x1950PRO vs. 7900GS Oc'd

[DeViLgunner]

I am trying to decide between a x1950PRO and a 7900GS since they are both $200. I know the 1950 outperforms the 7900GS in stock but I also hear the 1950Pro's do not overclock well and the 7900GS oc's like crazy.

Do you think a stock x1950pro will still beat a 7900GS say running 600mhz?

 

[cleeve]

With the X1950 PRO on newegg for $165 right now, I'd say that's the best bet.

The 7900 GS might overclock well, but it starts from a disadvantage from the start because it'sformance is on average notably inferior to the X1950 PRO at stock speeds.

 

[qwertycopter]

eVGA 7900GS - $165.99 after MIR

ASUS X1950Pro - $164.99

GS is a little slower at stock. But it is a smaller card.. not as long as the Pro, cooling solution takes up much less space. Basically I think the Pro runs pretty hot and power consumption is a bit more. Personally I would go with the eVGA 7900GS right now with the rebate and you can overclock it if needed.

 

[Dr_asik]

X1950Pro. Obvious choice. See for yourself: http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=187&Itemid=27&limit=1&limitstart=3

The X1950Pro has the lead in ALL the benchmarks.

 

[cleeve]

After manufacturer's rebate counts as a minus for sure though.

And the X1950 PRO clearly has the lead at stock speeds, so that's worth a little heat and space methinks... if you're overclocking the GS, it's going to use create more heat and use more power, too.

 

[qwertycopter]

After manufacturer's rebate counts as a minus for sure though.

And the X1950 PRO clearly has the lead at stock speeds, so that's worth a little heat and space methinks... if you're overclocking the GS, it's going to use create more heat and use more power, too.

Not everyone likes rebates.. but my point is there is less of a difference than maybe what the OP thought. Valid points about overclock. I still don't like the design and size of the 1900 series, that's one reason I would pick the GS. Also, I've have bad luck with Asus in the past, maybe I'm biased.

I also want to point out the eVGA 7900GS I listed has a 50 Mhz faster core and 60 Mhz faster memory.. so it is better than the Foxconn 7900GS in that comparison article.

 

[rquinn19]

After manufacturer's rebate counts as a minus for sure though.

And the X1950 PRO clearly has the lead at stock speeds, so that's worth a little heat and space methinks... if you're overclocking the GS, it's going to use create more heat and use more power, too.

eVGA has to be a plus though considering their upgrade plan...think dx10

 

[jamesgoddard]

After manufacturer's rebate counts as a minus for sure though.

And the X1950 PRO clearly has the lead at stock speeds, so that's worth a little heat and space methinks... if you're overclocking the GS, it's going to use create more heat and use more power, too.

Not everyone likes rebates.. but my point is there is less of a difference than maybe what the OP thought. Valid points about overclock. I still don't like the design and size of the 1900 series, that's one reason I would pick the GS. Also, I've have bad luck with Asus in the past, maybe I'm biased.

I also want to point out the eVGA 7900GS I listed has a 50 Mhz faster core and 60 Mhz faster memory.. so it is better than the Foxconn 7900GS in that comparison article.

No amount of overclocking on the 7900GS would get the performance to the level of the x1950pro where it really counts, look at the difference between the minimum FPS recorded in Oblivion, the ATI is 2x faster (who cares about the max fps value, I care about worst case senario)

 

[cleeve]

The 7900 GS is certainly not a bad card at that price, but I'd still like to see benches of the OC versions of the 7900 GS.

I have a hunch the X1950 PRO would still look favorable in comparison, as far as performance goes.

 

[rquinn19]

The 7900 GS is certainly not a bad card at that price, but I'd still like to see benches of the OC versions of the 7900 GS.

I have a hunch the X1950 PRO would still look favorable in comparison, as far as performance goes.

Here's my 3DMark06 scores from my BFG 7900GS OC:

Main Test Results
3DMark Score 5857 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 2302 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 2250 Marks
CPU Score 2813 Marks

BTW I'm a rookie when it comes to overclocking period...just overclocked my first CPU and video card.

 

[pauldh]

eVGA 7900GS - $165.99 after MIR

ASUS X1950Pro - $164.99

GS is a little slower at stock. But it is a smaller card.. not as long as the Pro, cooling solution takes up much less space. Basically I think the Pro runs pretty hot and power consumption is a bit more. Personally I would go with the eVGA 7900GS right now with the rebate and you can overclock it if needed.

I can't speak for that Asus with a non-reference cooler, but the 80nm X1950 pro is a cool running card compared to say the X1900XT.

The reference X1950 pro ran cooler than the BFG 7800GS at both idle and full load in [H]'s review:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTE5OCwxNSwsaGVudGh1c2lhc3Q=

 

[cleeve]

Not really interested in 3dMarks... I mean game frames-per-second.

It's interesting for comparison I guess, but you can't 'play' 3dmark, and it seems to heavily favor some architectures when the difference can't be seen in games.

 

[DeViLgunner]

The asus is already sold out at Newegg so I would have to go for the Sapphire for $200 which is just a small jump from the eVGA 7900GS.

 

[pauldh]

X1950 pro is the better card IMO, but for $170 AR the 7900GS is nice also. Have you seen this review? http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_x1950_pro/page6.asp

The X1950 pro beats the overclocked 7900GS at HL2: Lost Coast, BF2, Fear, Oblivion, COD2, and Farcry HDR, while the 7900GS takes Quake 4 and Lomac.

 

[qwertycopter]

No amount of overclocking on the 7900GS would get the performance to the level of the x1950pro where it really counts, look at the difference between the minimum FPS recorded in Oblivion, the ATI is 2x faster (who cares about the max fps value, I care about worst case senario)

Oh so not one extreme, but the other? What about the average, the number you will be getting most of the time. It's not until you really crank up the filtering that the performance drops on the GS. Otherwise it's much closer to the pro. Also, the GS I linked has faster core and memory than the bench GS in the article.

 

[cleeve]

Oh so not one extreme, but the other? What about the average, the number you will be getting most of the time.

Minimum FPS represents the choppiness you see when the scene really gets busy.

You're better off with a high minimum FPS than average, but average is nice, too.

 

[DeViLgunner]

I recieved my eVGA 7900GS KO in the mail today, it was $165 with rebate. The only reason I am thinking of keeping the card is because of the 90 day step up program from eVGA. The new DX10's are coming out in the next 3 months right?

 

[DeViLgunner]

Anyone here done the step up program from eVGA??

 

[surman]

I don't know about the step up program but the evga does offer lifetime warranty on its retail packeged products. Ati cards only get 3 years.

 

[surman]

i just checked the step-up program and its a joke. Who in right mind buys a card and then replaces it with another within 90 days.