Geforce 7300LE or ATI X1300 Pro?

[fuzzy33]

would appreciate your recommendation between two GPU's.

I'm thinking of getting a new Dell computer this fall or winter. The CPU will be E6400 or Athlon X2500 with 2 gig 533MHz dual channel RAM. I will not be overclocking anything.

I would like to upgrade to Windows Vista Premium with Aero in the spring and keep the computer for 5 years, preferably without upgrading the hardware. I plan on eventually getting a 24" LCD panel.

The computer would be used for general non-work tasks, plus Word and regular photo editing and occasional video splicing, but no gaming. I scoll through a large number of thumbnails; I am not sure if that will be handled by the GPU in Vista.

The default GPU on the Dell E520 is Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, while on the E521 it is NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU. I assume that these two would not be good for Vista Premium.

The E520 and E521 both offer the following upgrades at about the same price:
256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro

Which one would be best?

Should I wait until DirectX10 GPU's become available at a reasonable price?

Fuzzy

 

[kaotao]

Do not buy anything with the letters "LE" or "SE" (or XT for Nvidia cards) like the 7300LE. "LE"= laggs on everything, "SE" =sucks at everything. The only 7300 series card worth getting is the 7300GT GDDR3 . What's your budget?

 

[Bosaka]

At work I have a Pentium D 930 with 1Gb DDR-2 and a 7300LE and it runs aero just fine..if you dont plan on gaming it is sufficient. But in all honesty I would definately say get the x1300 pro over the 7300 LE It might run aero a little faster - dunno if you will notice, but ATI has a better 2D image quality.

 

[quantumsheep]

At work I have a Pentium D 930 with 1Gb DDR-2 and a 7300LE and it runs aero just fine..if you dont plan on gaming it is sufficient. But in all honesty I would definately say get the x1300 pro over the 7300 LE It might run aero a little faster - dunno if you will notice, but ATI has a better 2D image quality.

Word.

 

[SciFiMan]

What is your budget for a video card? What is the native rez on that 24" LCD you have your eye on? If you are wanting the next system to last 5 years, and assuming MS does plug some features back into Vista, you might want to jump up one level to a 7600 or a X1600.

Given your 5 year life cycle without an upgrade, I would move up just a bit in CPU also. Just a thought. I have a couple years old AMD 2500+ now and if you can still get one it could last another 5 years for general use. But 5 years is a long time in the PC world. I feel you would get a better value going slightly newer and stronger. If you can hold out, waiting for the entry level DX10 card might be more cost effective given your goal of not upgrading further.

 

[cleeve]

If it's for gaming, the X1300 PRO will eat it alive.

If it's not for gaming, the X1300 will offer nicer DVD playback and video encoding acceleration (if you're into that)


The 7300LE isn't bad for non-gaming applications, but I can't think of a reason to choose it over the X1300 PRO if they're the same price...

 

[Grated]

X1300 Pro

 

[quantumsheep]

If it's for gaming, the X1300 PRO will eat it alive.

If it's not for gaming, the X1300 will offer nicer DVD playback and video encoding acceleration (if you're into that)


The 7300LE isn't bad for non-gaming applications, but I can't think of a reason to choose it over the X1300 PRO if they're the same price...

Cleeve just took the words right outta my mouth. If they're the same/similar price get the x1300 PRO.

 

[fuzzy33]

Thanks, kaotao Bosaka, quantumsheep, SciFiMan, Cleeve, and Grated,

I guess I will go with ATI X1300 Pro then.

SciFiMan and kaoto, to answer your question, my budget is $200 for a GPU, though I suspect the ATI X1300 Pro will be enough at $120.

What is the native rez on that 24" LCD you have your eye on?

SciFiMan, I don't know. I don't have a specific model in mind since they are all too expensive now. I will buy the LCD when the price comes down to about $300.

But 5 years is a long time in the PC world.

My current computer is nearly 5 years, and I hope to be able to baby it for another 7 to 8 months. Okay, I'll plan to keep the new computer 4 years.

Fuzzy33

 

[Anoobis]

Like the others said, the X1300Pro.

IIRC, the "Pro" versions do not use "Hyper Memory" (ATI's version of nVidia's TurboCache). "Hyper Memory", "TurboCache", whatever you want to call it, uses your PC's system RAM in conjunction with the graphics card's onboard RAM. It's ok for regular 2D stuff but nightmarish for gaming.

If you can get an X1300Pro with 256MB of actual onboard RAM for the same price as a 7300LE that will have at most 128MB of onboard RAM (the rest will be "borrowed from the system RAM) then definately get the X1300Pro.

 

[Xazax310]

If you can buy the desktop, then go out to a retailer or online store and buy a 7300GT, simplist thing to install, just put the card in the PCI-E slot and thats it! then go download the latest Nvidia drivers. The 7300GT is a good budget card.

 

[cleeve]

The 7300GT is a good budget card.

Only the GDDR3 versions. Regular 7300 GTs are on the same level as the X1300 PRO.

 

[quantumsheep]

The 7300GT is a good budget card.

Only the GDDR3 versions. Regular 7300 GTs are on the same level as the X1300 PRO.

I've never actually seen any benchmarks for these 7300gt GDDR3 models, are they significantly faster than the DDR/2 versions?

Links to benchmarks please?

 

[digitaldreamzz]

The 7300GT is a good budget card.

Only the GDDR3 versions. Regular 7300 GTs are on the same level as the X1300 PRO.

I've never actually seen any benchmarks for these 7300gt GDDR3 models, are they significantly faster than the DDR/2 versions?

Links to benchmarks please?

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=Articles&go=read&arc_id=86

here is one....its faster than even the 7600GS gddr2

 

[quantumsheep]

The 7300GT is a good budget card.

Only the GDDR3 versions. Regular 7300 GTs are on the same level as the X1300 PRO.

I've never actually seen any benchmarks for these 7300gt GDDR3 models, are they significantly faster than the DDR/2 versions?

Links to benchmarks please?

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=Articles&go=read&arc_id=86

here is one....its faster than even the 7600GS gddr2

Thanks man

 

[Anoobis]

quantumsheep, is that quote in your signature by Hannibal Lecter?

 

[quantumsheep]

quantumsheep, is that quote in your signature by Hannibal Lecter?

I have absolutely no idea, i just remember it from when me and some friends were having a discussion about politics and there was someone there who let's say wasn't too bright and wasn't much of a looker. And that day she said something really stupid, so my friend says "Your wisdom is only matched by your beauty".

Just seemed mildly funny at the time...

 

[Anoobis]

Ohh...damn.

Did she take it as a compliment, or an insult?

 

[quantumsheep]

She just sorta sat there with a blank look on her face!

 

[kaotao]

A friend of mine has a 7300GT GDDR3. It's a very impressive little budget card.

EDIT:typo