Video Card Considerations

[drextremeops007]

Hi there fellow Anandtech'ers.

I am in the middle of planning a system build right around the price cut later this month. Now, I am mostly set in the other hardware, except the video card. I am practically stucked between the 7950, 8500, 8600 and the ATI x1950 Pro (budget for video card is ~$150 or below).

Here are the specs of the upcoming build to take into consideration.

C2D E6750
Abit IP35 / Gigabyte P35-DS3R
OCZ Platinum Rev.2 2GB DDR2 RAM 4-4-4-12 Timings
Corsair HX520 PSU
(left out the HD and OD since they dont really affect the video card)
Onboard sound
Samsung 216BW LCD

Now, my usage will be internet, web design, video encoding/decoding (I am a fansubber, so I usually would do 2-4 video encodings a week), usual Office stuffs and occasional graphic design (very basic).

Now, I can get the
XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB PVT84JUDF3 Video Card - Retail - $130
Gigabyte 8500GT 256MB GV-MX85T256H Video Card - $100
Powercolor X1950 Pro 256MB $125AR
BFG Tech BFGR7950256GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OC HDCP Video Card - Retail - $160AR


I have been out in the running of Video card technology for so long. I am running a p4 3.0c with Radeon9200 at the moment. I m not really an avid gamer and I usually play sports games and the occasional BF2142, NFS.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Frankly im on the same boat as you! (my next rig is almost similiar to yours incept ill be adding some more things)

If you did game alot, i would have suggested the X1950pro, but since your not and it seems you do more cpu intensive tasks.

Id say after july 22nd, get a Q6600, and grab youself something along the lines of a 8500GT/8600GT or a HD 2600XT.

 

[bryanW1995]

this is the problem with the current gen of graphics cards. there is no decent $150-$200 dx10 gpu out there right now. Even the 8600gt is weak at $130. I hate to recommend an older generation card, but the x1950 is nice if you can stand the noise. newegg even had an x1950xt for 149.99AR for the past 2 wks (of course it is up to 179.99 AR today), a much better bargain than 160AR for a 7950 gt. I would either get the 8600gt or check prices for a week or two to see if you can get a bargain again on the x1950xt.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Frankly im on the same boat as you! (my next rig is almost similiar to yours incept ill be adding some more things)

If you did game alot, i would have suggested the X1950pro, but since your not and it seems you do more cpu intensive tasks.

Id say after july 22nd, get a Q6600, and grab youself something along the lines of a 8500GT/8600GT or a HD 2600XT.

The q6600 is great but it generates tons of heat and can be a pain to cool from what I hear. Don't get me wrong, I'm planning on getting one, but I'm going in with my eyes open and expensive aftermarket coolers in my budget, too. He is not much of a gamer so the e6750 might suit him better, and the 8600 gt makes a strong case due to lower noise/heat than the x1950xt.

 

[drextremeops007]

Thanks guys so far for the inputs. Have anyone heard about the performance of the new 8400 series?? I know the 8500 series is very popular with people building HTPCs due to the h264 encoding capability, would this be an advantage in my situation as well though I am not doing any video capturing, etc. 2nd, how come the 7950 cards is more expensive than the 85/8600? I know I must be missing something, but what does the 7950 have over the other?

 

[bryanW1995]

7950 is much higher horsepower gaming card. 8600/8500 and 2600xt/2400xt are veeerrrryy slllloooowwww, in fact I have heard many say that 8600 is not much better than 7600 for gaming. x1950xt is a better choice than 7950 if they are similar price. check this out: http://www23.tomshardware.com/...4&model2=710&chart=318

note that they use the 7950gt 512mb card and the x1950xt still outperforms it.

 

[drextremeops007]

I see. Hmm, I am now slightly pushed towards the x1950 pro. Is that slower than the x1950t??

 

[bryanW1995]

yes, it is quite a bit slower. I often use this chart when upgrading: http://www.tomshardware.com/20...ney/page7.html#summary
for example, I went from a 6600 gt that blew its cooling fan to a 7600 gt last december. That was a worthy upgrade because I moved up 4 levels, but it set me back $135. Now, I just upgraded another 4 levels from the 7600gt to the x1950xt. THAT only set me back $90 b/c I was able to sell my 6 month old 7600 gt for 65 and bought the x1950xt for 155AR shipped. An x1950xt is 2 levels above an x1950pro and 7950 gt. The x1950xt is consistently listed by toms earlier in that article as the best buy in the $200 price range, and now it can be had for significantly less than that.

 

[drextremeops007]

Thanks a lot for all the comments and input. I am now probably going with the x1950 pro or the x1950xt if I can get a good deal on it. Do you think an 8800 is an overkill for me at this stage??