Possible video card upgrade help

[Rurouni Strife]

Hey guys/gals. I have a quick question. I think I might be in need of an upgrade to my video card. My x1800GTO has done well but I can't play the more modern games without turning settings down below what I prefer. Example: DiRT-1024x768, 8xAF and mostly high settings gets me 18 fps avg with my Highest Overclock (627 core, 648 mem). I am awaiting the Bioshock PC demo to truly test and see if I need to upgrade. Assuming I do, I need to know what to get. I have a preference to ATI but I'm willing to go Nvidia if the price is right for the performance. I run Windows XP Pro, probably wont move to Vista until more affordable GOOD performing DX 10 cards come out...no 2600xt/8600 series stuff. My price range is less than 200 bucks. Oh, my usual game resolution is 1280x1024 (17 inch monitor...booo).
Currently considering x1950 Pro 512 or X1950XT 256.

Thanks!

 

[nflesher87]

well you're not going to need the 512 version of any card just running at 1280x1024 that's for sure
I would probably recommend the 1950 pro, which would be a huge performace jump going from 16 to 36 pixel shaders, though if you're interested in a slightly more cost effective solution to tide you over for a bit, I have an X1650XT that will still be loads better than your x1800, it has 24 pixel shaders

 

[tofu]

Hey man.

I assume your X1800GTO has 16 Pipes, and is clocked to 627/648 which makes it just as fast as the X1800XT. You wont be seeing major performance increases with an X1950PRO or an X1950XT - maybe 2-5 fps increase max.

If your budget is so tight, then your best bet would be 8600GTS, it outperforms X1950PRO in many games when you don't use AA. The X1950XT 256 won't be that much faster than the X1950PRO 512 either, unless you overclock it and live with the noisy squirrel cage fan.

Hope this helps

 

[TXcharger]

haha good luck finding a 8800 for that price! lol jk.. well if you live in america newegg.com is a good place to look...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150171 thats prob as low as its gonna get

 

[tofu]

Oh and btw.

This website is awesome: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

 

[Widjaja]

I don't know how much of a performance increase you will get vs a X1800
But I do know that the X1950pro I have plays Carbon really well compared to my 7600GS.
Everything is blurry & or lags with my old card at the same settings
I have nearly all settings max in Oblivion and the only thing holding it back is the HDD hitches in the game but then again the hitches are also on my brothers rig with 2.9C2D and a 8800GTX running vista ultimate.

 

[Ravenas]

This card is for you my friend:

ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT

Its a great card for someone on a budget. It has better benchmarks than the GTS (320MB); very tough contender to the 8800 series.

 

[Rurouni Strife]

Thanks for the replies and all. Umm, no I dont have the pipes unlocked...my card wont unlock so I just have 12 pipelines. Also, to Nflesher87, the 1800GTO actually performs pretty close if not slightly above a 1650xt. So I'm not intrested but thanks.

I'm not gonna lie, I'd love a 2900xt but being the poor college student I am I dont think I can justify spending 390 bucks on that card.

I do like using AA, but I can live without it at my normal res. So if I can get 2x/4xaa out of a 1950 pro on say...oblivion i'll totally take that over a 8600 card.

Tofu, thanks for the link. I checked that out earlier and it makes me consider the 1950xt a little more but ya...I still got time. Like I said...waiting for BIOSHOCK DEMO!!! HELLA!!! still not out for pc yet...

Oh yea, how OCable are the 1950 pros?

 

[newtekie1]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143090

The 7950GT might be an option to look at, even though it is nVidia.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102067

Of course the x1950XT is also a very good buy at that price.

 

[niko084]

Warning on the 1950xt.... You will probably want some after market cooling on that card....

Trust me!

1 wasn't tooo bad, but loud enough in a quite room to irritate me sometimes, 2 was ridiculous.

 

[hat]

I will second the 7950GT. My uncle plays BF2 maxed out with 8xAA/16xAF forced in the BIOS with a Pentium D 3.4 and 2GB DDR800, and of course the 7950. The card idles under 50C and load around 60

 

[tofu]

Oh yea, how OCable are the 1950 pros?

They're not as overclockable as most of us would like cuz of their poorly designed voltage regulators onboard.

I have a Arctic Accelero S1 with a 120mm fan on my X1950PRO and my max stable clock is 628/796 (it can go a bit further but I haven't got the time to try).

Go for the X1950XT, they're way more overclockable, though noisier, and u can control voltages from windows using ATITool.

 

[Rurouni Strife]

Thanks for the replies guys. From the looks of it, I'll probably go 1950XT. My 500 watt PSU should handle it, and it'll probably last me w/ DX 9 games until i win the lottery or get some awesome internship/job next summer. Price is only like..15 bucks apart too.

 

[mitsirfishi]

x1950xt good buy ive been abit lucky with clocking my pro's plus you get the extra 4 pipes plus 12 shaders

 

[hat]

Unless you really like ATi I would advise against the x1950.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130084
very good overclocker, the x1950 isn't
Dx10, x1950 isn't
takes less power than the x1950
generates less heat
x1950 ~5-10% faster

 

[mitsirfishi]

why is everyone like dx10 oh no we must go out there and buy a product which is currently slower and runs next gen crap, use logic its better to keep with the now stuff which is quicker

 

[yogurt_21]

Unless you really like ATi I would advise against the x1950.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130084
very good overclocker, the x1950 isn't
Dx10, x1950 isn't
takes less power than the x1950
generates less heat
x1950 ~5-10% faster

ummm well thanks for bein soo specific, no the 8600gts can't beat an x1950xt, it can beat a pro. lol and sicne he's decided on the x1950xt your card is a worse buy, less performance for the same money, and as for dx 10, in most benches the 8800 ultra struggles with dx 10, and you expect an 8600gts to run it? good luck with that. I wouldn't worry abotu dx 10 until the next nvidia and ati series come out, by then we'll actually have dx 10 games.

and the x1950xt is a great clocker with a good system and airflow behind it, mine went from 625 core to 720 on stock and from 1800 mem to 2000 me on stock cooling and voltage. 100MHZ is nothing to gawk at especially when the x1950xt at stock beats the 8600gts.
and as the resolutions and details got up, the 128-bit 8600 becomes more and more bottlenecked by the mem bus while the x1950xt gains more and more perfromance over the 8600gts.

 

[mitsirfishi]

70quid for a x1950pro is a good buy my friend and a crossfire pair for £140 is a good by as it takes on the likes of a 8800gts320mb and 7950gx2

 

[Rurouni Strife]

here in the states I'm seeing pro's for 130-150. And I dont have a crossfire mobo.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Rurouni, Are you buying it for only one certain game in mind?

X1800GTO is actually a really nice card (well to me it is, if peeps disagree). I think you should just save your money or buy something like off the wall, like another hard drive, new dvd burner or maybe even get a dual core proc, but the opteron runs pretty good tho.

Lookin at your specs, I know I am one tot alk, treat yourself to a new case!

 

[mitsirfishi]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-OK f 70 for the pro they come as the newer revised sapphire ones same as the gt's so you can up your volts in ati tool im sure
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/119441 £105 for a sapphire x1950xt

oh sorry didnt see your in the us

 

[rick22]

i think the 1950pro is way over rated..with so many better cards out there

 

[Widjaja]

Well I like my Sapphire X1950pro and strangely the cooler isn't as noisy as it used to be anymore.
I've had it for about 3 months now.
I remeber I used to be able to hear the fan whine as the fan speed changed but now I can't tell the difference.
I know it's working since the temps are the same 76 deg max underload and thats normal for the Sapphire X1950pro but I don't know about the revised version.

P.S I noticed when AA is on Oblivion a line goes down the left and the top of the screen when outside but I use HDR and X1950pros cannot use HDR and AA in Oblivion.
Only happens when outside.

This also happens in race driver 3 when going between loading screens.

Not too sure what it is.

It only happens in those two games. . . . .possibly some sort of bug in the driver or the card itself.