Which vid card for an X2

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navyac

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Jun 14, 2005
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Ok, I have a Gateway Media Center PC with an X2 4200, 2 gigs of ram and a 300 gig hd. Its got integrated video right now. I am looking to add a vid card to pair with a Dell 19" monitor I have. SO I have narrowed my choices and so far I am looking atX1800XL, or X850, or X1800XT or the bidget card 7600 GT. They also have X850's for under $200. Also, my PC has a 300 watt psu, would that be enough to push any of these and if not, are propriatary PSU's upgradeable?? Thx for all the help.
 
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LittleNemoNES

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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x1800xt is your best bet.

300 watt is definitely not enough... I recommend something close to 500w. Why not a fortron or seasonic?
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
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Originally posted by: navyac
Ok, I have a Gateway Media Center PC with an X2 4200, 2 gigs of ram and a 300 gig hd. Its got integrated video right now. I am looking to add a vid card to pair with a Dell 19" monitor I have. SO I have narrowed my choices and so far I am looking atX1800XL, or X850, or X1800XT or the bidget card 7600 GT. They also have X850's for under $200. Also, my PC has a 300 watt psu, would that be enough to push any of these and if not, are propriatary PSU's upgradeable?? Thx for all the help.
Click to expand...
nevermind
 
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navyac

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Jun 14, 2005
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So if I buy another PSU, I can throw it in there no problem???
Also, I wanted to stay around $200 for the card so not interested in the 7900 gt, what about the choices I selected?
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
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Originally posted by: compgeek89
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: compgeek89
The x1800 XT requires a LOT of power.

It was sucking like 23A on the 12v rail.
Click to expand...
Not by itself, it wasn't.
Click to expand...

ATi tool said it was.
Click to expand...

While 23A is far from reality since that would mean 46A for Crossifre (just graphics card - logically doesn't even make sense), X1800XT does draw 2x that of 7900GT - Power consumption @ xbitlabs 7600GT would be my 3rd choice.

OP, if you are concerned with PSU and don't want to buy a new one, then just get 7900GT. If you don't need that much horsepower get X1800XL (although the cooler is a bit noisy). Cheers. X1800XL benches

But a $219 X1800XT 256mb is ahh so tempting :)
 
compgeek89

compgeek89

Golden Member
Dec 11, 2004
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After my experience with ATi overclocking and drivers, no price can make it tempting to me.
 
Golgatha

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,651
1,514
126
Originally posted by: compgeek89
After my experience with ATi overclocking and drivers, no price can make it tempting to me.
Click to expand...

Overclocking past 700/800 is more difficult, but the drivers aren't bad at all? I play a wide variety of games and they all play smooth, fast, and without issue on my X1900XT (flashed to X1900XTX). Also, if you can do a registry hack to enable coolbits, I'd say you're more than ready to click the unlock button and start moving clock frequency sliders around.

I do wish there was a nice BIOS editing tool for an ATI BIOS out there. I prefer to set the 3D clocks via a bios flash so I never have to set them again in software when I upgrade drivers.
 
Golgatha

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,651
1,514
126
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: compgeek89
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: compgeek89
The x1800 XT requires a LOT of power.

It was sucking like 23A on the 12v rail.
Click to expand...
Not by itself, it wasn't.
Click to expand...

ATi tool said it was.
Click to expand...
Then it's wrong.
Click to expand...


You'd have to be playing something serious to even get 11A off of a X1900XTX, much less an X1800XT. I could believe 23A on a single 12V rail for your whole system, if the whole system is on the same rail.
 
compgeek89

compgeek89

Golden Member
Dec 11, 2004
1,860
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Originally posted by: Golgatha
Originally posted by: compgeek89
After my experience with ATi overclocking and drivers, no price can make it tempting to me.
Click to expand...

Overclocking past 700/800 is more difficult, but the drivers aren't bad at all? I play a wide variety of games and they all play smooth, fast, and without issue on my X1900XT (flashed to X1900XTX). Also, if you can do a registry hack to enable coolbits, I'd say you're more than ready to click the unlock button and start moving clock frequency sliders around.

I do wish there was a nice BIOS editing tool for an ATI BIOS out there. I prefer to set the 3D clocks via a bios flash so I never have to set them again in software when I upgrade drivers.
Click to expand...

I had random issues,
Freezeups in HL2 (Of all games)
Hard crashes every time I minimzed COD2
Performance was lacking

AND the overclocking just plain sucked. I flashed to XT PE and that was all I got. The ATi utilities were iffy on x1800 support and CCC wouldnt let me do anything.
 
Golgatha

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,651
1,514
126
Originally posted by: compgeek89
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Originally posted by: compgeek89
After my experience with ATi overclocking and drivers, no price can make it tempting to me.
Click to expand...

Overclocking past 700/800 is more difficult, but the drivers aren't bad at all? I play a wide variety of games and they all play smooth, fast, and without issue on my X1900XT (flashed to X1900XTX). Also, if you can do a registry hack to enable coolbits, I'd say you're more than ready to click the unlock button and start moving clock frequency sliders around.

I do wish there was a nice BIOS editing tool for an ATI BIOS out there. I prefer to set the 3D clocks via a bios flash so I never have to set them again in software when I upgrade drivers.
Click to expand...

I had random issues,
Freezeups in HL2 (Of all games)
Hard crashes every time I minimzed COD2
Performance was lacking

AND the overclocking just plain sucked. I flashed to XT PE and that was all I got. The ATi utilities were iffy on x1800 support and CCC wouldnt let me do anything.
Click to expand...


I think it's like that with all of ATI's past cards. The first gen is mediocre when it comes to overclocking and the refresh is stellar.

My experiences:

9700 Pro to 9800 non-pro - 9700 Pro would crash unless you raised the AGP voltage and turned off fast writes. Didn't overclock well either. 9800 non-pro overclocked to 9800XT speeds and had no issues with any games I played.

X800XT to X850XT - X850XT overclocked to X850XT PE speeds and beyond. X800XT ran all games without issue, but just didn't overclock well for me. Only did this upgrade because I switched to a PCI-E system at the time.

7800GT - How'd that get in there? Overclocked like a champ with a Zalman VF700Cu cooler and no issues with any games. PCI-E version was priced right and all cards in its class all had 256MB RAM.

X1800XT to X1900XT - No issues with games and overclocking attempts were just ok on the X1800XT. Memory always overclocked like a champ, but the cores are hit and miss also with the X1800XT. I haven't seen a X1900XT that can't make X1900XTX speeds and beyond. Mine does 700/800 with ease and I expect it would go further with 3rd party apps. I've resolved to just flash it with a X1900XTX BIOS and raise the overdrive sliders all the way up and call it a day. Every game I have plays sweet at 1600x1200 4xAA and 8xAF, so why bother pushing the limits of this hardware further I say. I don't play above 1600x1200 because that's the highest resolution my monitor can do without going down to a refresh rate that hurts my eyes. 1920x1440 hurts at 60Hz, but 1600x1200 at 85Hz is golden.
 
Keysplayr

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
50
91
Originally posted by: navyac
So, with the XT I would be ok with the 300 watt PSU?
Click to expand...

Not likely. So now you will spend 239 on the XT plus money for a better power supply. Your money, your choice.

 
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navyac

Member
Jun 14, 2005
174
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I dont mind buying a new PSU, I just dont know if its possible to upgrade to a new one on the Gateway, thats my question.
 
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navyac

Member
Jun 14, 2005
174
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I dont mind buying a new PSU, I just dont know if its possible to upgrade to a new one on the Gateway, thats my question.
 
Keysplayr

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
50
91
Did you ask gateway? Tell them what you want to do (upgrade your vid card) and ask them if they have a larger capacity power supply for your model. It might be the safest way and if there is a warranty on your system, it could stay that way.
 
N

navyac

Member
Jun 14, 2005
174
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so i think its gonna be the 7600 GT, but I havent ruled out the X1800XT either, which is better?
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
Originally posted by: navyac
so i think its gonna be the 7600 GT, but I havent ruled out the X1800XT either, which is better?
Click to expand...
the x1800xt is MUCH better. at the resolution you are stuck at you would be much happier with an x1800xt.
 
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