Yet another X1900XT vs. 7800GTX thread.....so torn!

[xtknight]

http://www.brightsidetech.com/tech/bstech.php

This is the best monitor, n00bs.

 

[kwo]

does look cool - but I'd hate to see what it's going to cost....

 

[Pete]

Yeah, from what I've read, odds are the GTX will be much quieter with a stock fan, and so is his only real option if he's serious about silence. But $500 for a GTX sounds like a total rip-off if you compare performance with a X1900XT. I don't know about driver stability, but ATI does seem to gain higher framerates in more games with new drivers, which may require him to update his drivers once in a while. This shouldn't be too hard if you just talk him thru it over the phone or by email.

So, X1900XT + non-stock cooler would be my preference in terms of price/performance and just performance (he'll probably want to run that 2405 as close to its native res as possible). The Accelero X2 sounds pretty nice, but make sure it'll fit in the case. If all you've got to choose from are stock coolers, a GTX might be less of a headache. Or maybe one of those fanless Asus 7800GTs: still slower than a X1900XT, but silent. He better have some damn good case airflow with that one, though. And you might have to cross your fingers that a heatsink so elaborate doesn't get damaged in the mail.

Maybe throw in some Nexus 120mms for the case, if the Lian-Li's stock fans aren't that quiet.

 

[n7]

As much as it's disappointing to see the X1900 driver issues, it's very difficult to recommend the 7800GTX 256 MB, since in price/performance terms, there's no comparison.
AFAIK, the X1900XT cooler is exactly the same as the X1800XT cooler, & while i do admit the stock cooler isn't very quiet, i certainly wouldn't say it's loud (unless you turn the fan up to max, then it's very loud )
With case fans & HSF, you won't likely notice a difference.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: kwo

Originally posted by: Elfear
With that monitor, definetely get a X1900XT. My 7800GTX struggled at 1920x1200 in quiet a few games.

Really? Geez - I didn't think that would be a problem with the GTX series.......perhaps I'll have to rethink after all - he would prefer to go with the quieter one (wound up calling him on the phone)..but I know it's important to him to get a card that can support his monitor's native resolution (1920x1200)......

Well, assuming what you experienced is a video card limitation and not a system limitation (/me checks your .sig stats - what's that Stealth S3????) then that might be the key point after all.....

It was definetely a graphics card limitation. At the time I was using an Opteron@3.05GHz and running on an un-bloated install of Windows XP (can unbloated and WinXp really go together in the same sentence?). My 7800GTs@550/1300 took care of the slow-down for the most part so I know the GTX was holding me back.

Best plan is just to throw an aftermarket cooler on an X1900XT. If you don't want to wait for the Accelero than pick up a Zalman VF-700. They do a pretty good job of keeping temps in check and are very quiet. Just make sure you have good case ventilation.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Pete
Yeah, from what I've read, odds are the GTX will be much quieter with a stock fan, and so is his only real option if he's serious about silence. But $500 for a GTX sounds like a total rip-off if you compare performance with a X1900XT. I don't know about driver stability, but ATI does seem to gain higher framerates in more games with new drivers, which may require him to update his drivers once in a while. This shouldn't be too hard if you just talk him thru it over the phone or by email.

So, X1900XT + non-stock cooler would be my preference in terms of price/performance and just performance (he'll probably want to run that 2405 as close to its native res as possible). The Accelero X2 sounds pretty nice, but make sure it'll fit in the case. If all you've got to choose from are stock coolers, a GTX might be less of a headache. Or maybe one of those fanless Asus 7800GTs: still slower than a X1900XT, but silent. He better have some damn good case airflow with that one, though. And you might have to cross your fingers that a heatsink so elaborate doesn't get damaged in the mail.

Maybe throw in some Nexus 120mms for the case, if the Lian-Li's stock fans aren't that quiet.

Hi Pete JMO after spending literally 1000's of dollars on cooling, trail and error, building multiple silent setups- with that poor case design it behoves user to put an active fan on videocard.

That "fanless" Asus relies on user having sufficient air flow from the box as it's fan which is not the case with the PC-60. It only has a 80mm fan, located where CPU is which makes cooling that card difficult. Especially so if he plans to 7volts the 80mm which is really the only way to gain acceptable noise levels. The other source of case ventalation is the PSU - seasonic's 120mm spins about 700-1000 RPM, Making hardly any noise but also moving hardly any air either - Seasonic relies on it's >80% effencienty rating to keep it's temps down, not air flow. Thus his best choice for a high performance video card is silencer. Serves three purposes 1) increasing overall air flow in case which is good for everything from drives to mosfets to memory. 2) cools card better than stock 3) Way more quiet than stock.

 

[Zebo]

Arctic Cooling Accelero X2

Read my post to Pete. Same princle applies with that HSF and a passive one. Needs good case flow to work which you won't have in PC-60 w/ seasonic.

Poor choice because it just recirculates the hot air coming off the card into low flow case.. creating a snowball effect.. temps will get higher and higher until it's on full blast. I seriously would try stock - you can tweak out the stock HSF with arctic silver saving about 5C and then use software to keep fan rpms toned down. Fresh cool air is always coming into case this way and keeps lower rpms automatically because if this important issue.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: munky
LOL. THIS is the monitor of the gods. LCD's are just pretenders to the throne

That's really nice except it has'nt been made since 2004. People could'nt afford it's "god" price of $2499

I was pretty certain people were buying these on Ebay for 350... Certainly a good deal if your desk can handle 90+ pounds and you don't need the space. Personally, I am a fan of LCDs now. I wouldn't trade mine for anything and while the black levels are not pefect, the geometry is, and that is what I consider important.

SED monitors will absolutely put LCDs to shame. Geometry and bulk are big downsides to CRTs and LCDs have their own well-known limitations, so SEDs have the best of all worlds: no bulk and geometry problems, nicely scale-able resolutions, great response time - even less blur/ghosting than a standard CRT, terrific viewing angle, perfect black and color range.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: munky
LOL. THIS is the monitor of the gods. LCD's are just pretenders to the throne

That's really nice except it has'nt been made since 2004. People could'nt afford it's "god" price of $2499

I was pretty certain people were buying these on Ebay for 350... Certainly a good deal if your desk can handle 90+ pounds and you don't need the space. Personally, I am a fan of LCDs now. I wouldn't trade mine for anything and while the black levels are not pefect, the geometry is, and that is what I consider important.

SED monitors will absolutely put LCDs to shame. Geometry and bulk are big downsides to CRTs and LCDs have their own well-known limitations, so SEDs have the best of all worlds: no bulk and geometry problems, nicely scale-able resolutions, great response time - even less blur/ghosting than a standard CRT, terrific viewing angle, perfect black and color range.

Well, bring on the SED's because there's absolutely nothing tempting about a LCD to me, no matter how much people rave about it. I'll stick with my CRT until something better comes along.

 

[Ronin]

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
SED monitors will absolutely put LCDs to shame. Geometry and bulk are big downsides to CRTs and LCDs have their own well-known limitations, so SEDs have the best of all worlds: no bulk and geometry problems, nicely scale-able resolutions, great response time - even less blur/ghosting than a standard CRT, terrific viewing angle, perfect black and color range.

You do mean OLED, right?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Ronin

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
"monitor of the gods"???? Hardly. My 2+ years L2335 is nicer.

http://www.penstarsys.com/reviews/monitor/hp/l2335/index.html

Buwahahaha...hahahahaha...omg...I'm dying over here.

Please explain Mr. Know It All... And note, I didn't say the L2335 was the Monitor of the Gods but nicer than the your monitor.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Ronin

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
SED monitors will absolutely put LCDs to shame. Geometry and bulk are big downsides to CRTs and LCDs have their own well-known limitations, so SEDs have the best of all worlds: no bulk and geometry problems, nicely scale-able resolutions, great response time - even less blur/ghosting than a standard CRT, terrific viewing angle, perfect black and color range.

You do mean OLED, right?

(Sorry for the off-topic)

Both OLED and SED will blow anything today away. OLED will reach higher resolutions initially while SEDs will come out in big TV sizes to begin with. Neither will have viewing angle problems. Since OLEDs won't flicker and are higher resolution, I give OLEDs my vote for now. Brightness per pixel should be higher with SED than any aperture grille- or shadow mask- based CRT from what I infer...

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Ronin

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
SED monitors will absolutely put LCDs to shame. Geometry and bulk are big downsides to CRTs and LCDs have their own well-known limitations, so SEDs have the best of all worlds: no bulk and geometry problems, nicely scale-able resolutions, great response time - even less blur/ghosting than a standard CRT, terrific viewing angle, perfect black and color range.

You do mean OLED, right?

Here you go Einstein - http://www.canon.com/technology/display/

 

[Pete]

Good points, Zebo. I'm not familiar with that Lian-Li case, so I just assumed it has at least a front and rear 92mm.

 

[kwo]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Hi Pete JMO after spending literally 1000's of dollars on cooling, trail and error, building multiple silent setups- with that poor case design it behoves user to put an active fan on videocard.

That "fanless" Asus relies on user having sufficient air flow from the box as it's fan which is not the case with the PC-60. It only has a 80mm fan, located where CPU is which makes cooling that card difficult. Especially so if he plans to 7volts the 80mm which is really the only way to gain acceptable noise levels. The other source of case ventalation is the PSU - seasonic's 120mm spins about 700-1000 RPM, Making hardly any noise but also moving hardly any air either - Seasonic relies on it's >80% effencienty rating to keep it's temps down, not air flow. Thus his best choice for a high performance video card is silencer. Serves three purposes 1) increasing overall air flow in case which is good for everything from drives to mosfets to memory. 2) cools card better than stock 3) Way more quiet than stock.

OK, thanks for the posts - but you lost me a bit. The Lian Li PC60-APlus has a 120mm in the front and an 80mm (I think, maybe a 92mm?) in the back for exhaust. as well as an air duct...

See the Lian Li website for tech details - but this sounds pretty good to me.....

That didn't seem like to bad a cooling scenario. I chose the Lian Li for quality and quietness. If you know of a well built case (with removable tray) that is also quiet but with good airflow, I'm all ears.....

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: kwo
does look cool - but I'd hate to see what it's going to cost....

You forgot to say EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ackmed]

Thats an 80mm in the back of the PC-60. I had the PC-60B, which is the "silent" version. It is basically the same, but with a door that had rubber on the inside so it didnt vibrate, and the two side panels had sound insulation. It was a very, very quiet case.Not much air flow though, so temps may not be so great in it, with dual cards.

 

[kwo]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Thats an 80mm in the back of the PC-60. I had the PC-60B, which is the "silent" version. It is basically the same, but with a door that had rubber on the inside so it didnt vibrate, and the two side panels had sound insulation. It was a very, very quiet case.Not much air flow though, so temps may not be so great in it, with dual cards.

Thanks for the personal experience - but I'd like to point out that this is the "Plus" version which has greatly enhanced cooling (see the link in my post). It has an additional 120mm side vent, plus a top 80mm.....