X1650 XT > X850 XT OC'ed?

[Warren21]

I have an OEM HP Media Center PC, so it has a proprietary mobo. I can't switch out the mobo, lest I void my *extended* warranty (not an option).

This is my predicament. I have PCIe x16 and a good enough PSU (Enermax Liberty 500W) to run any single card config -- even an 8800 GTX -- but I can't fit a card with a PCB any longer than 8.5". The 24-pin ATX connector sticks out infront of the PCIe x16 slot area a few inches away from the slot.

I was hoping the X1650 XT would be a good performer in a small package, better than my OC'ed X850, but It's basically a 7600 GT in terms of performance. Specs in sig. What's my best bet?

I game at 1280x1024, and would like to use AA/AF. I play games that usually favor ATI, like BF2/2142/Oblivion/Source engine based games.

EDIT: Just for reference, all X1800/X1900/X1950 based cards use very similar PCB's which measure around 9.5". If it weren't for that, I would have got a new card a long time ago.

 

[Warren21]

Bump. I am trying to squeeze some more life out of this computer until I build my own, and I want to refresh to a good DX9 card once more before DX10 goes mainstream (maybe a year after R600/G80 release).

If there is too much of a bottleneck, I am probably going to upgrade to 2-3GB of fast memory and maybe a P4 661 (best proc for this chipset).

I am looking at the eVGA 7950 GT KO/KO superclocked.. they will fit -- how do the cards compare to X1900's?

 

[aznrice54]

http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/512-P2-N637.pdf

It's 7.8" long. The EVGA 7950 GT KO SC should perform close to the level of a X1900 XT 256MB, generally a little worse. Still a very good card though. Here's a good link, $280 AR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130066

 

[dguy6789]

X850XT is equal to slightly faster than the 7600GT. The 7600GT is faster than the X1650XT. Moving from an X850XT PE to a X1650XT is a downgrade.

 

[Munky]

I actually expect a x1650xt to be slightly faster than a 7600gt, given it has about the same relationship spec-wise as a x1900xtx vs. a 7900gtx - 1/3 less TMU's, but 2x as much PS. Maybe the results will be more concrete when reviews are published on websites that actually know how to do a proper review of video cards.

But even so, it's still basically a sidegrade from an x850xt, so a 79xx series card would be a better option.

 

[Warren21]

Originally posted by: aznrice54
http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/512-P2-N637.pdf

It's 7.8" long. The EVGA 7950 GT KO SC should perform close to the level of a X1900 XT 256MB, generally a little worse. Still a very good card though. Here's a good link, $280 AR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130066

Thanks. Here in Canada I can get one for around 360$ AR CAD off NCIX.com, and that's what I was looking at. Is it a better deal to go for a 7900 GS KO and overclock it like crazy? I hear the GS cards OC quite well.

I was hoping that X1650 would be a better performer than it is... It's the crappy 128-bit mem/only 8 ROPs. ATI has a habit of limiting the raster pipes on its cards too much...