High-End 256 meg or Lower-end 512 meg ATI Graphics card?

From Newegg:

SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card

vs.

DIAMOND X1950PRO512PCIE Radeon X1950PRO 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO Video Card

256 MB Radeon X1950XT ($215 after rebate)

Brand - SAPPHIRE
Model -100186L
Interface - PCI Express x16
Chipset - Manufacturer ATI
GPU - Radeon X1950XT
Core clock - 625MHz
PixelPipelines - 16(48 Pixel shader processor )

Memory

Memory Clock - 1800MHz
Memory Size - 256MB
Memory Interface - 256-bit
Memory Type - GDDR3
3D API

DirectX - DirectX 9
OpenGL - OpenGL 2.0

Ports

DVI - 2
TV-Out - HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO - Yes

General

Tuner - None
RAMDAC - 400 MHz
Max Resolution - 2560 x 1600
Cooler - With Fan
Dual-Link DVI Supported - Yes

Features

Vista Ready - Yes
HDCP Ready - Yes
Features - Ultra-Threaded Shader Engine
- Avivo Video and Display Platform
- CrossFire



512 MB Radeon X1950PRO ($210 after rebate)

Model

Brand - DIAMOND
Model - X1950PRO512PCIE

Interface

Interface - PCI Express x16

Chipset

Chipset Manufacturer - ATI
GPU - Radeon X1950PRO
Core clock - 575MHz
PixelPipelines - 12(36 Pixel shader processor )

Memory

Memory Clock - 1380MHz
Memory Size - 512MB
Memory Interface - 256-bit
Memory Type - GDDR3

3D API

DirectX - DirectX 9
OpenGL - OpenGL 2.0

Ports

DVI - 2
TV-Out - HDTV / S-Video/Composite Out
VIVO - Yes

General

Tuner - None
RAMDAC - 400 MHz
Max Resolution - 2560 x 1600
Cooler - With Fan

System Requirements
Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 FX CPU's CPU running at 2.4 GHz +
450-Watt power supply or greater, 30 Amps on 12 volt rail recommended (assumes fully loaded system)
PCI Express compliant power supply required.
Super VGA or DVI-I compatible monitor
PCI Express X16 compliant slot
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
512MB system RAM minimum
480MB available hard disk space
Dual-Link DVI Supported Yes
Features
Vista Ready Yes
Features High Dynamic Range (HDR) rendering
AVIVO and 3D excellence
Support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 & Shader Model 3.0, OpenGL 2.0



I have minimum specs for both cards (except for the power supply for the 512) but I figure that the 256 is going to need at least as much power, so I have to buy a new PS anyways. (my current PS is a 400-watt antec)

The system that this will be going in will have these specs:
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
19" Widescreen LCD Monitor(1440x900)

I have about a month before I have enough $$ saved to buy all this.

So the question remains: Low end 512 or High end 256???

Memory isn't a whole lot important.

The X1950XT is better, it's more powerful to start with. In this case, the extra memory on the X1950Pro doesn't make the card better.

I was also wondering if I really need to buy a new Power Supply -- I don't want to spend the extra money, and I already have a good 400W PS. (I'm planning to do a little OC'ing)

Why don't people just look at benchies? I am getting annoyed at all the people quoting specs on a card. Look at how it performs, reading some specs doesn't tell you much.

Your gonna want a new power supply. Unfortunately 15 Amps is not gonna' be enough to power that beastly system your building.

Look at the PSU 101 sticky for PSU selections.


edit: I now see that you have 30 Amps of combined 12 v power. This should be sufficient for what you are planning to build. However, when you begin to overclock, your power consumption will increase, making that 400 watt look a little small. I still suggest a new power supply while you are rebuilding the system.

15-0 in favor of the X1950XT. Hope you got your answer.

15 amps just is too close to call. Im using a 420 watt enermax with 18 amps on each rail,also have a 1900 512mb, and tho its fine Im not ocing ,only have 1 HD,a sound card and 1 dvd/cd burner I feel Im maxxed out right where I am. Youll need a better psu

No votes for the 512mb slower card! The message is getting through!

I'M PROUD OF YOU BOYS!

If he has a dual PSU with 15amps per rail he is still going to need a new psu if he wants any overclocking headroom or any room at all for future upgrades or add ons.



I went through 2 diff good name brand dual rail PSU's when i had my X1900XT and 4800 X2 system, neither one could go longer than a couple of hours without shutting the whole system down.

Finally upgraded to a Silverstone PSU with 38amps on a single 12rail which took care of the problems.


A good stout single 12v rail PSU is what I recommend for any system that will be consuming a good bit of power and running a high end power hungry GPU such as the X1900 series or even a G80.


Here are a couple that would work well with your configuration and provide you with tons of overclocking headroom and allow for future expansions.

This one powers my friends Opteron 175 at 3.1ghz and runs his 8800GTX which he has overclocked without breaking a sweat.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817103437


This is also a good one and I used to own it but I must say I am more impressed with the stability of the enermax as the 12v rail is even more stable on it, on my friends system it stays at 11.97v 8) under full load with the 8800gtx. The silverstone while being a good one would generally drop down to 11.90v under load on my old less powerhungry system with the X1900XT.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817163111



Doing it right the first time is cheaper than going through several cheap PSU's.

He's right. I have an Antec P150 with built in 430W Neo HE PSU (from my old pc). When I upgraded to E6400, X1950pro, 4HDDs and started to overclock I ran into problems.

I solved them using this nice additional PSU...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153037

Huh? Both cards use GDDR3. ATI's not foolish enough to make an X1950 card with DDR2.

The 1900XT will handily present the 1950Pro its rear in every instance. The extra memory on the 1950Pro won't begin to make up the difference in these two cards due to pixel shader count etc.

While I will agree that the differences from 256mb to 512mb is minimal I will not say that its a waste.

I have seen both in action and in games such as Oblivion and Tombraider Legends where the textures are rather large the 512mb card is a good bit smoother.

If video memory was not important then we would have 64-128mb X1900's floating around.

Yeah that would be correct for most games but I have seen first hand the differences for both Oblivion and Tombraider legend even at 1280X1024.

Its not that the 512 was getting more fps or anything but it was hiccuping far less in those games.

Keep in mind I am comparing the 256mb X1900XT to the 512mb X1900XT. I realize that the 256mb X1900XT>512mb X1950pro with its crippled shaders.