X1800GTO for $170 is it a better deal than a 7600GT??

bobbydamm

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Even though I own a 7600GT I have to begrudgingly admit that the X1800GTO is better in part due to its 256bit bus. Lost Pipes? Yes you will be able to unlock it. No you can't unlock the 7600GT.
So save your dough and go GTO.
There. I'm not an Nvidia Fanboy.
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Did that girl in your avatar come with your MSI 7800GS? I know MSI has had some huge bundles in the past, but wow, that's unreal. I'm just trying to figure out why you are such an NV fanboi :tongue: these days. And since it's not the IQ or the performance :lol: :lol: :lol: , I figure it must have something to do with the bundle.


Sorry, just couldn't resist GW.
 

pauldh

Illustrious
That was a superclocked 7600GTO vs. a stock X1800GTO. Newegg doesn't even stock that 600/1560 model. Other reviews show the GTO winning by a little. IMO, both close at stock speeds, both good cards if the price is right.
 

bobbydamm

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Well, er,,,yea......
My 7600GT reached that 'ultra' when I tested it with coolbits (just once)
it was up to 625/800(1600) and it was screaming.
I backed it down to default. I don't know if it's all BFG 7600GT's, but it did reach that high end speed. So yes, it can be done.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
If you overclock the X1800 even a bit, it'll really pull away from a 7600 GT.

It scales better with speed, plain and simple.

If you're not overclocking though, pick the cheapest of the two...
 

ussra2

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Actually newegg does stock to different versions of eVGA's 600/1560 card.
eVGA 7600GT 600/1560

Also, you can overclock the 7600GT pretty nicely as well. So all in all, it comes down to what resolution you play games at. If you play at 1024x768 then you will be fine with either card. I prefer the Nvidia cards over ATi but thats just me. I dont look down on ATi becuase they have some really good cards. All in all the x1800GTO has the benefit of the 256bit interface which will help but thats why the clock is set so high on the core and memory of the 7600GT and it performs really nicely from what i have experienced. I can play bf2 with high settings and it doesnt break a sweat.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Also, you can overclock the 7600GT pretty nicely as well. So all in all, it comes down to what resolution you play games at.


Not really, like I said the X1800 GTO will scale much faster when it overclocks, compared to how a 7600 GT scales when it overclocks.

For every Mhz you overclock 256-bit X1800 GTO RAM, you're getting twice the milage of every Mhz you overclock 128-bit 7600 GT RAM.
Add to that the fact that the X1800 GTO is severely underclocked stock... compared to it's potential... and that you can voltmod it with clicking a button in software... and the X1800 GTO runs away when overclocked.


If you play at 1024x768, you're not going to overclock anyway, so that's not really at issue.

Like I said, at stock clocks get the cheapest one, but if you're an overclocker the X1800 GTO is the obvious winner, brand preference be damned.
 

pauldh

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I think I am the one that said Newegg didn't stock that card, not Cleeve. It was not listed on the site when i posted that, only the 580/1500 CO model. $20 more money and no AOE3, I'd take the lower clocked one and see what it could do beyond that.
 

nottheking

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I'd think that it's quite possibly a good contender for the spot. I also note that DH's testing was done with a significantly overclocked 7600GT, so that does change the comparison a little. One would also have to remember that when comparing benchmarks, one should always remember that if both cards score noticably above 60fps, it's a tie as well; however, DH wisely selected their benchmarks to show the "best" settings for the particular roundup; the only real exception being at Quake 4 at lower settings.

The two cards are pretty close performance-wise, but then when it comes to other things... Obviously, the X1800GTO will overclock better; having that 256-bit memory bus does mean it gets twice the increased memory bandwidth for every MHz you add to its speed than the 7600GT does. Also, because the 7600GT is the maxed-out version of the G73 core, while the X1800GTO is the lowest form of the R520 core, there's also overclocking disparity there; as they found out, even judging off of stock speeds, you can still push the X1800GTO significantly farther.

Lastly, though it may only matter to some, there's always the IQ (image quality, not intelligence quotient, silly people! You can put down your pitchforks already!) issue. To date, Half-Life2: Lost Coast appears to be the only HDR-enabled gaming title out there, wherin a GeForce card of any flavor can also use AA alongside HDR. To be honest, this puzzles me, because in virtually every HDR-enabled TECH DEMO, it's fully possible; this includes both third-party demos like Masa's RTHDRIBL, as well as card tech demos like nVidia's Luna and Mad Mod Mike. (not to be confused with the forum member of the same name :p) This is also something that a gamer should keep in mind when buying such a card; even though some would dismiss sub-$200US cards as "middling," gamers using them are definitely not out of place to want to use AA in their high-end games with it.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Half-Life2: Lost Coast appears to be the only HDR-enabled gaming title out there, wherin a GeForce card of any flavor can also use AA alongside HDR. To be honest, this puzzles me, because in virtually every HDR-enabled TECH DEMO, it's fully possible; this includes both third-party demos like Masa's RTHDRIBL, as well as card tech demos like nVidia's Luna and Mad Mod Mike.

Nvidia cards can do HDR & AA at the same time... but they can't specifically do the OpenEXR method of HDR & AA at the same time.

Half Life 2 uses a different method of HDR, not OpenEXR. Even Radeon 9500's (or higher) can do HDR in Half Life 2.

OpenEXR is typically used in the newest titles... Age of Empires II, Oblivion, Far Cry, etc...