Question for X1950XT owners

[asdftt123]

Hello, everyone!

I'm planning to build a system early - mid September for primary college use and gaming on the side. I'm on a budget of $2000 max (need all components and peripherals including monitor), but it would also be nice to limit the total cost as much as I can so I can afford some good upgrades in the future. Similar to other gaming builds, the graphics card is what's going to kill me. I plan on building a system with Q6600, x38/P35, 4GB DDR2 1066, sound card, Vista 64-bit, 22" WS LCD, Logitech G5, etc...

I'm leaning towards either an 8800 GTX or X1950XT for the video card... I think my options are to either pick up the 8800 GTX and upgrade in a year at the earliest or get the X1950XT and pick up the high range card when it comes to the market at the end of the year. If I get the X1950XT how does it perform on games such as Fear, Stalker, HL2, Oblivion, Doom 3, Quake 4, etc... Is there anything it can't handle? I plan on playing Crysis and other main releases as they come and the GTX seems a bit iffy for the future, IMO. Also, would the 256MB version of the XT suffice for 1650 x 1050 or do I have to go for the 512 version?

On a side note, is the x38 chipset going to be released in time for mid-Sept? Is it worth it to get x38 or should I be fine with P35 + new line of PCI-e 2.0 cards?

Thanks!

 

[mpilchfamily]

New games such as Crysis will be usinf Direct X 10 and the 1950 doesn't have DX10 support. There real question should be weather you go with the 8800 GTS or the 8800 GTX. A 1K series card shouldn't even be in the running at this point.

 

[asdftt123]

Thanks for your response but if I go for the X1950XT then chances are I'll be waiting for my upgrade (towards end of 07 or beginning of 08) to play Crysis and main releases. I'm just worried if the investment will be gone to waste later on and if the performance will be up to PAR on games I plan on playing before the upgrade. Also, are there any must have DX10 titles out there now?

 

[fanbottle]

Originally posted by: asdftt123
Thanks for your response but if I go for the X1950XT then chances are I'll be waiting for my upgrade (towards end of 07 or beginning of 08) to play Crysis and main releases. I'm just worried if the investment will be gone to waste later on and if the performance will be up to PAR on games I plan on playing before the upgrade. Also, are there any must have DX10 titles out there now?

I would take the 8800gts

 

[asdftt123]

What other obvious advantages does the 8800 GTS have over the X1950XT other than DX10? None of the current DX10 games even interest me, besides, the 8800 GTS is $100 more. Other than Oblivion, I'd imagine the X1950XT to run HL2, Battlefield series, Quake 4, Fear, maybe Stalker very well on max settings...am I correct? If I get a "filler" card before the new generation of cards I'll only be using it for a few months so what's the point?

 

[evolucion8]

The X1950XT can run any game currently on max settings (Oblivion, F.E.A.R., S.T.A.L.K.E.R. etc) It's the fastest DX9 card on the market (After the 8800 series). You can use the X1950XT and enjoy it's performance until a decent DX10 card comes out, cause today even the 8800 Ultra cannot offers you a great performance under DX10 with all the eye candy on.

 

[bigsnyder]

Don't forget, all the 1st round "DX10" titles will operate in DX9 with nearly the same visual quality.
DX9 support is not going anywhere anytime soon. If you are upgrading later on anyway, the X1900XT
X1950XT are great filler cards, no need to spend an extra >$100 for the 8800. I picked up a used
X1900XT 512MB card out of the FS/FT to save a few bucks. Very happy with the card.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: evolucion8
The X1950XT can run any game currently on max settings (Oblivion, F.E.A.R., S.T.A.L.K.E.R. etc) It's the fastest DX9 card on the market (After the 8800 series). You can use the X1950XT and enjoy it's performance until a decent DX10 card comes out, cause today even the 8800 Ultra cannot offers you a great performance under DX10 with all the eye candy on.

DX10 is supposed to increase performance by being more effecient at doing certain things that are slow and tasking in DX9. I'm not sure the performance will be terrible anymore. These games out now which are written in DX9 and have a partial DX10 mode are not the same.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: asdftt123
Thanks for your response but if I go for the X1950XT then chances are I'll be waiting for my upgrade (towards end of 07 or beginning of 08) to play Crysis and main releases. I'm just worried if the investment will be gone to waste later on and if the performance will be up to PAR on games I plan on playing before the upgrade. Also, are there any must have DX10 titles out there now?

x1950xt is getting close to 8800GTS 320mb pricing.

 

[bigsnyder]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
x1950xt is getting close to 8800GTS 320mb pricing.

Some models yes, but the Sapphire 256MB version is currently going for around $170 at newegg and is often listed cheaper. Again, I strongly recommend anyone to check the FS/FT forum first for a possible better deal.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i'd go for the x1950xt and get a better video card later on when all the bugs are fixed. ati is almost there but i hear nvidia still has a way to go... dont get any dx10 now. theres no point...

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: bigsnyder

Originally posted by: alkemyst
x1950xt is getting close to 8800GTS 320mb pricing.

Some models yes, but the Sapphire 256MB version is currently going for around $170 at newegg and is often listed cheaper. Again, I strongly recommend anyone to check the FS/FT forum first for a possible better deal.

I could have sworn there was a 8800GTS 320mb for close to $210 AR not to long ago. Maybe it was a pricing mistake.

I had been (still a little bit) debating between a 7950GT and the x1950xt. In the used market the 512mb 7950gt sometime is around the mid $100 range. For the games I was interested in at 1600x1200 resolution it was better than the x1950xt and uses less power.

My machine is full of optical and hard drives.

 

[butch84]

I've got an x1950xt and I'm happy with it. Personally, I think it's always a good idea to wait for the second generation of a new directx standard. The problem is that first gen hardware often has problems running games designed for that new standard. Take directx 9 for example; ATI had the 9700pro which handled dx9 fairly well, while nvidia had the 5800/5900 series which did not. It seems to me that the risk is pretty high that a fancy new dx10 card won't actually be able to run full dx10 titles very well by the time they come out. You might as well get an inexpensive card in the x1950 family that runs current games quite well, and then get a dx10 card when the second or third generation is out. By this time the dx10 cards will be faster, cheaper, and a better investment. But that's just my opinion.

 

[tigersty1e]

The current pricing of the DX10 cards really turned me away from the current crop.

They've been out for a while (in computer years) and the price is the same, maybe higher than when they came out. What a FUKIN joke!

If you bought it when they first came out, then it would be cool. But not now.

Disclaimer: I've been out of the loop for a while, so I'll have plenty of fun playing games from late '05 to '07. Then when DX10 comes out in full force and the next gen comes out, we'll see what's up. My 6800 served me well.

 

[GoodJob]

I am using X1950XT,too. It's good for most games out there now. With this card, I can set at least half of the effects in STALKER to mid or high on 1280X1024 and still have decent FPS( I overclocked it though). But be careful with ATI's image scaling.

 

[agathodaimon]

Love my X1950XT.
With an X2 4200, I can play everything at 1680x1050 on max.
Oblivion, FEAR, (stalker is a tad choppy at times), Quake4, Doom3, Titan Quest, Supreme Commander....

It eats up everything I throw at it.

It's a 512mb version, and I got it for $180 in the FS/FT forum.

 

[drakore]

Grab it until the G92 release... supposedly they will be 3x faster than the current 8800 series... DX10 cards now suck really badly.

 

[firewolfsm]

The X1950XT is still fast enough for everything you need and it will hold it's resale value better than an 8800. Get that and sell once the next generation comes out in a few months.