Would X1900XTX or X1950XTX work on a two year old MB?

[9nines]

I have a Dell XPS (first time to buy a box maker machine, so I am not sure of parts in it) that is almost two years old. The motherboard has PCIe and the chipset is Intel X25, I think. It was made right as PCIe started to emerge, in late 2004 (Since late 2004, has the PCIe evolved to a higher standard that X1950XTX needs?) The processor is 3.4GHZ Pentium 4, with 2 gigabytes of system ram. Currently, I have a PCIe 6800GT that came with it.

Do you think I can use a X1950XTX, on this motherboard? Or would it not work or be severely limited on my system?

Should XPS powersupply that was desigend for Pentium 4 and 6800GT ( I Have no listing of wattage) be able to power the X1950XTX (It uses less wattage than the X1900XTX.)

If the X19050XTX would not work well, with my system, what card would work and would give a noticeable improvement over a 6800GT?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[nitromullet]

I don't see any reason why the X1950XTX wouldn't work properly in that rig. Your cpu might hold you back in a few games, but it really depends on which game, resolution, detail, and eyecandy that you are concerned with.

As far as power goes, unless your power supply has s 6-pin plug for the video card (doubtful), you will want to make sure that you have two 4-pin molex plugs free. It is Preferable that these not be on the same line or shared with other devices. The card will come with a Y-cable that allows you connect two 4-pin molex plugs to make a singe 6-pin. Obvioulsy, if you don't have enough juice to power the card, you will either have to upgrade the PSU or get rid of the card. It is pretty tough to say without knowing what kind of PSU is in the box.

Welcome to AT forums

 

[9nines]

Thanks.

Has the PCI Express changed since late 2004. The reason I ask, is that, while reading requirements, I noticed some ATI cards read PCI Express and then the higher end ones, liek X1900XTX, read PCI Express X16.

Has the PCI Express changed sicne laet 2004, and PCI Express X16 is new? As I recall, from late 2004, AGP was 8X and PCIE Express doubled it, as I remember, to X16 but I am not sure and can not fidn anything on inetrnet to confirm that.



Thanks.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Hi there,

no, PCI-e hasn't changed since it was introduced. If it has a slot that fitx a PCI-e 16X card (the long PCI-e slot) then it will work fine. They mention 8X PCI-e because on some NVidia SLI boards, it splits up the bandwidth on dual-card configurations as 8X for one slot, 8X for the other.

-----------

Your only concern is the power issue, and if the system powered a 6800GT (a pretty power hungry card for its day), it should be able to power an X1900XTX or X1950XTX. The X1900's do draw more power than the 6800GT, but it's not a huge difference.

 

[9nines]

Thanks nitromullet and jiffylube1024,

From early tests the X1950XTX is supposed to draw less power than the X1900XT and X1900XTX, so hopefully my PSU will be okay. I'll pay extra and buy at Fry's or Bestbuy, so I can return it, if needed. I will check for a second spare 4 pin power plug (I know one is in the current 6800GT card) before I buy (card is not out yet anyway.)

With a Pentium 4HT 3.4, should I see a noticeable difference in performance and image quality with the X1950XTX over the 6800GT? With same game settings, should FPS double?

My goal is to get a noticeable difference in FPS and image quality in 1600x1200 resolution games over my 6800GT, buying time before I upgrade my whole system.

 

[dug777]

Massively different

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: dug777
Massively different

What a tease

OP, it's been the same since its introduction. The only question is whether or not your system has enough power, whether or not you have a 6pin PCI-express power connector, and if not, then whether or not you have two free 4pin molex connectors available. I'd assume that since your system was built with a 6800GT, that it would have enough power to run your new card, but I hate making assumptions.

 

[nitromullet]

I'll pay extra and buy at Fry's or Bestbuy

Brick and mortar stores are usually pretty steep comparied to e-tail, especially close to launch. The price difference between buying at Fry's or BB and Newegg would probably be about equal to the price difference between an X1950XTX and an X1950XTX+PSU.

With a Pentium 4HT 3.4, should I see a noticeable difference in performance and image quality with the X1950XTX over the 6800GT? With same game settings, should FPS double?

I'm not sure about double, but the difference will be quite noticable that is for sure. At 1600x1200, the gpu is still the limitation in most games so the X1950XTX should give you a nice bump in FPS and let you play with more eyecandy.

 

[Bull Dog]

and X1950XTX will provide at least 3x the performance of a 6800GT. At the very least, it will be way more than double.

 

[josh6079]

I'll pay extra and buy at Fry's or Bestbuy, so I can return it, if needed.

Whatever you do, don't get it from CompUSA even if they have it. I was there yesterday and they wanted $250 for a 7600GT. They still had a price sticker up for an X1900XTX for $600, but no cards were in the store. The worst part is, they are discontinuing the 7600GT there and still expecting that crazy of a price. You would think it would be reduced and marked as a clearance item.

/rant.

Anyways, I wouln't suggest BB or Fry's unless you really want to. They might not even get it until later. Online stores are so much better, and if you have a problem you can generally return it to some of the online stores or the manufacturer. Be aware of both Monarch and HIS though. Support from them is next to nill.

 

[9nines]

Online stores like newegg charge 15% restocking, plus I would pay for both (receiving and sending back) shipping amounts. So if it does not work, I am out $100 probably.

Also, the PSU is in a weird place (on door), so without new case, I doubt I can change it.


Thanks for all the advice.