Radeon X1950 - relic or usable

D Cup

Junior Member
May 14, 2012
12
0
0
My present system has a x1950 card and I have new stuff on the way-
GA Z77X-ud3h and a i5 3570

Is the x-1950 any use at all on the new system? I have a brother that I am going to see next week and he would like the card. His system is as old as mine. I wanted to take it to him and use the on chip video until I have time to decide what to about a new card. I plan to decide what games I want to take up and play. I would expect that will take about a month and then I will have more of an idea about what card to buy. Now retired and have the time but living on a fixed income and value is taking on a more important meaning.

Been away a long time - sorry if this question is out of line.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
It's usable for now. If you aren't keen on playing anything immediately on board will work fine until you decide if you want a GTX 670 or something like that.
 

blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
6,654
5
76
My present system has a x1950 card and I have new stuff on the way-
GA Z77X-ud3h and a i5 3570

Is the x-1950 any use at all on the new system? I have a brother that I am going to see next week and he would like the card. His system is as old as mine. I wanted to take it to him and use the on chip video until I have time to decide what to about a new card. I plan to decide what games I want to take up and play. I would expect that will take about a month and then I will have more of an idea about what card to buy. Now retired and have the time but living on a fixed income and value is taking on a more important meaning.

Been away a long time - sorry if this question is out of line.

Personally I would rather use the embedded GPU in your i5-3570k. Uses less power, and it's actually possible to play old games like Half Life 2 with it at decent framerates and settings at 1080p. In fact, I'm not even sure which is more powerful at this point, the 1950 or the embedded GPU. I'll update this post once I've gathered more info.

Edit: it looks like the x1950 GT is in the ballpark of your embedded GPU's performance (within 20% based on guesstimating off TechPowerUp Quake 4 benchmarks at 19x12), so it's not like you're going to see a big jump in performance by keeping it. Might as well just go with the embedded GPU at this point and save yourself the hassle of drivers and higher power/noise/temperatures, etc. This reminds me of when I learned that my 6800XT GeForce was only on par with my AMD mobo's IGP a couple of years ago. Haha.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
 
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Raswan

Senior member
Jan 29, 2010
702
6
81
Personally I would rather use the embedded GPU in your i5-3570k. Uses less power, and it's actually possible to play old games like Half Life 2 with it at decent framerates and settings at 1080p. In fact, I'm not even sure which is more powerful at this point, the 1950 or the embedded GPU. I'll update this post once I've gathered more info.

Edit: it looks like the x1950 GT is in the ballpark of your embedded GPU's performance (within 20% based on guesstimating off TechPowerUp Quake 4 benchmarks at 19x12), so it's not like you're going to see a big jump in performance by keeping it. Might as well just go with the embedded GPU at this point and save yourself the hassle of drivers and higher power/noise/temperatures, etc. This reminds me of when I learned that my 6800XT GeForce was only on par with my AMD mobo's IGP a couple of years ago. Haha.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

+1
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
5,331
17
76
Make sure your brothers PSU has at least 30a on the 12v rail if you gve him the card, the x1950 likes to draw power!
 

Concillian

Diamond Member
May 26, 2004
3,751
8
81
Make sure your brothers PSU has at least 30a on the 12v rail if you gve him the card, the x1950 likes to draw power!

x1950xt is lower power consumption that almost every current discrete GPU anyone in this forum would consider.

It used a lot of power for it's time, but compared to current discrete GPUs, it's a lightweight in terms of power consumption.
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
5,331
17
76
A x1950 doesn't draw 360 watts, bro. But good point on making sure his PSU is up to the task.

I know its 7 years ago, but I had a hell of a time with my x1950pro, the AMD website stated you needed a good 12v rail of 30a, that doesnt mean the card uses 30a!.....LOL
 

MangoX

Senior member
Feb 13, 2001
555
43
91
I've used a X1950GT for a few months last year when I quit PC gaming (now back in because of D3). I traded my 5850 to a friend for his X1950+cash (obviously ;D) and the card is still pretty powerful. I was actually able to play Crysis 1 DX9 on all low settings albeit at only 800x600 res IIRC. I was even able to play SC2 on all low at my native 1920x1200 resolution; but forget about large battles, it lagged like hell. I got rid of it though because the tiny fan at max load kills my ears. Those old days... If the card wasn't so loud I would've kept it. I'm pretty sure it can run D3 on all low settings too.
 

Zorander

Golden Member
Nov 3, 2010
1,143
1
81
A x1950 doesn't draw 360 watts, bro. But good point on making sure his PSU is up to the task.
I used a 330W Antec PSU on a A64 X2 system with a x1950Pro card. Worked fine for me, though iit should be noted nothing was overclocked.
 

D Cup

Junior Member
May 14, 2012
12
0
0
Hey folks thanks for all the replies. I think my brother has the same power supply I have - OCZ 850 gold. (I have a 650 back up sitting on the shelf). Based on the overall advice, I will probably take it with me when I go visit and give it to him. If I have the time before leaving I may install it and run some test just to see. Never considered the drivers but it is a good point although it is running on Win 7 32 bit now. Sad as it is I must stay with 32 bit because one of my main software (3D editing) will not run on 64 bit. I think it is X1950 pro 512mb version and my fan is NOT loud. It has been a good card for many years - was expensive when purchased but I cant recall how much.

Running a 28" monitor @ 1080 if that matters

Thanks again to all you considerate people
 
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Leyawiin

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2008
3,204
52
91
Its in the legacy category for driver updates. AMD hasn't done a thing for DX9 cards since February 2010.
 

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,695
4
0
I had the 7800 GT - the Nvidia equivilent. Man I loved that card.

I say use the 1950. I've played the same games on my PC (mostly with a dedicated GPU) and my parent's (always integrated) and the smoothness is always more apparent with the dedicated GPU.