Single ATI 1950 XTX 512MB - is it enough?

[Zebo]

Drop the E6700 to E6600, which makes no differnce, and get another 1950.. no way does one power at 19x12 suffeciently with todays games. I don't know what these people are talking about but it's bad advice and you will be unsatisfied with one unless you like slide shows or never turn any details on.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTE0NCw1LCxoY29uc3VtZXI=

You want a brand new setup and play with grass off, shadows off, shadow filtering off and medium fade? Rediculous.

Drop the ram to 2GB too which makes no differnce. There you paid for your second card which really does make a differnce.

I imagibe the CF set-up and the 7950 GX2 are not that far off in terms of performance, eh? The 1900XT CF set-up being a bit faster of course - but more complex etc... as well.

Not quite...CF beats TWO 7950GX2's

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Dream rig is ...well, mine

 

[lopri]

Agree with Zebo. Anything less than dual video cards setup will not let you max out modern games @1920x1200/4AA/8AF. I used to enjoy it when I had 7900GTX SLI. I sold them after I finished AOE3/COD2, and have been away from gaming. Today I placed an order for X1950XTX for my Conroe rig, but honestly I don't think I'll be able to max out everything @1920x1200. But I can't think of myself going CrossFire at this moment and SLI support is nill on my board (P5W-DH).

 

[m21s]

Originally posted by: gersson
Dream rig is ...well, mine

Almost...You need to get rid of that puny monitor and get a 37" westy

Mines coming wednesday

 

[Elfear]

Here's my .02 for what it's worth. With a single X1900XT@750/875 I could play all the games I have at 1920x1200 4AA/16AF except for FEAR, which would get occasional slowdows (only on the last two levels for some reason) and Oblivion, which would drop into the high teens every once in awhile in the heavy foliage areas (that's with 4AA+HDR). It wasn't too annoying but I found a killer deal on my Crossfire setup and it has been great. I occasionally hit mid 20's in Oblivion with the clocks in my sig but generally it only dips into the 30's.

I've really liked my MSI 975X Platinum. It's less expensive than the socket 975 Asus and Intel boards and it's been very stable. Good board layout too for Crossfire with plenty of space between the PCI-E slots. I also agree with Zebo that the E6600 is the highest I would go in the Core 2 Duo lineup. These chips are so easy to oc that you shouldn't have any problems if you're careful.

Here's a good comparison of Crossfired X1950XTX's and a bunch of other cards, including the 7950GX2. They test with drivers set to HQ on both cards and test at the res you're looking for (close to anyway).

 

[lopri]

Elfear, have you tried Company of Heros @1920x1200? I'm buying this X1950XTX especially for that game.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: lopri
Elfear, have you tried Company of Heros @1920x1200? I'm buying this X1950XTX especially for that game.

I haven't yet. If they have a demo I'd run through for you and see how performance is.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: gersson
Dream rig is ...well, mine

well yeah..

Almost overkill for 16x10 like our monitors have. But that's good future proofing. And good fo him at even higher resolution 19x12...

I can do everything max on two 7900GT's OCed at 16x10 but even so, in oblivion gets below 25 sometimes. I'd like 19xx's but I'm a silence freak.

processor doesnt even matter within reason.. don't belive me? Drop from 3.5 to 2.5 and run a time demo max everything and watch.

This is why I suggested he save a couple hundred to put in dual video. Video is everything for gamers.

BTW Gersson they are coming with a 24" WMGX soon looks like you be ready

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: gersson
Dream rig is ...well, mine

well yeah..

Almost overkill for 16x10 like our monitors have. But that's good future proofing. And good fo him at even higher resolution 19x12...

I can do everything max on two 7900GT's OCed at 16x10 but even so, in oblivion gets below 25 sometimes. I'd like 19xx's but I'm a silence freak.

processor doesnt even matter within reason.. don't belive me? Drop from 3.5 to 2.5 and run a time demo max everything and watch.

This is why I suggested he save a couple hundred to put in dual video. Video is everything for gamers.

BTW Gersson they are coming with a 24" WMGX soon looks like you be ready

WOW? Really? Hmmm I guess I should save up for that!
I'll give my 'puny' monitor to my parents

lol I'm not even remotely rich. Just have 0 debt.

 

[josh6079]

As if your private debt matters. Our country is trillions of dollars in debt. That means that we have a whole country that is basically living off of credit. I don't understand it, what is my paycheck? Just numbers representing the amount of work I did, given a value that correlates to another fake income and profit margin that is once again numbers representing the amount of work my company did? If you live in the U.S. you are in debt, whether your credit report says it or not. /rant

I'm thinking about getting a 30" monitor and I hope that NEC makes a 30" WMGX2 by the time I'm shopping for one. If not, I may opt for this rumored 24".

Needless to say, I would have to always have a CF/SLI system in my rig to run current games at high settings. It just seems so...........impractical. I mean, I like games but dam! I could get laser eye surgery and never have to wear glasses again for the price I'd be paying for computer gaming. However, maybe by that time dual-GPU solutions will be pretty much flawless and as convienent as single GPU solutions.

 

[Zebo]

30 is huge.. too small dot pitch too IMO. Not if you sit a foot away but the thing is so big you can't sit a foot away and see whole screen very easily.. maybe it just takes getting used to but I did'nt like it.

26" NEC will be just about perfect for me so long as they put glossy coat on it... It's 19x12 so you can sit 4 ft away and still see text. with the 30" that almost impossible.. usless you're 21...but then you aint looking for a 30" are you

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: Zebo
30 is huge..

I know...

...too small dot pitch too IMO. Not if you sit a foot away but the thing is so big you can't sit a foot away and see whole screen very easily.. maybe it just takes getting used to but I did'nt like it.

So you have a 30"? What kind?

26" NEC will be just about perfect for me so long as they put glossy coat on it...

Yeah, I thought I wouldn't like the glossy coating either until I saw the benefit of it in a completely dark room. Looking at it in the Best Buy warehouse didn't do it justice with all of the stupid lights reflecting off of it. In a pitch black room, the colors are sooooooo..........alive, the image is also the most clear I've ever seen.

It's 19x12 so you can sit 4 ft away and still see text. with the 30" that almost impossible...

I guess that would be true. However, if I'm playing a game, text would be my last worry.

...usless you're 21

What do you mean? Unless I'm 21 years old?

...but then you aint looking for a 30" are you

I might here within the year. I want to see what the new hardware does and if I think it will be worth it then......$$$$

 

[Zebo]

I don't have one.. played with the 30" Apple (same as Dell 3007) over at Frys for about an hour...even made them hook it to a PC and played DoomIII. Anyway when I was tooling around the desktop and opening .txt files etc I found text size way too small same goes for task bar. It has smallest dot pitch of any LCD so that's to be expected but it complicated things because I did'nt want to be too close...too much panning. But this is remedied though changing DPI in monitor properties but it's never consistant thoughout all programs and looks bad IMO.

There is a new HP 30" coming out real soon with fast IPS true 7-8ms...92% color gamet (vs 65-72% of todays displays) I would check out when you're looking ...
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2006/psgbusiness/ds_lp3065.pdf

 

[UltimaBoB]

So even a 7950 GX2 single card isn't enough?

I need the 2x1950XTX 512 MBs eh?

I will drop to 2GB mem but keep the 6700 - just cause ;-)

So if I go with 2 x ATI x1950 XTX CF is my mobo still okay? The Asus P5W DH?

Dilemma: I want the ACer 24" but it doesn't support 1:1 scaling. Nvidia will do this for me, ATI will not. But no good Mobos support quality SLI and Conroe.

However, I really plan on mostly playing Neverwinter Nights 2 and Oblivion which both support WS - so should I just go CF and suck up the stretching on the opccassional non-WS game I might play (since fewer and fewer new games won't support WS anyways ...or ATI might introduce a driver that supports 1:1 scaling...)

 

[lopri]

GX2 is better than 7900GT SLI.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: lopri
GX2 is better than 7900GT SLI.

Stock 7900GT SLIs yeah.

But some of the OCed 7900GTs in SLI > stock 7950GX2

I do agree the 7950GX2 = overall much better choice than SLI 7900GTs though.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: lopri
GX2 is better than 7900GT SLI.

Stock 7900GT SLIs yeah.

But some of the OCed 7900GTs in SLI > stock 7950GX2

I do agree the 7950GX2 = overall much better choice than SLI 7900GTs though.

QFT.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Zebo
There is a new HP 30" coming out real soon with fast IPS true 7-8ms...92% color gamet (vs 65-72% of todays displays) I would check out when you're looking ...
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2006/psgbusiness/ds_lp3065.pdf

Damnit, i was getting incredibly excited till i read thru the specs.
No BriteView mentioned

I will be all over the first Opticlear/BriteView/etc. 1920x1200+ LCD out there...but thus far, nothing

 

[UltimaBoB]

I'm actually having trouble finding the Acer 24" in Korea.

Not sure I want to buy it online and go thru the hassles.

If I dropped down to 19" or 20" WS Samsungs would I still need crossfire or would a single 1950 do fine and let me hoarde money until after DX10 cards come out and mature?

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: UltimaBoB
So even a 7950 GX2 single card isn't enough?

I need the 2x1950XTX 512 MBs eh?

I will drop to 2GB mem but keep the 6700 - just cause ;-)

So if I go with 2 x ATI x1950 XTX CF is my mobo still okay? The Asus P5W DH?

Crossfired 1950's will definitely give the ponies for that LCD and resolution.

And yes, the P5W-DH is a great board for running them.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: UltimaBoB
I'm actually having trouble finding the Acer 24" in Korea.

Not sure I want to buy it online and go thru the hassles.

If I dropped down to 19" or 20" WS Samsungs would I still need crossfire or would a single 1950 do fine and let me hoarde money until after DX10 cards come out and mature?

If you stick with a 20" WS than an X1950XTX will do what you want it to except for maybe some occasional dips in Oblivion (very occasional from my experience). If I were you, I'd just buy a 512MB X1900XT for $300 and save your money for DX10 stuff. It's about 10% slower than the X1950XTX and costs $120 less. More money for you to hoard in the end for almost the same performance.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: Zebo
There is a new HP 30" coming out real soon with fast IPS true 7-8ms...92% color gamet (vs 65-72% of todays displays) I would check out when you're looking ...
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2006/psgbusiness/ds_lp3065.pdf

Damnit, i was getting incredibly excited till i read thru the specs.
No BriteView mentioned

I will be all over the first Opticlear/BriteView/etc. 1920x1200+ LCD out there...but thus far, nothing

Not ot worry NEC will have a 24WGX3 with opticlear out at begining of next year. Using LM240WU1 a fast S-IPS

Should be the king of the 19x12's if thier 20" was indicative.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: lopri
GX2 is better than 7900GT SLI.

Stock 7900GT SLIs yeah.

But some of the OCed 7900GTs in SLI > stock 7950GX2

I do agree the 7950GX2 = overall much better choice than SLI 7900GTs though.

QFT.

N0t really I beat all GX2 benchmarks by huge margin even using lowly A64 when they use E6800 course I'm past GTX levels on both. Plus it was $100 cheaper than single GX2 and I could put a water blocks on them for high levels of silence.

Dual XFX 7950 trumps all IMO. Totally Silent and beats GX2 stock no overclocking or overvolting needed and has ram so you don't run out when triple buffering and max AA unlike dual 7900GT.

UltimateBOB should go this way if nvida is his choice.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: Zebo
There is a new HP 30" coming out real soon with fast IPS true 7-8ms...92% color gamet (vs 65-72% of todays displays) I would check out when you're looking ...
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2006/psgbusiness/ds_lp3065.pdf

Damnit, i was getting incredibly excited till i read thru the specs.
No BriteView mentioned

I will be all over the first Opticlear/BriteView/etc. 1920x1200+ LCD out there...but thus far, nothing

Not ot worry NEC will have a 24WGX3 with opticlear out at begining of next year. Using LM240WU1 a fast S-IPS

Should be the king of the 19x12's if thier 20" was indicative.

:Q

You have no idea how happy this makes me

Not that i don't believe you, but is there a link somewhere listing any info on this upcoming NEC?

 

[UltimaBoB]

If I get a 20" WS or 21" or 22" (all WS) is there any potential issue with the native rez for these monitors

a) not being HIGH enough - if I get a kick ass GPU set-up and I could go higher, want to go higher rez, but cannot because u need to run in native rez?

b) if I pick a weird size I get a weird native resolution that isn't supported by a lot of game