What's the best deal? X1950Pro 206$ or 7900GS 169$

[Dr_asik]

I'm gonna buy a computer in the next few months, so I'm looking at what's available now, although by the time I buy it prices may change, but anyway.

I can't really afford to spend much over 200$ for the graphic card, so I was looking at:

ASUS Radeon X1950Pro : 206.28$

EVGA GeForce 7900GS: 169.60$

I know these cards are like 20$ cheaper on NCIX, however I get free shipping with DirectCanada so for the whole computer that makes me save much more than with NCIX.

So, of course I'd like the Radeon better because it's:

1. Slightly faster in general
2. More pixel shader power
3. Much better cooler

But I'm wondering if its worth the additionnal 37$.

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

The Radeon X1950pro is better.

 

[Darkchyld]

I've personally had experanice with these two cards, Sapphire 1950 Pro.
and the Nvidia 7900 GS.
Both are fine cards. The ATI seems to give me a better picture while the Nvidia is slightly more FPS. In both cases I used NGO drivers, the latest avaibile. Nvidia does have an issue running some older games, For the Love of God.... , I don't think you can go wrong with either card,

 

[Soul]

if u gonna wait a few months there will be many new graphic cards , like ATI 2600 and the price is between 100-200$ .

 

[cleeve]

With that price difference, I'd probably go with the 7900 GS... especially if you're willing to overclock it.

 

[ComputerCustomizer]

I would go with the GeForce

 

[bfellow]

if u gonna wait a few months there will be many new graphic cards , like ATI 2600 and the price is between 100-200$ .

Based on the 8600s and the 128-bit memory interface, I wouldn't think the 2600 would be a great buy at all

 

[TonyStark]

If you get a X1950PRO go with Powercolor. It has higher clocks, a better cooler, and costs less than the ASUS version.

 

[jamesgoddard]

if u gonna wait a few months there will be many new graphic cards , like ATI 2600 and the price is between 100-200$ .

Based on the 8600s and the 128-bit memory interface, I wouldn't think the 2600 would be a great buy at all

I think the GDDR4 versions (with 2.2GHz + ram) should start having the bandwidth to push the 1950pro, even with 128bit memory... I would at least wait to see what it can offer.

 

[jamesgoddard]

Whatever you go for, I would look for the 512MB versions now, as they cost very little more than the 256MB cards..

 

[Gary_Busey]

Can you not find any cheaper X1950Pro's? Usually these two are about the same price point. If not, I'd go with the 7900GS and overclock it. Without an overclock though, the X1950Pro is much faster. Oh, and only go with 512mb if you're going to game at resolutions of 1600x1200 or more.

 

[tvh]

I too am in the same boat as you are (http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/default-ftopict238218.html), I am personaly looking at the Radeon X1950Pro as well and I found this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061, its a Saphire X19050Pro the 256MB version for only $145 and with the MIR its $125. Or there is the 512 version for $179 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102075. I hope that this was helpful to you.

 

[TSIMonster]

the 7900 is good and much cheaper. I have the ASUS card though, and love it. The cooling on the card is wonderfull and it overclocks fairly well. I have min at 640Mhz and it still runs cool and silent (ATI Tray Tools).

I still say, for the price difference, the 7900GS is the way to go. Neither are going to be able to take full advantage of HDR+AA at 1680x1050 or higher anyway.

 

[lspyderl]

i just asked the same question the other day...

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=1674511#1674511

if you looking for closer to the $200 mark then 1950xt that Pauldh found would be your best bet.

 

[Gary_Busey]

From his links, I'm guessing he lives in Canada, so NewEgg wouldn't be an option for him.

 

[Dr_asik]

Well the EVGA KO edition is slightly overclocked already, I don't know if the cooler's worth anything. Anyway if I have to change the cooler to achieve a good overclock I'd better take the X1950Pro.

Are there comparisons of the EVGA KO 7900GS and the X1950Pro?

And, thanks for links to newegg I would certainly buy from them if only they shipped to Canada. Which is why I said I was using DirectCANADA.

 

[Farhang]

X1950Pro wins almost all the benchmarks(including the nVIDIA's base Doom3 and Quake4) with a little better FPS.
But for that prices i would go for the 7900GS KO since the performance difference(and supporting for HDR/AA)isn't worth the extra 50$.
off topic: Dr-Asik, your avatar is from the legendary Star Craft, right? Man, every time i look at it, it reminds me of the unbelievable Star Craft 2 Demo that i saw 10 days ago.
God, Star Craft 2 is coming soon & that game is gonna lock me behind my PC until My/My PC's death! :twisted:

 

[Dr_asik]

Yes it's the SCV, Terran's worker unit. And heck yeah, OMG I'm gonna so buy Starcraft II and play it like there's no tomorrow! Did you see the complete demo movie in high-res (something like 450MB) ? That rocked!!! Smacks C&C3. Tsshh.

And I think I would go with the 7900GS, although I'm not too favorable to nvidia, but hey, thas is my money.

 

[Farhang]

Yeah man i remember! Terran's SCV!
Oh Man, Star Craft II is gonna kick the hell out of CNC3 & Supreme Commander's a$$! :twisted:
If you are not too favorable to nVIDIA then go with X1950Pro as i said it wins the 7900GS in almost all test & it supports HDR+AA.
You know, it's your money after all, but i never buy thing that i don't like even if they are better!(just a little recommendation! )

 

[Darkchyld]

NovaThunder: Allow me to clairify, I had the chance to use both cards on my system, AMD K7 XP 3000+, Gigabyte GA-7N400 MB, 2 Gig Corsair RAM, latest drivers installed, 1280x1024 on my LCD. My experiance was that the Nvidia card NEARLY always was SLIGHTLY MORE FPS, usually less than 10. Oblivion Outdoors was an exception as Nvidia was always slower.
The ATI card has consistantly given me BETTER FPS. Colors are crisper, details sharper and in Oblivion outdoor sceans it seemed to draw faster. Most of all for me I could still play older, AvP, Draken, Hexen 2, games without having to do any "tweaking " or "jumping through hoops" to do it. For those two reasons I have kept the ATI card and have very pleased with its performance over all. I never did run any systhitic benchies and more than likely my system is not "optimized" for any testing purposes. I also need to be clear that I did not and still am not using the manufactures drivers. NGO's seeem to work really good for me. 8)

Note; Heres my settings for Oblivion...

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/darkchyld738/setting01.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/darkchyld738/settings02.jpg