Which to buy?

[goldenboiyaj]

Hello, can anyone help?

I just bought an HP Pavilion Media Center a1483w.
-athlon 64 x2 4200
-2gig ram (2x1gb) (PC3200)
-1 pci-e x16 slot


I going to buy a better video card for it. these two cards are sort of my final decisions that i found on newegg. not sure which one is better. I am also open to suggestions. How are ATI Cards? budget is less than $200. I play games such as WOW, CS:SOURCE, GW:FACTIONS.

$150 eVGA 512-P2-N548-TX Geforce 7600GS 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130021

---or---

$170 eVGA 256-P2-N553-AX Geforce 7600GT CO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130283

My concern is, of these two cards, will the 512mb (GDDR2) be better than the 256mb (GDDR3) video? I am not into overclocking, dont know how, will just install and play as STOCKED. the 256mb got great reviews from buyers, is that true? Dont intend to buy a new card for atleast a couple of years.

Any help/comparison/thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
KY

 

[akshayt]

Extend your budget. If you can't then sell you CPU.

Amd 64 3000 + 7900GT > X2 4400 + 7600GT
for gaming

Get atleast a 1900XT at around >350$, if you can't afford it then get 512mb X1800XT or atleast 256mb X1800XT, anything below 1900XT doesn't make any sense though.

 

[josh6079]

I'm not sure how much of a performance difference there is between a GDDR2 512Mb and a GDDR3 256Mb, but I would get the GDDR3 256Mb just to be up to date. Really we have to know a budget or a purpose. Otherwise you're going to get a lot of people recommending X1900's and 7950's and 7900's when you might not even be that big of a gamer.

What are you really wanting to do with you're computer?

Originally posted by: akshayt
Extend your budget. If you can't then sell you CPU...anything below the 1900XT doesn't make any sense...

What if he can't? He said his budget is less than $200 and you're already wanting him to cough up more money so that he can buy one of the high end cards? There are other ranges that exist for other types of people too akshayt.

 

[goldenboiyaj]

akshayt,
thanks for reply, after further consideration, looks like i will have to get a 256mb X1800XT or X1900XT. what's difference with the GTO/GT version? any considerations for brand? i see msi,sapphire,xfx,asus,evga,HIS. any suggestions?

I can push my video budget to $250 max.

josh6079,
I pretty intend to do everything with it. mediocre user. burn cd's here and there, watch movies. mostly play games. dont expect super ultra high end graphic for games. dont have that much $$$ for a HIGH END CPU, not that rich. a decent system is fine. got the HP system off ebay for $600(i think is a good buy)

 

[996GT2]

The X1800GTO is a X1800XL with 12 pixel pipelines compared to 16 in the XL, and the same applies for the X1900GT (less pixel shaders in this case also compared to a X1900XT). The performance of the X1800GTO is rather subpar, getting beat by the 7600GT in most cases. The X1900GT also cannot match the performance of the cheaper X1800XT.

For $250 I suggest either a X1800XT or a 7900GT. The two have similar performance, but the 7900GT draws less power and is easier to overclock if you choose to go that way (you probably wouldn't in an HP, but the ability is there).

I would lean toward a 7900GT in this case since the X1800XT is a power hog, and I don't know if the power supply in your HP could handle it.

As far as nVidia cards go, many are overclocked by the vendors from the factory, so there is no overclocking to be done on your part. Just pop the card in and go. For a 7900GT, I would recommend a more conservatively clocked model from eVGA, as they have excellent customer service and a lifetime warranty that covers just about everything. There have been some issues with the massively overclocked Superclocked models, but I think that the smaller OC on the 7900GT KO from eVGA would result in better reliability (it's also a newer revision which should solve the earlier problems with freezing). They will also send you a replacement card very fast if you get a dud. If the price seems a bit high for you, there are other similar models from eVGA currently on backorder at newegg for $240 AR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130033

On the ATi side I recommend this X1800XT. It's only $230 AR and it comes in a retail box meaning you get all the accessories too. However you should check to see if your power supply can handle this card. ATi recommends at least a 350W PSU for this card (+12V amperage above ~20-25A?) and I really don't think your HP PSU can pump out that kind of power. Most OEM power supplies are pretty low on the power scale (My previous computer, a Pentium 4 Dell, had just a 250 watt power supply).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102008

As a last note, since you are new to the forums, I would caution you from taking advice from akshayt, since he is regarded by many here to be a forum troll (he started a massive thread asking for help with his X1900XTX, was very rude, then couldnt even prove he had one...)

 

[acegazda]

This x1900xt is $332 shipped from newegg. Practically a steal.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: acegazda
This x1900xt is $332 shipped from newegg. Practically a steal.

It's a VG deal, but can his HP power supply handle it?

I really don't think it can...

 

[CP5670]

Out of the original cards, the 7600GT is a much better choice. The 512MB of memory on that GS won't do anything for it and the memory speed is about half that of the GT. Although I think it's worth spending about $50 more for a 7900GT or X1800XT 256MB if you're going be doing a lot of gaming.

 

[Ichigo]

Of course his PSU can handle it. People really underestimate PSU's these days. If the PSU exceeds 400W with decent rails then it's fine.

 

[CP5670]

Yeah, I would tend to agree with that. In 3dmark or a modern game, my system draws about 400W from the wall socket (as measured by my UPS). Subtracting 90W for the monitor and noting that the OCZ Powerstreams are only about 75% efficient seems to imply that only 232W is actually being used by the computer components.

 

[JBT]

If your on a budget I'd go for a 7900GT. They can be had for the mid $200's.

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: 996GT2

Originally posted by: acegazda
This x1900xt is $332 shipped from newegg. Practically a steal.

It's a VG deal, but can his HP power supply handle it?

I really don't think it can...

upgrade to a 450w fortron. That would be your best bet if you plan on upgrading the rest of your system in the near future. If not, I hope the included one doesn't die.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
As a last note, since you are new to the forums, I would caution you from taking advice from akshayt, since he is regarded by many here to be a forum troll (he started a massive thread asking for help with his X1900XTX, was very rude, then couldnt even prove he had one...)

Oh, so that's what happened.

 

[anandtechrocks]

I'd get a 7900GT. It's about $70-100 more than the 7600GT, but it's much more powerful.

 

[goldenboiyaj]

thanks guys for all the support. it's been very helpful.

I decided to go with the EVGA 7900GT 500/1500 from newegg for $275 total with shipping. Looks likes it's gonna last me for a while, i hope.

after ordering, i found a similar EVGA 7900GT 450/1350 that was going to be $237 after Mail-in-rebate. I shoulda went for this one to save some $$$. too late, i guess. it's already been shipped. i'll live low with the $40 difference.

i hope this card pops in with no problem. like you guys were saying, it might not have a psu to handle it, so i'm praying it does. hahahhaha or i'll to chop up more cash.

thanks once again everyone.