Please help choose ATI CARD - Urgent

Sticky

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Jul 26, 2005
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Hi I am posting again to get a wider response.

I have been advized in my previos post that ati is the best way to go with my upgrade!

I have the following:

AMD 3500+
Asrock Dual SATA II MB (supports both AGP & PCIX)
2 GB Ram
19" LCD Monitor (1024x1280)
Currentlt 6800GT AGP

As you can see totally a gaming rig. I can only get the following two ATI cards in my area. Also is Gcube good?

GECUBE RADEON X1900GT 256MB 256-BIT DDR3 PCI-EXPRESS X 16 , DUAL DVI-I , AVIVO , FEATURES 512-BIT INTERNAL RING BUS MEMORY CONTROLLER , ATI AVIVO TECHNOLOGY , SUPPORT DIREXT X 9.0C SHADER MODE 3 & OPEN GL , CORE CLOCK 575MHZ , MEMORY CLOCK 1,200MHZ , 36 PIXEL SHADER PROCESSORS , ACCESSORIES : S-VIDEO TO AV CABLE , DVI TO VGA ADAPTER , HDTV CABLE , SOFTWARE : POWER DVD , 3D GAMES , CROSSFIRE READY

GECUBE RADEON X1800GTO 256MB 256-BIT DDR3 PCI-EXPRESS X 16 , DUAL DVI-I , AVIVO , FEATURES 512-BIT INTERNAL RING BUS MEMORY CONTROLLER , ATI AVIVO TECHNOLOGY , SUPPORT DIREXT X 9.0C SHADER MODE 3 & OPEN GL , CORE CLOCK 500MHZ , MEMORY CLOCK 1,000MHZ , 12 PIXEL PIPELINES , ACCESSORIES : S-VIDEO TO AV CABLE , DVI TO VGA ADAPTER , HDTV CABLE , SOFTWARE : POWER DVD , 3D GAMES

Please advize....
 

michaelahess

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Personally I would go with the gto, just cause of the price, both will play oblivion for example maxed out. You'll have to unlock the GTO though. Just get the 1800xt 512mb for the same price and don't worry about it.
 

steckman

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I didn't think an X1800GTO was much of an upgrade from a 6800GT, but I guess I could be wrong. I bet the cost/benefit analysis of that upgrade would come up pretty short though.

The X1900GT is a pretty powerful card if you can afford it. It might even have a better cost/benefit to you depending on what you want to do with your computer.
 

ivoryjohn

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Those are both interesting cards, especially if you are willing to mod them.

Out of the box, the 1900gt is clearly superior and more expensive.

Both are GTO cards. Both are built on the same chips as their full blown bigger siblings, but they have features that are disabled (and possibly are built on chips that failed quality control testing).

Some 1800GTO cards can be flashed to 1800XL, but check around if you plan to do this, certain manufacturers seemed to work better than others, you'll have to check if GECUBE is among them. BTW, your specs don't include it, but 1800GTO is crossfire ready (two GTO's with no CF edition).

The 1900GT (was going to be 1900GTO) is in the same boat. It has some features disabled, and may or may not be moddable. The 1800GTO flashed to an 1800XL which is a 256mb version of an 1800XT (built on early generation 1800 chips). The 1900 has no such 256mb card, and flashing it with a 512mb 1900xt will not be as easy. Time will tell.

What games do you plan to play? The 1900 excells at shader intensive games like FEAR and Oblivion (and call to duty?), while the 1800 is better at texture intensive games. (However, the 1900 is probably faster at both).