Considering buying this card

Hey guys,

I'm considering buying the XFX 7900GS XXX card ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150209 )

Is it worth it with DX10 already out? I have a strict $250 budget, and this card is the best I can find.

So, should I buy it? It's clock speeds are very good, and I don't need an ultra high-end card like a X1950XTX or a 8800GTX, this is just for casual gaming, and casual 3DS Max.

Let me know

-DA

Hey,

Problem with this one is that the fan takes up another slot, and my motherboard has the PCIe slot right next to the other PCI slots, so the card can only be one slot.

However, is there such thing as a one-slot external (zalman or the likes) cooler? That way, I could add it to that card...

-DA

Alright, well, thanks anyways.

Is there any other card, ATI or nVidia with a price and performance similar to this one?

Hmm... now that's what I wanted to hear

I'll do some more searching, but it seems like this will be the one I'll buy.

Thanks again

-DA

Uhhhh...

That card's clock speeds are slower than the XFX XXX card, and it has only 12PP...

You can't compare them directly between architectures. The X1900GT is a faster card more often than not and it will absolutely spank the 7900GS in Sharder intensive games like Oblivion.

Anyway, look at that review I posted. The OC'ed XFX 7900GS wins at Quake 4 and LOMAC. They tie at Fear, and the X1900GT wins HL2:LC, BF2, Oblivion, COD2, and Farcry HDR.

Not in the review I provided. The 7900GS OC still only wins a couple games at that setting. You will see in other reviews the 7900GS will probably take 12x10 with no FSAA (Ananvtech's favorite benchmark settings). But turning on the eye candy the X1900GT will pull ahead.

All depends on the method of HDR used. In HL2 episode 1, then the 7900GS can do both. But in Oblivion and Farcry, then you need to go to the GF8800's to get an NV card that can do that. If you run HDR in those games, FSAA must be OFF altogether...so if the jaggies bother you..... Might be a small factor for many people. I myself play Oblivion with 4xaa and HDR, something you can't do on a GF7. Matter of fact, I had a eVGA 7800GT CO (oc'ed)and when I got hooked on Oblivion, I just hated the lousy performance and having to decide between 10x7 no fsaa or 10x7 no HDR. With the X1800XT, I could use both at once, up the details and still had better performance outdoors (where it counts).

Ah, either card will kick butt at those two games at 12x10 resolution. But the X1900GT will perform higher in BF2, especially if you were to up the res. The better IQ will come from the X1900GT as you can run HQAF which looks great in BF2.

I'm not understanding buying an OC'ed card and down clocking it. I'd buy a cheaper reference clocked 7900GS and later OC it if you need to. I bought a PNY 7900GS for $150 no rebates at bestbuy a few weeks back. Anyway, speaking of future, the extra shader power of the X1900GT may just help that card stretch it's lead down the road. Look at Oblivion. Shoot, look at NFS:Carbon where the extra shader power helps the X1950 pro that is often behind the X1800XT, actually pummle the X1800XT. http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/i [...] mitstart=3

And to you that may be worth something and will probably sway you more than any proof I can provide that the X1900GT is really the better card( by a small amount) in most games. You should be happy with either one as long as you don't want to run HDR and FSAA at once in games like Oblivion and don't mind turning off NV's optimizations if their texture shimmering annoys you. In the end both are good cards, I just think the X1900GT is a both a bit better and a bit cheaper.

LOL, I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if he'd rather run a 2.66GHz Celeron istead of a 2.6GHz P4 because the Celeron is clocked faster.... I guess the megahertz myth has only been busted for CPUs.

The 1950Pro IS a great card for the $ (I'm nV/ATI fan... had both and love both). For my latest budget card I went with nVidia because ATI has been producing some hot cards these days, and I don't have a massively cooled case. I think you'll do well with the 7900GS.

Hopefully you'll be OK on heating with the stock cooler. If you look at that fan it's a "hamster-cage" type fan (I believe that's what they are called) so it basically sucks air in from the top, then forces it out the sides of the heatsink. As long as you have enough clearance to provide cool air to the top of the fan, I think you'll be OK.

Anyway, good luck .

If it matters that much to you...

Sorry be being so frank about this, but your an idiot of your getting one card over another simply because one is clocked higher. Clock speed is useful ONLY when comparing chips from identical families. For the same reasons as you can't say the Celeron is faster then the P4, you can't say the Nvidia card is faster then the ATI. As you've pointed out however, your an Nvidia fan, so I might as well be talking to a wall. Good day.

I was replying to post number 9. Before you go edit it, let me quote it.

I don't know about anyone else, but that sounds like to me your ruling out the ATI/AMD chip becuase the clock speeds are lower.

Reasons? I'll give you reasons. Because of the reasons that have already been shown to you. Due to your Nvidia bias however, you ignore them. Relax, don't worry. If you want to spend your money on the worse card, be my guess. Its your money, and people here have already shown you "the light". If you want to ignore it, ignore it.

You're so smart! I'm sure anybody would want to "be your guess".

Btw, he already bought it.