Gonna buy X1950 Pro AGP now... which brand should I choose?

i paid 269 at neweeg 6 weeks ago for the ice-q card above...am now building a pci-x system account my current system components bottlenecked the card..lets make a deal!  

I'd say the Sapphire if for no other reason it has 512MB of ram compared to 256MB the other three have. May not improve performance that much but being around the same price or cheaper as the rest I'd go for double the ram.

Did you see there is a new one that would beat all these?

X1950XT AGP: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Thanks for the find, really... but Im already kinda over my price range. Plus the games I want to play should already see some awesome performance.

@Rook

Thanks for the suggestion. Hows yours treating you? What games do you play?

Sadly, I cant compare with you since I only have a P4 3.0GHz, but hey, I should still get some damn fine framerates.

Took your advice and it is now ordered. I am so excited. First time ever I get a high end video card.

I wouldn't have bought the $225 Sapphire. I like the better cooled His iceQ for $209 AR, rather than the 512MB vram. (You can cancel the order within a few hours if you have a change of mind.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I have a His iceQ X1950XT pci-e; quiet cool running card that pumps the hot air out of your case unlike most of the pros that circulate it within.

Of course, I still think if you even considered the $240 pro as an option, the $270 XT should have been an option as you are actually getting something significant for the extra $30. Not to make you go overbudget, just alot more for the money IMO. Otherwise $209 ice Q is the best buy IMO (if you don't mind the rebate).

I see your point. Got any benchmarks that can justify jumping from $225 to $270?

Ill do some research. I shall consider it.

they all perform similar to each other (differing by no more than 2-3 fps) and the only time a 512mb card will help is if you plan to play on higher resolutions. Though i must say i have the sapphire card and its fantastic.

So consider the His version as it has better cooling aswell.

or a bigger jump from $210 to $270 even. I'll take a look if I can find any pci-e tests. The AGP one is very new and AFAIK un-reviewed so far.

X1950XT is in digit-lifes charts, but only the 512MB version; clocked the same as the 256MB. It manages to do 55 fps vs 40 fps for the 512MB pro in this chart: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/1206/itogi...

compare more games: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/index0612....

Unfortunately that's a 512MB version I have never even seen for sale. There are few X1950XT 256MB reviews and some of them are so poorly done/useless I won't even link them. But it is generally considered that the X1950XT = X1900XTX do to higher RAM clocks, so look for those comparisons.

Also, the X1950XT 256MB is definately > X1900XT 256MB as it is the same card with 350MHz higher mem clocks. So X1950XT would beat the pro even more than the X1900XT did in this review: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_x1950_pr...
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_x1950_pr...

Hope that helps you see that the extra 12 pixel shaders (48 vs 36) and the higher clock speeds easily make the X1950XT better than a X1950 pro.

Yes, the X1950XT is the new AGP king, but did you notice that he said he owns a 3.0Ghz P4? IMHO that is a huge bottleneck and he would see very little improvement in a X1950XT over a X1950Pro

Yes, the X1950XT is the new AGP king, but did you notice that he said he owns a 3.0Ghz P4? IMHO that is a huge bottleneck and he would see very little improvement in a X1950XT over a X1950Pro

Will you please shut up about bottlenecks; you don't seem to understand them. In the correct setup, i.e. high resolutions and high detail, the x1950xt will show a huge improvement over an x1950pro. Overall bottlenecks do not exist; each app will be very different on hardware loading.

Sorry to rant, but people banding about that word all the time gets me a little!

Bottle neck bottle neck ...   nah go for Sapphire

8)

Just to make you aware, im currently waiting for the V2 HIS cards to come in so I can RMA my 1950 AGP for the second time. The first release of these cards have faster memory and core clock, but are unstable hence the V2 revision. <ake sure you get a V2 if you go HIS.

M

I do appreciate the suggestion, but honestly, Im already splurging with the X1950Pro since I was originally going to get a X1650Pro which was $130. I decided to get a 7600 GT, thinking "what the hell!". But then I saw benchmarks for Company of Heroes, and how it easily had 15 to 20 fps more with a X1950Pro, I saw the price tag and said "gonna hurt, but damn, this is going to be fun".

A X1950Pro is more than sufficient for me. As of now, Im getting the Sapphire version since it is possible that in the future ill be playing on a 1600x1040 or maybe even 1900x1200.

It's a tough call between the HIS and its lovable cooler, and the Sapphire with 512MB of RAM... I think I'd get the Sapphire. If the cheap cooler poses no problem, then you've got double the memory for free. And such memory can be a blessing. In Oblivion, for instance, 256 fall just short of the required memory for high textures (it will ok for some time and then start saturating); and if you install high-quality texture mods you'll be glad you have the extra memory.

Speaking of bottlenecks, I have a 3.4Ghz Intel Extreme Edition and I believe my system is bottlenecked by my old Radeon 9700PRO.

I was looking at the 1950XT, although there are rumours of faster cards (DX10 cards!) coming to AGP so was perhaps going to wait, but now I am worried that I might get a card that bottlenecks my system!

I use a resolution of 1360x768 on an LCD, so I would guess I don't need lots of graphics memory.

The more memory you have the better

Plus your card will be running more smooth witch means it wont heat up so much plus you can always get a brand cooler for your card in the future

for example i have a X1900Xt 512mb and a friend has 1900XT 256mb they are the same model but one has more memory than the other and the 256MB heats up more then the other and we basically have the same system so when you go with more memory indirectly you’re affecting the temperature of your card plus there is a slight increase in performance and visual quality

less memory= bottleneck = more gpu usage = more heat =less performance 8)