?? about Anandtech article

[mickeddie]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2812

First question...they did not include the Ati x1800xt in their article. What are your thoughts on the x1800xt compared to the 7900gt?

Also, on the last page of the article they talk about OCing the 7900gt with the 550mgz core clock speed. What about the standard 450 clock speed 7900gt?

Thanks!!

 

[Gary_Busey]

X1800XT performs about the same as a 7900GT, maybe a little better, especially in games like Oblivion.

 

[mickeddie]

What's Oblivion?

PSYCHE!!
:twisted:

 

[pauldh]

Nothing new, that's what anandtech does. Why include the faster, cheaper, and yet still easily available X1800XT? :roll: Worse yet their X1800XT prices in their monthly price charts have often had the X1800XT priced WAY over newegg prices. I'm talking $75-100! Wouldn't want to steal any thunder from the 7900GT.

Two more interesting points, one they say the X1900XT is not as available as they would like? What's that all about.

Second, notice the huge section devoted to the overclocked 7900GT without a single mention of the problems such factory overclocked cards have been plagued with. Guaran-freakin-ty you [H]ardocp would not have been so Kind to NV and disrespectful to their readers. To be honest this is way less acceptable than not including the X1800XT.



Anyway, enough venting. To answer your question, the X1800XT and 7900GT trade blows so it depends on the games you like. I put the X1800XT a little above reference 7900GT, about equal to the CO and KO overclocked models, but not as quick as the superclock.

Here is a review of the 256MB X1800XT vs X1900GT vs 7900GT. It's largest review that I have seen that uses the 256MB X1800XT. Anyway, IMO the X1800XT easily wins this review as it always leads the X1900GT and pulls away from the 7900GT at high res with 4x/16x.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=550

Also, the digit-life charts have the X1800XT, 7900GT, X1900GT and a bunch of other cards. Look at the games and settings that matter to you. Again, IMO the X1800XT edges out the 7900GT in these charts when both cards are being stressed. I should say, Pay attention to clock speeds when looking over the cards as in cases like the 6800XT and 7300GT, they are using top clocked models. They also have added a 700/1700 clocked X1900XTX turbo.
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/index.html


I tell, with Anandtech, it's not always what they do say, it's what they fail to say. And many here have pointed out some of these convienent omissions. Overall, I still like and read their reviews, but I feel sorry for those who put all their faith in them alone without also reading/comparing results to many other sites.

 

[Dr_asik]

Interesting what you say about anantech. While you're at it, what do you think about this issue:

On comparing various Athlon CPUs with Oblivion, the firingsquad test show absolutely no relation between CPU speed and performance at any resolution higher than 800x600:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/oblivion_athlon_64_x2_fx_cpu_performance/page3.asp

While the anandtech tests are very different and with the same setup and conditions:

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2747&p=3

That issue really puzzles me.

 

[pauldh]

Anandtech removed the GPU bottleneck and did the better test. The difference is that FS used a single X1900XTX and Anandtech used dual crossfire XTX. Even with the best single OBlivion GPU, it was usually GPU limited with A64 3500 and up. But with the best Oblivion GPU setup.. 2 X1900's in crossfire, then the cpu limitations could be seen. Both intersting results, but I really enjoyed the Anand Oblivion CPU article more and the FS GPU Oblivion articles more.

 

[mickeddie]

Follow up question:

Regarding overclocking the anantech article mentioned a 7900gt with a 550 clock speed. I never overclocked (and am a little scared to...but will with the e6600 when I get it...my very first build) but should I want to, how does the x1800xt compare to the 7900gt stock 450 clock speed card for overclocking?

Does the x1800xt come in different clock speeds?

I found two Saphire cards for about $201 and $206, the SAPPHIRE 100154 and the 100154L. Other than $5, what is the difference?

 

[raven_87]

Bundled software, cables, adapters etc...

X1800XT clocks : 625/1450

The 7900GT @ 450mhz isnt going to show alot, maybe a little driver work and a clock increase then yes, very much so. However most R520's will do 50-75mhz over core with the stock cooler (higher fan speeds) and a little AS5.
So the X1800XT is no slouch (I should know)


In all honestly, my choice being first the X1800XT. But thats just my opinion, because of the occasional video work I do, and my preference on games.

Both should do just fine for your needs, just dont expect to push that 7900GT to GTX speeds and have it completely stable.

 

[mickeddie]

Last question: Regarding the SAPPHIRE 100154 and the 100154L, the "L" says it has crossfire support, the first one does NOT say it from
http://www.chiefvalue.com/product/productdetails.aspx?item=14-102-007

I know with Nvidia cards there is a bridge that connects the cards together, but in the picture of the x1800xt I do not see a connection for this kind of bridge. Am I missing something here or are all 1800xt's crossfire ready and they just didn't put it in the description for that one GPU?

 

[pauldh]

They just omitted the crossfire in the description. Both support crossfire if you add a X1800XT master card, which comes with the external dongle cable to connect them. But if you are considering crossfire, I'd go X1900Xt anyway as X1800XT master cards are rare.

As far as the Sapphire X1800XT's, they have an OEM, Lite retail (L) and full retail. The difference is no fancy box for the oem and the full retail come with more software. Personally, I would buy the L as it's only $3 more than the OEM and $27 less than the full retail. I just like retail version for a possibly easier warranty prcess if need be. Of course, it's good to look into who is providing the warranty as I'd take an OEM Newegg 1 year waraanty over a 1 year Sapphire warranty, as Newegg will refund the full purchase price if they no longer stock the card. I had an 11 month old retail box Rosewill 9800 pro go bad and the 1 year warranty was Neweggs responsibility, they gave me the full $138 back that I paid for it.