Which GPU should I keep? X1900GT or 7900GS??

[Xvys]

I bought a "brand new RMA replacement" ATI X1900GT Rev. 2 ($85) on EBay (which I have yet to receive as it first must clear Canada Customs). Subsequently my local NCIX store had the XFX 7900GS XL on sale for $99, plus you get a free Ghost Recon 2 game. I snagged one before they sold out. These are apparantly the last gasp for the 7900GS, clearing out the last 200 units.

I know these cards aren't exactly state-of-the-art, but they are a considerable leap from my X800XL which actually works perfectly fine for my needs.

The 7900GS XL comes clocked at 480 core, 1400 mem. Using AtiTool it is stable and artifact free at 600 core, 1900 mem, which I think is pretty good. It has the Qmonda 1.4ns chips. The only downside is the toy fan setup (40mm?) which sounds like a gas-engined model airplane when it gets spinning...which is pretty easy, like playing a movie from the hd.

On 3DMark 2001SE, I got 32,000 with my X800XL, 39,900 with a 8600GT (NCIX has these on for $94, tested it but returned it for refund) and 42,100 for the 7900GS. All the GPU's were tested on max stable o/c.

I realize the X1900GT rev. 2 has it's core underclocked, but it should be a smoking card also. Although I am very pleased with the 7900GS so far, I guess I should wait and see what the 1900 can do? Any thoughts??

 

[cmdrdredd]

In OpenGL based games (DOOM3, Quake4, Prey) The 7900GS will beat the X1900GT slightly. In games using DX9 (F.E.A.R, Oblivion, Battlefield) The X1900GT pretty much stomps the 7900GS.

So they are close in OpenGL and pretty spread apart (with advantage to the X1900) in DirectX.

So I guess it depends on what you would be playing. Obviously neither would be very good for Crysis, but they would be happy playing something like I mentioned above.

edit: actually looking at Tomshardware.com's GPU charts I see they are split right down the middle. Looking at the overall game FPS they are tied. No difference at all. Now this happened for the reasons I mentioned above. They go back and forth game to game. So I recommend looking at what you play. Test one card then the other.

 

[rogue1979]

I have both a 7900GT @ 615/1800 and two X1900GT rev2's at 580/1700.

Overall they are very close in gaming performance. 3DMark2005 favors the 7900GT by a small margin.

I like them both equally. Newegg has the X1900GT for $89, a much better value then any price I have seen for the 7900GS or GT.

Geforce seems to have better color in games, Radeon seems to be a little sharper.
But this has been the case in my experience for a long time now.

With stock coolers the 7900GT runs about 10-12C cooler. With aftermarket coolers they both run about 60-65C after extended game sessions.

 

[AzN]

1900gt will give you better performance in modern games with Unreal engine. It even beats 7900gt.

I would go with 1900gt.

 

[Sonikku]

Keep the GT.

 

[Xvys]

hmmm, thanks for the input guys! I had thought the 7900 GS would be better, but I play Battlefield games, so perhaps the X1900 is better. I know Battlefield used to run very well on my X800 XL. When I get the 1900 GT I will test them both and see which one I like better.