Will this card be too much for my cpu ?

[Barfo]

I game at 1280x1024 and my vanilla x800 is starting to have trouble running new games with AA/AF and eye candy turned on so I thought a 7900gt would keep me going until my next build in christmas 2007 but I don't know if the card will be overkill for my system, I've got a prescott p4 3.2 ghz with 1gb of ram.

My budget is $300 at most and I don't plan to make any more upgrades to this machine so new mobo/cpu or more memory is out of the question, or perhaps there's a better gpu for my needs? waiting for a video card refresh is also a no go because it would make the upgrade pointless.

 

[Insomniator]

You'll be fine, a 3.2 is plenty.

 

[akshayt]

You can even go for a 1900XT, although to make full use of it you will need a faster cpu, but a 1900XT with you cpu beats a 7900GT with your cpu in most cases, meaning those cases where the 1900xt 512mb is faster than 7900GT. In around 330$ you will get a 1900XT anyway.

 

[akshayt]

BEST Option :

2GB + 1900XT 512mb
2GB + 1800XT 512mb
2GB + 1900XT 256mb
2GB + 1800XT 256mb
consider 1900GT as well, and if you play serious sam and pacific fighters only then get the 7900GT preferably 512mb.

Whatever you do, get 2GB ram.

 

[Barfo]

Originally posted by: akshayt
You can even go for a 1900XT, although to make full use of it you will need a faster cpu, but a 1900XT with you cpu beats a 7900GT with your cpu in most cases, meaning those cases where the 1900xt 512mb is faster than 7900GT. In around 330$ you will get a 1900XT anyway.

I forgot to mention that my 450w psu will be a bit strained with a 7900gt but that's ok with me, a 1900xt on the other hand would be too much, and I really don't want to exceed my $300 budget.

Waiting for some more opinions from the daylight people.

 

[Geomagick]

Your 450W PSU will be fine with a single 7900gt.

I assume you've checked but make sure that your mobo is a PCIe.
If it is then a 7900gt would serve you nicely especially when running only at 1280x1024.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: barfo

Originally posted by: akshayt
You can even go for a 1900XT, although to make full use of it you will need a faster cpu, but a 1900XT with you cpu beats a 7900GT with your cpu in most cases, meaning those cases where the 1900xt 512mb is faster than 7900GT. In around 330$ you will get a 1900XT anyway.

I forgot to mention that my 450w psu will be a bit strained with a 7900gt but that's ok with me, a 1900xt on the other hand would be too much, and I really don't want to exceed my $300 budget.

Waiting for some more opinions from the daylight people.

:thumbsup: for the 7900GT and the 3.2 Prescott.

Consider getting another 1 gig set of ram with the money you have left over

It'll make you that much more Vista ready

 

[akshayt]

Which 450 do you have?

 

[akshayt]

why don't you get 1800XT instead.

 

[tuteja1986]

akshayt which country do you live in :? Japan ?

 

[morgash]

the x1800xt's might drag on his PS too much depending on what kind of amperage his PS throws on the 12v rail. I'm gonna throw in another vote for a 7900gt. for 300 bucks you should be able to pull off another gig of RAM as well. THIS card would be perfect for your budget and it overclocks like a beast (mine went up to 650/1950 with a zalman vf700 cu). Then you would have an extra 100 bucks laying around you could spend on a nice 1 gig stick. That upgrade would make ur setup last for much longer than any other path on ur budget.

Morgash

 

[akshayt]

I live in India. Me thinks get a 1900XT + PSU + 2gb ram and sell old stuff

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: akshayt
I live in India. Me thinks get a 1900XT + PSU + 2gb ram and sell old stuff

your an troll. guy want a 7900gt. stop marketing.
a 7900gt will go very well with your cpu. even if you are cpu limited on the FPS you can ramp up the shadows, AA (or HDR) , AF.

if your cpu limited your fps won't increase but from waht you say your limited by the effects and AA/AF so it'll be much better. a single 7900gt is 3-4 times faster than a single x800.

 

[EvanAdams]

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven

Originally posted by: akshayt
your an troll. guy want a 7900gt. stop marketing.

 

[Vinnybcfc]

Originally posted by: akshayt
I live in India. Me thinks get a 1900XT + PSU + 2gb ram and sell old stuff

Its a good card but not everyone has tons of money

The 7900gt would be great at 1280 x 1024

Actually the X1900XT might be overkill at that res

 

[Powermoloch]

Looks alright with me

my pent 4 630 + 7600GT KO runs like a champ :thumbsup:

 

[Nightmare225]

Every topic I go to, he's either recommending an X1900XT or the closest thing possible. :disgust:

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Nightmare225
Every topic I go to, he's either recommending an X1900XT or the closest thing possible. :disgust:

Which is ironic considering he thinks it's crap anyway...

I think a 7900GT is a good bet for the OP. Gives him the performance he wants without straining his budget. The only other option that I could realistically see is an X1800XT 256MB.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I'm running on a 2.8 ghz celeron d (till my e6600 preorder comes in) and I can run stuff pretty good with a 7900 gt.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: Nightmare225
Every topic I go to, he's either recommending an X1900XT or the closest thing possible. :disgust:

Which is ironic considering he thinks it's crap anyway...

LOL! QFT

Yes, I agree, 7900GT is a great choice for your needs. 3.2 P4 will be fine with it. I have a friend who's running a 7800GTX with a 3.0 GHz P4 and it works fine.

 

[Crescent13]

Yup a 7900GT would be good. I wish I had one . My 7800GT runs CS Source at 10 Frames per second... at 1680x1050... with 16xAF and 16x AA... and HDR...


:shiftyeyes;


Ok fine I know I'm crazy for playing games at 16xAA, but it looks purty.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Crescent13
Yup a 7900GT would be good. I wish I had one . My 7800GT runs CS Source at 10 Frames per second... at 1680x1050... with 16xAF and 16x AA... and HDR...


:shiftyeyes;


Ok fine I know I'm crazy for playing games at 16xAA, but it looks purty.

lol



*I thought you needed SLI for 16xAA?

 

[Gstanfor]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn

Originally posted by: Crescent13
Yup a 7900GT would be good. I wish I had one . My 7800GT runs CS Source at 10 Frames per second... at 1680x1050... with 16xAF and 16x AA... and HDR...


:shiftyeyes;


Ok fine I know I'm crazy for playing games at 16xAA, but it looks purty.

lol



*I thought you needed SLI for 16xAA?

No, you don't need SLI for 16x AA with nvidia.

On the subject of the topic, 3.2 gig should be acceptable, but the card will perform better with something like a 3800+

 

[Barfo]

Originally posted by: George Powell
Your 450W PSU will be fine with a single 7900gt.

I assume you've checked but make sure that your mobo is a PCIe.
If it is then a 7900gt would serve you nicely especially when running only at 1280x1024.

Yeah I'm thinking it'll be nice to be able to crank AA/AF and detail all the way up

Originally posted by: Nightmare225
Every topic I go to, he's either recommending an X1900XT or the closest thing possible. :disgust:

lol, I did notice him trying really hard to convince me to get the X1900XT, I didn't want to be mean and I knew would point it out

Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu
I'm running on a 2.8 ghz celeron d (till my e6600 preorder comes in) and I can run stuff pretty good with a 7900 gt.

That's interesting, can you tell me if you notice your cpu bottlenecking games? and what res do you play at?

Originally posted by: Crescent13
Yup a 7900GT would be good. I wish I had one . My 7800GT runs CS Source at 10 Frames per second... at 1680x1050... with 16xAF and 16x AA... and HDR...


:shiftyeyes;


Ok fine I know I'm crazy for playing games at 16xAA, but it looks purty.

Nice, then I'll be able to game at 8xAA/16x AF, and my 1280x1024 still looks good to me