X1900 XT vs. 7900 GTO???

I'm building a 2K new rig - getting at end of month:

specs:

E6600
Asus P5B Deluxe
2 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 / 5-5-5-12 latency
NZXT Apollo Mid-ATX Case
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATAII
Samsung 20.1 Inch LCD @ 1600X1200, 5 ms R.T.
OCZ GameXStream 700W
X-530 Logitech 5.1 speakers
Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro


Mainly for gaming/design/programming
-A GPU to last me for when DX10 card prices slide (5-6 months after release)

I play mainstream FPSes - FEAR, QUAKE 4, BF2, also Oblivion.



I'm trying to decide between a
X1900 XT 256MB ($245)
or a 7900 GTO ($250)

Will last me around 7-8 months until i get a 8800 GT/similar


Suggestions?

why?

And with all the fuss, those are still the only benchies I have seen. We need some good GTO vs XT comparisons, stock and max OC'ed. I'm sticking with the X1900XT as being better for most people right now. But the GTO has a ton of potential for the enthusiast/OC'er. When it comes down to it, there probably won't be a wrong choice/better card for everyone of the two once all things are considered. Good to see NV release such a serious threat to the recent $200+ ATI price/performance advantage.

The GTO is looking good BEFORE flashing it to the GTX speeds via the bios.

Mine arrives Thursday, but I will not get it in till Saturday night, as I am out of town.

The noise levels were nice to see. The same db for 2 and 3 d.

Would the GTO be better for BF2? I'm comparing both of these also.

The french site prozak linked showed the GTO kicking the teeth in the xt on higher resolutions of BF2, and that was prior to flashing/OCing.

I doubt it - it's to clear out nvidia's inventory of G70s...

I understand that BF2 is not a Exceedingly graphically tough game - what I was wondering wich card could play me Oblivion/upcoming Crysis/Dark Messiah/UT 04 in the future, and FPSes such as COD2/Quake 4/Far Cry/HL2 now...

The 7900GTO will be around in the next 3 months, so even buying now, will hold you over indefintely until the DX10 cards and vista are released with the errors and bugs gone hopefully. I have a thread on the 7900GTO that not many have apparently read, so i cant see why all these posts are going up. Between the x1900xt and the 7900GTO, i would honestly go for whats cheaper. The x1900xt currently is, by 5-8 bucks.

Dude, whats the size of your screen?

If its a 32" apple Cinema display, it makes sense you're worried about BF2, but both these cards would walk over BF2 at 120+ fps on a 19" LCD monitor like what most people have.

I recommend the GTO if you are into OCing. The 1.1ns memory it has can hit 1800mhz. With stock cooling i have seen people clock this card to 720+ core and 1700mhz + memory. GTO and GTX differ in one thing: the manufacturer of the memory. Samsung makes the GTO one, Infineon makes the GTX one. The samsung cards were getting RMA'd a lot so, EVGA dropped the clock and now you litterally have a GTX with a different BIOS. These are the same GTXs people bought a few months ago before Infineon became the only supplier of GDDR3 memory on these cards.

1900xt 256mb runs AA&AF without losing much speed and people say the textures and HDR look nicer. Its up to you.

But dude, BF2? with your rig BF2 shouldn't be a problem at all. I'd worry more about RAM and harddrives to improve loading times on that game. I ran BF2 on a x850xt with 70+ fps maxed everything. (no AA/AF)

If I get the GTO - I might as well slightly OC it - it does run cooler than the X1900, eh?

If I get the XT, I won't OC it.....

Can the GTO do AA/HDR simultaneously? - (a new patch released?)


As I said before - I will use this for 7-8 months, roughly 5-6 months after DX10 cards come out, and then get a DX10 card cheaper...

Want to use the computer for Gaming/Programming/Design: (Photoshop)
Gaming - BF2, COD2, HL2, Quake 4, Chaos Theory, FEAR, GRAW
Oblivion, AOE III, Rise of Legends, and future games - (Crysis,etc)

the x1900's can handle heat well so don't let that worry you. also AFAIK it has a dual slot fan so heat goes out the back.

also no the gto can't do HDR + AA as it is a hardware issue not software.

look at the great grapes posts for good info on HDR. http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=1276142#1276142

that will answer your questions if you have any. read his posts in that thread they are great.

troublesome, how?

yes it may but the cores can handle different amount of heat. the 1900 ones are known to be able to handle heat in the 90's at load. it won't affect performance or case temps as the heat is put out the back.

bump :?

I've heard about the eVGA Step-Up Program - Think I should go with the 7900GTO and step-up in 2-3 months for a 8800GTS? - (maybe pay only 150-200 more?)

However, the X1900 XT 256MB does look like it beats the GTO right now...

suggestions?

id go with the x1900xt. i have yet to hear something bad about that card.

Go with the X1900 XT on paper it is the better buy. I have bought the

XFX Geforce 7900GTX. I just saw some on Ebay for $350.00 includes

shipping you will not see that price for at least a year as everybody

else is $460.00 and up. clock speed is 665 MHz.

Your first choice is a excellent one you have a clock speed of 475 MHz.

Plus, the price is typically two hundred dollars less. 8)

That's right. At some point, you just have to combine all the info and make your choice.

I was in the same situation you were in 3 days ago. I also went with the X1900XT, and If your upgrading soon anyway, got for the X1900XT, and then sell it to me,

i would be cautious of buying a dx10 card until both ATI and nvidia have relased their offerings. i mean you could buy the nvidia 7900 then spend some more to upgrade to the g80 only to find the ATI one is better. be carful how you spend you money. the x1900 is a good card now, not perhaps a good card later.

so go with X1900Xt for right now?

even though i might stepup to a dx10 with a 7900GTO??

LOL> I think you really want that GTO, If you havent done so already go for the GTO, they both perform about the same and if your gonna steo-up then go for the GTO.

OOOOPS its here and 290,but still a great buy http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] ode=321985 I see you already have that one too,thanks for your effort on the performance per dollar post

Had same issue.
Couldnt decide on an Nvidia card so I went in between with the 512MB 1900XT. Like it alot. Not used to playing with such a nice. Does run a little hot. Just installed a Zalman VF900 and it runs about 3 C cooler and is much quieter even at full speed than the stock blender.

Im going to wait to see what DX10 cards are out. Heh, dont think my monitor even supports 1600x1200 resolution so no point in SLI at the moment.