X300 vs X700 vs x1300 (what are the real differences?)

dalfollo

Senior member
Jan 10, 2001
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I am looking for a video card to replace (or augment if I am lucky) onboard video I have on a new Compaq Presario (Radeon 200 Xpress). Basic use is surfing, typical web dev, home office, music ripping/burning...i do some image manipulation, and will be transfering VCR tapes to DVD.... the most gaming I will do will be MS Flight Simulator and/or X-Plane the PC has got to be able to handle these sims....The reason for buying the card, is firstly to have dual monitors, maybe three if I can get the onboard video to play along...

So my first thought was to keep the price down to around $75 or less for a X300 (I only paid $180 for the PC!) this way I can use the PC for Internet/home office stuff, and use dual monitors...i found one or two at new egg that were well priced at ~$60.....and this seems good, there were some good reviews on NewEgg for the ones I was focusing on... but then I thought of my image work, and video manipulation....and flight sim.... would this X300 be able to handle that?

Then someone mentions, hey why not spend a little more and get some more memory and better GPU engine with the X700...so I find one or two in the~$100-120 range.... that seem to offer better performance for not much more money...

Then on sunday I ran across an X1300 with 512 DDR2 memory for $140 after rebates at CompUsa....

I was very close in ordering the cheapest card so that I can use the dual monitors....but spending a little more for something that will provide for better video/faster refresh would be acceptable as well. ...what is the real differences between X300/X700/X1300??? X-Plane latest version says I need 3D/OpenGL/ aand recommends 32MB VRAM

Can someone explain to me why I might want to go with the $140 card rather than the X700 or the X300...

For any of you out there that would say ATI is my first mistake, please help me understand how ATI models translate to NVidia models....For what I have described above what Nvidia card do you suggest??? Are the ATI cards so much worse??

Any help appreciated... two points...If i had my druthers, I would just take a non-fan video card...right now I cannot hear the PC.....

What the heck is the deal with GT GTO PRO SE etc???I have yet to find a clear explaination fo what all this means...
 

F1shF4t

Golden Member
Oct 18, 2005
1,583
1
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Originally posted by: dalfollo
I am looking for a video card to replace (or augment if I am lucky) onboard video I have on a new Compaq Presario (Radeon 200 Xpress). Basic use is surfing, typical web dev, home office, music ripping/burning...i do some image manipulation, and will be transfering VCR tapes to DVD.... the most gaming I will do will be MS Flight Simulator and/or X-Plane the PC has got to be able to handle these sims....The reason for buying the card, is firstly to have dual monitors, maybe three if I can get the onboard video to play along...

So my first thought was to keep the price down to around $75 or less for a X300 (I only paid $180 for the PC!) this way I can use the PC for Internet/home office stuff, and use dual monitors...i found one or two at new egg that were well priced at ~$60.....and this seems good, there were some good reviews on NewEgg for the ones I was focusing on... but then I thought of my image work, and video manipulation....and flight sim.... would this X300 be able to handle that?

Then someone mentions, hey why not spend a little more and get some more memory and better GPU engine with the X700...so I find one or two in the~$100-120 range.... that seem to offer better performance for not much more money...

Then on sunday I ran across an X1300 with 512 DDR2 memory for $140 after rebates at CompUsa....

I was very close in ordering the cheapest card so that I can use the dual monitors....but spending a little more for something that will provide for better video/faster refresh would be acceptable as well. ...what is the real differences between X300/X700/X1300??? X-Plane latest version says I need 3D/OpenGL/ aand recommends 32MB VRAM

Can someone explain to me why I might want to go with the $140 card rather than the X700 or the X300...

For any of you out there that would say ATI is my first mistake, please help me understand how ATI models translate to NVidia models....For what I have described above what Nvidia card do you suggest??? Are the ATI cards so much worse??

Any help appreciated... two points...If i had my druthers, I would just take a non-fan video card...right now I cannot hear the PC.....

What the heck is the deal with GT GTO PRO SE etc???I have yet to find a clear explaination fo what all this means...


No don't even bother about going with the x1300 512mg, the ram on it wont do anything... going to 512mg even on high end cards give no difference.

The x300 is a complete sloth, not worth going over ur onboard graphics card

Better yet pick up a cheap 6600 or 6600gt, that would be a much better choice.
 

v8envy

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2002
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Seconded, don't bother with the X300. All that ram is just marketing. You'll get about a 10% boost over your integrated video. X1300Pro is significantly better, but costs as much as a 6600GT.

'SE' almost always means 'sucker edition', a low performance version of the original part with a similar name. Unless you know exactly what you're buying, it's a good rule of thumb to stay as far away from 'SE' and 'LE' cards from either vendor as you can.

Suffixes are important. Oftentimes a lower model card with the right suffix will blow the doors off a higher model number card with the wrong suffix.

IMO, if you're going to go discrete graphics card, look for a 6600GT. You can also use gpureview.com to see what kind of specs the cards have. The bigger numbers the better. 3dmark05 scores are not too comprable across card models and brands, but across the same model number will give you a pretty good idea of the performance difference you could expect.

The X1600XT is comprable (read: slightly better) to the 6600GT. The plain vanilla one sold for low $100s not so much. I wouldn't touch the no-suffix and Pro versions of that card with a barge pole at any price over $85.

Oh, and your sr1710nx has a 250 watt Delta power supply. It's a quiet little unit, but will probably not pump out enough oomph for a quality 3d card. Expect to drop another $50 on a reputable vendor's power supply. (That's a whole different topic.)

 

unclebud

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2000
5,518
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"Oh, and your sr1710nx has a 250 watt Delta power supply. It's a quiet little unit, but will probably not pump out enough oomph for a quality 3d card. Expect to drop another $50 on a reputable vendor's power supply. (That's a whole different topic.)"

he has 1610nx i think
somebody posted a deal for a x800xl
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1782332&enterthread=y

compusa also has a 450w ps for $29 after $10 rebate
it has +12v1 = 15a and +12v = 17a and six pin pci express connector, sata, and 24pin
 

dalfollo

Senior member
Jan 10, 2001
452
0
0
Uncle bud is right...I have the 1610, but it does have a 250W PSU which will not handle the extra load, so I am looking at a new PSU....saw a nice Fortran 450 on newegg that looks promising...

I think I may be leaning towaords a video card in the $100-$120 price range, as 80-90% of my work is basic stuff, and I can spend the unused money on the PSU and the SATA to IDE adapter i need for my IDE drives to be used on the MB's SATA connectors.

this is a good discussion about the naming structure of the vid cards, and very much apreciate your info!