt 256. Here's the link: http://www.tomshardware.com/20...ney/page7.html#summary

What would your advice be to the OP then? X1950XT 512 or 8800GTS 320?

 

[Jschmuck2]

An interesting read:

Text

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
An interesting read:

Text

Even Better

 

[bryanW1995]

that is a 512 mb card. The best 3dmark06 I've ever gotten on my 256 mb card was at 668 core and 936 memory with my e6750 at 3.704. I got 6311. I have the link at home, I'll post it later.

@arkaign: I only spent 155 for my card after shipping - 65 for selling my 7600 gt, so for me the $90 made sense. It would have been more like $200 for me, so double the price, to get the 8800gts 320. In this case I think that it would be incredibly hard to justify spending 200 on an x1950xt when you can get the evga 8800gts 320 at newegg for 260 AR.

again going back to op, you would be completely wasting your money to get the pro even though it's 512 vs 256 on the xt. the xt wipes the floor with the pro 512. You would be MOSTLY wasting your money on the xt for $200 since it will be selling for more like $100-125 used once dx 10 v2 cards come out.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
that is a 512 mb card. The best 3dmark06 I've ever gotten on my 256 mb card was at 668 core and 936 memory with my e6750 at 3.704. I got 6311. I have the link at home, I'll post it later.

@arkaign: I only spent 155 for my card after shipping - 65 for selling my 7600 gt, so for me the $90 made sense. It would have been more like $200 for me, so double the price, to get the 8800gts 320. In this case I think that it would be incredibly hard to justify spending 200 on an x1950xt when you can get the evga 8800gts 320 at newegg for 260 AR.

Makes sense

 

[Jschmuck2]

I'd love an 8800 but it's out of the old price range at the moment.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
I'd love an 8800 but it's out of the old price range at the moment.

Well, the X1950s are hovering $155-190, depending on where you find them, and the 8800 can be found as low as $255 for the 320mb model.

Can you sell some old PC parts? Have a garage sale? Mow a lawn or two, fix a friend's PC? There must be some way to get that extra $60-$100 together. It will make all the difference in your 3d performance, and pave the way to being able to play games at decent speeds for a while to come.

There must be a way

 

[evolucion8]

Try to get a GeForce 8, if for some reason you can't, even if you tried the hardest, try to sell your old card and get then the X1950XT, is the fastest card after the X1950XTX and GeForce 8800GTS/Radeon HD 2900XT/8800GTX/Ultra. The 7800GTX 256 is not two times faster than the X850XT PE. The X1950XT is like 2.5 times faster than the X850XT PE in a lot of scenarios (When not CPU limited of course). So if you can get the X1950XT cheaper and sell your old card is a nice upgrade, otherwise just save some more and get the 8800GTS.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2451&p=14

 

[Jschmuck2]

Zoinks - a x1950xt for $145. Bite?

 

[evolucion8]

Hell yeah.

 

[Laminator]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Zoinks - a x1950xt for $145. Bite?

Yes!

 

[bryanW1995]

you see, that upgrade makes sense if you can get the x1950xt new for $145. You will get more for your 7800 gtx than I did for my 7600gt, figure around $100. You'll end up spending very little for a pretty good upgrade. I assume that's 256 mb? LMK how you do on 3d mark 06, as I stated earlier my best is 6311. oops, just checked, it's 6317. here's the link:

http://service.futuremark.com/...14&XLID=0&UID=10345345