X1950 XT for $150...Whats the catch?

[Vyx]

I'm currently trying to figure out what to do in the ways of a new computer build. While browsing I've come across the Sapphire X1950 XT at newegg for a low $150 AR. My question is, what is the catch to this? All the other X1950 XT's are at least $100 more than this one. Is there something I'm missing? It seems like the specs are in line with the other cards and the reviews are all pretty good...

 

[bryanW1995]

I'll let you know when mine shows up on tuesday. I heard that sapphire is very strict with their mir so I'm making sure to dot my i's and cross my t's. $150 AR is a good price but by no means a world-beater when you consider that the 8800 gts 320 is about $250 AR right now. I bought the x1950xt b/c I only game in 1440x900 and I don't see that changing for a while, and I don't have vista and don't see THAT changing for a while, either.
the sapphire had 221 reviews last time I checked. How many reviews did those other cards have? I think that there are only 3 other x1950 xt cards listed on newegg, and none of them have very many reviews. obviously the sapphire is in the sweet spot for pricing, like the evga is for the 8800 gts.

 

[VinDSL]

What's the catch?

Like the last guy implied... the word on the street is... these jerks don't pay up on rebates...

Are you feeling lucky?!?!?!?

 

[3Ball]

The MIR may be difficult to get I would assume...though I never do actually send them in. None the less it is a good price. The reason for it still being slightly cheaper than many others even before the MIR is because it is the Lite Retail version. Sapphire's light version is usually the card, cables, and drivers without all the xtra software, which is what makes it slightly cheaper. Hope this helps! The card is fine im sure though...I would say go for it!

 

[Scougar]

Just had to RMA mine due to crashing at standard clocks. (I had to run my fan at 100% just to make it stable "ish", and point a fan at the VRM'S even though nothing was very hot, which is really strange.)

Have ordered another one however. I would still get one as they are fast when working Make sure you have a fast cpu to get the best out of them though (C2D 2.4 or above). I was able to stick stalker on maximum settings with my xt. £105/$195USD (that is a currency conversion, you will get a slightly better deal). A annoying affect was starting the game initially the hard disk would be going nuts and the frame rates were pause for a few seconds and crazy jerky. Load a save game, and the game played really smooth, with hardly any disk access. Has anyone experienced that with nvidia cards?

I don't know if it's all ati's but the actual load times for the xt I had was crazy. With nvidia it took a couple of seconds to get into far cry for example, but about a minute to minute and a half to load with the xt in. Bizarre.

Bottom line: One hell of a bargain for what is essentially an x1900xtx but with faster memory They also easily clock past 660/2000ddr (1000mhz) on the sapphire units. My card is only limited by the ASRock 4coredual-vsta board I currently use. If you don't like noise then it might be advisable to factor in the cost of heatsinks, and an aftermarket cooler however. The HSF isn't the quiestest of units especially over 60% on the fan.

Matthew
p.s. Oblivion looks lovely

 

[Vyx]

Alright cool, seems like it should be a good deal. Hoping I actually get the MIR.

Thanks Everyone.

 

[Bradtechonline]

I've had mine for around 3 weeks or so. For a long time I had unimpressive frame rates but found out what setting was causing it to happen. I am impressed now with it's performance. I'm not blown away or anything but I'm satisifed with my first venture outside of Nvidia since 3dfx's demise.

My card does run hot if I don't use 3rd party software to increase the RPM on the fans. I'm getting 85 fps solid in bf2, and about any other game I play outside of WoW which sometimes drops to 40-60fps in Iron Forge depending on how many people are there *server side I think*. I only play in 1024x768 at the moment though.

This is with 6x/16x and image quality maxed

 

[Compton]

Originally posted by: Vyx
Alright cool, seems like it should be a good deal. Hoping I actually get the MIR.

Thanks Everyone.

Good luck on the MIR.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

Ditto on the good wishes for the MIR. You'll need it ...