Taking a giant step ...from Radeon 7500 to X1900XT

[DJCrunkMix]

Hi guys,

I got my ATI X1900XT yesterday and I can't wait till my other parts arrive and I actually start building the rig. I currently own an IBM T42 Laptop and I can play some old games like Max Payne(1, not 2), GTA Vice city and CS pretty good on ATI 7500 mobility Radeon. Apart from watching game trailers and videos, I havent seen a recent game with kick ass graphics being actually played in real-time. Finally, I got some summer time to play games and thats why I decided to build a gaming rig. So, I was wondering how good can this X1900XT do for me? I am expecting a lot from this beast !!! Please give me some ideas on a relative basis (comparing to ATI 7500).

 

[Ichigo]

You saw for yourself. We especially couldn't explain in words the difference that you're looking at.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Sounds like a good time to check out some of the good PC games that have come out over the last couple of years.

HL2 (and the just released Episode 1 would be nice to extend the game if you liked it).
Quake 4
FEAR
Far Cry
Call of Duty 2
Battlefield 2
Oblivion

There are plenty of others, but those would last you quite a while and show you what your card can do.

 

[BFG10K]

Words can't describe the difference you will see.

Be prepared to repeatedly pick up your jaw from the floor.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

boner time =D lol

 

[Captante]

Hmmm.... Night & day maybe? nah, not sufficient ... you'll see what I mean!

 

[loafbred]

You'll definitely want to get Half Life 2, which includes CS Source. COD2 is another great looking game. I mention these two because they've been around just long enough to have the bugs worked out, and they run exceptionally well with high detail. I run Source games at 1280*960 with 4x AA and 16x AF and HDR on my 7900 GTX with very smooth gameplay, and the X1900XT is supposed to run Source games even better.

 

[DJCrunkMix]

Thanks all... I just opened the box and GOOD LORD ! This thing is gigantic... its like a 8 inches long and 4 inches wide. The card looks really small in pictures but damn... wonder what goes in this. .

Anyways, I will download some demo versions of the games suggested by darkswordsman. Thanks dude .

Captante, what do you mean by night and day? I am gonna be playing games 24/7 ? w00t w00t !!!

 

[akugami]

First time I picked up an X1900XT, I was wondering if they had misplaced my video card and given me a brick in the shape of a video card. That thing is huge and it is heavy. HUGE jump from a 7500 to an X1900. HUGE.

 

[F1shF4t]

Well considering when i went from my fx5700 to the 6800ultra, 1.5 years back, my jaw was on the ground for about 2 weeks.
Lets just say the difference between ur 7500 and the x1900xt is mind boggling.

 

[Polish3d]

Dude I just went from a 7800GTX 256 to an x1900XTX and even at stock speeds I am freaking amazed. It doubles my GTX at least in almost everything I've tried so far. (HL2 EP 1, Oblivion, BF2)

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: DJCrunkMix
Thanks all... I just opened the box and GOOD LORD ! This thing is gigantic... its like a 8 inches long and 4 inches wide. The card looks really small in pictures but damn... wonder what goes in this. .

Anyways, I will download some demo versions of the games suggested by darkswordsman. Thanks dude .

Captante, what do you mean by night and day? I am gonna be playing games 24/7 ? w00t w00t !!!

Actually I meant the performance leap will be as big a change as night & day, but I think I like your definition a lot better! Enjoy!!!

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Frackal
Dude I just went from a 7800GTX 256 to an x1900XTX and even at stock speeds I am freaking amazed. It doubles my GTX at least in almost everything I've tried so far. (HL2 EP 1, Oblivion, BF2)

Glad to hear that worked out well for you ... makes me feel even better about my 6800GT to X1900XTX jump since I'd been seriously considering a 7900GT instead!

 

[DJCrunkMix]

Do I need any cooling systems? I am planning to overclock my AMD 3700+ so I might get some liquid cooling system. I am wondering if I need anything for my video card. Anyone had problems with high temps. on X1900XT?

 

[v8envy]

Mere numbers like 30,000 shader ops and 10,000 MPixel fill rate vs 500 shader ops and 500 MPixel/sec fill rate you have now aren't enough to properly put things into perspective.

The difference will be about the same as walking slowly and driving at double the top speed of a Formula-1. Does that give you a clue as to how high your frame rates at resolutions you couldn't dream of with settings you couldn't enable will be?

 

[Stu L Tissimus]

As people have said, the difference will be huge. You''re jumping five card generations... I don't think I'd be making an overstatement if I said that you could expect a 10x to 20x performance gain from your old games, and you'll be able to play all the tihngs that wouldn't play at all on your old card.

I don't know what it must feel like to play with a 7500 nowadays.

 

[akugami]

So long as your computer case has good airflow it should be fine without any fancy cooling. I get in the low 80's C for my X1900XT temperature during load. I've heard of others getting in the 90's.

I've got a Antec P160 with one 120mm intake fan and one 120mm exhaust fan along with whatever the PSU is dumping out and I'm fine. If you were going to overclock, the AMD 3700+ would not be the ideal candidate. A lower 3200+ would be a lot cheaper and would have about the same overclocking ceiling. Unless you're planning on going for more than a moderate overclock (2.4-2.7ghz) then you won't need any exotic cooling systems.

 

[DJCrunkMix]

^^ Thanks... I never owned a desktop in my life. Well...yes but it was in the 90's. Since then I have been using laptops. Now I really regret that I bought a laptop for college. I never carry it around! Oh well... I can atleast surf the web while watching TV in my living room. I dont know anything about overclocking or cooling...and for that matter, about desktops. I have spent 1200 $ w/o monitor for this gaming rig and hope it will be good .

Do I NEED to OC? How much improvement does it make as far as gaming is concerned? I know I shoulda have waited for Conroe, but I didn't want to waste my summer doing nothing! .

Anyways, thanks to all, especially to v8envy. .

 

[Chapbass]

man, with that video card, and the jump youll already have, much less not having much experience with overclocking....

hell i wouldnt even worry about it. Run stock for now, read up on some stuff, get some good airflow going, and enjoy your system without worrying about it!

 

[Kromis]

Well, you pretty much have the sh!t right now.

The 7 series (ATI) has been discontinued for quite awhile now...(I think it was created back in 2000 or something, not sure. I had my 8500 in 2001 or 2002, I forgot.)

 

[DJCrunkMix]

Hmm... I bought this laptop last year and it shipped with ATI 7500 Mobility Radeon ... I guess, IBM Thinkpads are not meant for gaming at all. Kromis, I will tell you whether 7500 is sh!t or not when I get this beast up and running . Thanks .

 

[foghorn67]

Originally posted by: DJCrunkMix
Hmm... I bought this laptop last year and it shipped with ATI 7500 Mobility Radeon ... I guess, IBM Thinkpads are not meant for gaming at all. Kromis, I will tell you whether 7500 is sh!t or not when I get this beast up and running . Thanks .

yeah, meant for business use...and at that they excel at.


You will love your new setup. Your friends and relatives will not see you emerge for days.

 

[DJCrunkMix]

^ lol...damn..I can't f'ing wait...

 

[Bull Dog]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Words can't describe the difference you will see.

Be prepared to repeatedly pick up your jaw from the floor.

Originally posted by: akugami
First time I picked up an X1900XT, I was wondering if they had misplaced my video card and given me a brick in the shape of a video card. That thing is huge and it is heavy. HUGE jump from a 7500 to an X1900. HUGE.

The difference will not be huge, it'll be so big that I don't even know where to even begin to start to find a word big enough to describe the improvement.

 

[DJCrunkMix]

Oh man... I cant wait till tuesday when rest of the parts arrive... I am gonna have sleepless nights till then...and god knows what afterthat .

Anyways, is a physX card worth buying?