Which video card for my budget?

[digitalduck]

Doing an upgrade in a day or two and the video card is the only thing holding me back at this point. Think im sticking with ATI since I grew up with it, but my problem is my budget at this point.

My fan died on my 9800Pro so instead of getting a new fan I decided to get a new card but PCI-E instead, but then I have to get a new mobo and new cpu, however I would have had everyting purchased already if it wasnt for my video card debate. Here is what is holding me back:

I am going with (Ithink) the Saphire X850 XT. During my research the last week or so on the X1xxx series of cards (1300, 1600 etc) I found that the 850 is superior to the 1300 or 1600 (correct me if im wrong) the 1800 or 1900 of course are a different story. However, I want to add a 2405 in a few weeks so will having a 1300 or 1600 then make a difference or will the 850xt still be the way to go? I only ask because both of those cards are relatively inexpensive. But for games like Oblivion will the 850xt still be the best way to go on this budget? I looked at Nvidia, but seeing at though Im not too familiar with any of the cards I wouldnt know where to start, so I think ATI would the place to stay.....ideas?

 

[ps3iscool]

get the7600gt its faster than 1600xt by alot and its under $200

 

[digitalduck]

Hmm.... what about the X850 XT being faster then the 1600xt though? How does the 7600 being faster then the 1600 compare to the x850 then? the same or still faster? Switching to nvidia would be a big change for me especially since id be loosing the demos (gotta love those ATI demos and screensavers) but the price seems good. How would the 7600 fare with the Dell monitor?

Question...what makes a card SLI ready? I just found out about the SLI thing, not having upgraded for awhile and planning on picking up an SLI mobo, what will an SLI vid card do for me? Do I need one or is there just some advantage to it? Thanks for the input

 

[996GT2]

X850XT is a good ATi choice with good OCing abilities
7600GT from nVidia is a newer SM3 card that draws less power. If you buy get the eVGA one as it is the cheapest and has a lifetime warranty

These two perform about the same stock but X850XT has advantage with OCing. Both beat the X1600XT

Or you could look at a used/refurb 7800GT


As for SLI, you don't really need it because when you upgrade, getting a new card will probably be better than getting another identical (but aged) card. SLI just allows you to run 2 video cards simultaneously. It is an nVidia technology, so you will need 2 identical model (not make) nVidia cards to run it. Nearly all the new nVidia cards support it. i.e. 6600, 6800, 7600, 7800, 7900

ATI's equivalent is Crossfire, but you need a special crossfire-capable card. Don't assume that just because you are getting a new ATI card that it's crossfire capable. SLI is said to be better than Crossfire because it offers better framerates with 2 cards. For example, a X1900XTX usually gets better framerates than a 7900GTX, but 2 7900GTXs will usually beat 2 X1900XTXs.
A good motherboard to get is the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D because it has TWO PCI-express slots. It can be modded to support dual X8 SLI with only a bit of conductive paint. Anandtech even has instructions on it. It is also one of the best OCing boards out there.

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: 996GT2

A good motherboard to get is the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D because it has TWO PCI-express slots. It can be modded to support dual X8 SLI with only a bit of conductive paint. Anandtech even has instructions on it. It is also one of the best OCing boards out there.

nVidia disbanded that in their offcial drivers last june. Even still, the x850 is a great choice for the 2405.

 

[JBT]

You know that it will be VERY difficult to run 1920x1200 on any new games with that card right?

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: potato28

Originally posted by: 996GT2

A good motherboard to get is the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D because it has TWO PCI-express slots. It can be modded to support dual X8 SLI with only a bit of conductive paint. Anandtech even has instructions on it. It is also one of the best OCing boards out there.

nVidia disbanded that in their offcial drivers last june. Even still, the x850 is a great choice for the 2405.

hmm you sure? On dfi-street forums people still seem to be able to do it all you need to do is scrap off some epoxy and you are ready to start modding again.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: JBT

Originally posted by: potato28

Originally posted by: 996GT2

A good motherboard to get is the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D because it has TWO PCI-express slots. It can be modded to support dual X8 SLI with only a bit of conductive paint. Anandtech even has instructions on it. It is also one of the best OCing boards out there.

nVidia disbanded that in their offcial drivers last june. Even still, the x850 is a great choice for the 2405.

hmm you sure? On dfi-street forums people still seem to be able to do it all you need to do is scrap off some epoxy and you are ready to start modding again.

I think he is right...this is from AnandTech:

UPDATE 2/05/2005: nVidia has acted to prevent, or at least make it more difficult, to mod the Ultra board to SLI. First, DFI has advised us, and posted on their website, that they will NOT sell the SLI bridge to buyers of the Ultra board. Second, nVidia has advised us that future shipments of the Ultra chipset have been modified so that the mod to SLI will no longer be possible. An additional side effect of this second action is that the "Dual Video" mode, which performs at about 90% of SLI performance levels, will only work with nVidia SLI drivers 66.75 or earlier. If you do a quick check of web driver postings you will see it is now very difficult to find 66.75 drivers. With a chipset modded to SLI the "Dual Video" mode worked through 70.xx versions of the nVidia driver. nVidia also made it clear they will continue to make driver changes to prevent functioning of any "non-standard" (8X/8X) operation of their SLI driver. This also throws into question whether the VIA "dual graphics" mode on the 894 Pro chipset will ever work with nVidia graphics cards. If you are interested in the current UT Ultra-D we suggest you buy one now if you can find it. Future versions of the UT Ultra-D will not have the same capabilities as a result of these actions.

HOWEVER, according to some on DFI-Street forums, you may still get a board that can be modded, because DFI had tons of NForce4 Chipsets in their warehouses waiting to be used when nVidia issued their warning, and some of them may still come in boards today.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: JBT
You know that it will be VERY difficult to run 1920x1200 on any new games with that card right?

Yea! No way is more like it.


...even the x1900xt is pushing playable limits @ 16x10 inside 2005/2007 so thats my choices.

 

[996GT2]

to play games with good quality you will need at least a 7900GTX or X1900XT/X. Better would be SLI'd 7900GTXs or 2 X1900XTXs in CrossFire.

 

[JMWarren]

Originally posted by: 996GT2

Originally posted by: JBT

Originally posted by: potato28

Originally posted by: 996GT2

A good motherboard to get is the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D because it has TWO PCI-express slots. It can be modded to support dual X8 SLI with only a bit of conductive paint. Anandtech even has instructions on it. It is also one of the best OCing boards out there.

nVidia disbanded that in their offcial drivers last june. Even still, the x850 is a great choice for the 2405.

hmm you sure? On dfi-street forums people still seem to be able to do it all you need to do is scrap off some epoxy and you are ready to start modding again.

I think he is right...this is from AnandTech:

UPDATE 2/05/2005: nVidia has acted to prevent, or at least make it more difficult, to mod the Ultra board to SLI. First, DFI has advised us, and posted on their website, that they will NOT sell the SLI bridge to buyers of the Ultra board. Second, nVidia has advised us that future shipments of the Ultra chipset have been modified so that the mod to SLI will no longer be possible. An additional side effect of this second action is that the "Dual Video" mode, which performs at about 90% of SLI performance levels, will only work with nVidia SLI drivers 66.75 or earlier. If you do a quick check of web driver postings you will see it is now very difficult to find 66.75 drivers. With a chipset modded to SLI the "Dual Video" mode worked through 70.xx versions of the nVidia driver. nVidia also made it clear they will continue to make driver changes to prevent functioning of any "non-standard" (8X/8X) operation of their SLI driver. This also throws into question whether the VIA "dual graphics" mode on the 894 Pro chipset will ever work with nVidia graphics cards. If you are interested in the current UT Ultra-D we suggest you buy one now if you can find it. Future versions of the UT Ultra-D will not have the same capabilities as a result of these actions.

HOWEVER, according to some on DFI-Street forums, you may still get a board that can be modded, because DFI had tons of NForce4 Chipsets in their warehouses waiting to be used when nVidia issued their warning, and some of them may still come in boards today.

I've never heard of an Ultra-D board that couldn't be modded to SLI. It's a physical change as all DFI NF4 chipset were identical, they just required an extra trace be connected to enable SLI.

 

[996GT2]

I think maybe nVidia did something to that one disconnected part on the chipset so that it could not be modded, and implemented driver changes to not allow the dual X8 SLI that you'd get with the modded DFI board

 

[digitalduck]

Thanks for the replies guys, ok, here is my situation....I am very much hung up on the widescreen bug and I like the dell monitor or similiar. I was going to get the X850 because of the price and how it out performs the 1300 and 1600 but would i have any better options through nvidia for around the same price?

Also, what am I looking at in terms of scalling down the resolution with the Dell 2405 to run on my new system with either of those cards (850 or geforce similiar) and will I be happy with results. Now remember im using a 7 yr old Dell 19" monitor here and playing Doom 3 and HL2 at 1152x864 with most things maxed (not ultra high on doom) and games runs smooth..was hard to believe with stories ive read, but my rig was handling it fine, but will I still notice a huge increase in resolution and graphic power if I have to scale it down to a size that the card and my new system can handle?

Thanks