$180 and under range, what card for these games:

[shambling]

Oblivion, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Fallout3 (hopefully a dx9 and non-vista requiring fallout3), F.E.A.R., Prey, oh and Gothic3


I've been looking at the 8600gts, the 1950pro, and the 1950xt. As well as the 7900gs.

The 7900gs and 1950pro would save me quite a bit of cash over the others for the low cost versions at least.

My monitor's native is 1440x900, but quite comfortably plays at 1024x768 without noticeable stretching.


I wish tom's would put the 8600gts in its benchmark lineup, because I can't compair the review framerates from hardOCP and the like to benchmarks from tom's and other sites. I prefer to have all the framerates tested by the same place, with the same rig.


I guess it would be worthwhile to point out I have an AMD x2 3600+ with 2 gigs of ram, and run with XP pro. I don't really plan on crippling my computer with vista too soon either.

 

[blade85]

well in that list the 1950XT is the best, then the x1950 pro and the 7900GS are pretty neck and neck, and then finally the 8600GTS.

 

[mactronix]

Blade has covered the performance i would just like to add that the list is about right in terms of power consumption as well with the 1950xt drawing a lot i think it wants about 28amps on the 12 volt rails do check though as im not up on psu`s
The 1950 pro is reconed by some to be about 30% slower and the 7900 are suposed to o/c quite well if thats your thing.
Mactronix

 

[shambling]

How well does the 7900gs stack up in oblivion? So far its the best price out of everything atm.

I'd ideally like an 8800gts, but can't bring myself to pay $280 when I know the second I get it, the new series cards will be out with less power consumption, faster framerates, and better DX10 support. lol



Ok, so the 8600gts is out then. Looking more like the x1950xt or the 7900gs. As the pro isn't much cheaper than the xt, I couldn't really say its a choice between the 3 now.

edit:

2 12v rails at 18a, combined at 420W. Total power supply power at 550w. This should be enough for the x1950xt and an 8800gts in the future, yes?

 

[mactronix]

As i have said power supplies are not my strong point as they vary so much but i think that one would be tight they say you need 30amps across the 12volt rails to run a x1950 and from what i can remember its not as easy as adding up your 2x18=36.
Best bet is to either download a power calculator or post on the psu forum and ask them on there how much power you are getting as theywill know the diff between makes.
They will want to know full system specs and the make etc of the psu.
Mactronix

 

[jamesgoddard]

2 12v rails at 18a, combined at 420W. Total power supply power at 550w. This should be enough for the x1950xt and an 8800gts in the future, yes?

yes

 

[uri]

2 12v rails at 18a, combined at 420W. Total power supply power at 550w. This should be enough for the x1950xt and an 8800gts in the future, yes?

The math is you take the W and divide by V and then you get the amps.
In your case 420W/12V = 35A. so you should be fine. just make sure that the combined 420W is only for the 12V, if not there is no easy way of telling how much amps you've got.

 

[blade85]

How well does the 7900gs stack up in oblivion?

compared with the 1950XT...not good. Heck even the 1950pro is better at it in oblivion by a good margin. Reason i say that is because even at 26fps outdoors....the 1950pro is playable...just. The 7900GS gets 18fps on the same settings :roll: (and im talking 1024x768 here, with no AA or AF). The 1950XT at those settings gets around 32 fps. The 8800GTS gets around 50 .

start swtiching AA and AF on, and the 7800GS pretty much dies crying. 13 fps with just AF on...and not AA (the 7000 series card cant do AA and HD at the same time)

here, have a play around with the cards on this page: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/graphics/charts.html?modelx=33&model1=712&model2=724&chart=294

 

[Dahak]

Well to be honest,the only cards I would even consider would be the 7900GS/X1950pro/X1950XT.I do not recommend getting a 8600.The performance of the 8600 sucks when compared to either of the other cards.The 8600 is a simple mid-range DX10 supporting video card,and in no way can it hope to keep up with a high-end DX9 card in DX9 games.If you want DX10,then I suggest getting the 8800GTX or wait a few more months and just get the DX9 card for now.Goodluck.

Dahak

AMD X2 5600+ @ 2.8ghz(stock)
M2N32-SLI DELUXE MB
2 GIGS DDR2 800 RAM
THERMALTAKE 850WATT PSU
7950 GX2 560/1450
ACER 22IN. LCD
SMILIDON RAIDMAX GAMING CASE
80GIG/250gig SATA2 HD's
XP MCE
3DMARK05 14644

 

[fatcat]

Well to be honest,the only cards I would even consider would be the 7900GS/X1950pro/X1950XT.I do not recommend getting a 8600.The performance of the 8600 sucks when compared to either of the other cards.The 8600 is a simple mid-range DX10 supporting video card,and in no way can it hope to keep up with a high-end DX9 card in DX9 games.If you want DX10,then I suggest getting the 8800GTX or wait a few more months and just get the DX9 card for now.Goodluck.

That's pretty much my take on the situation as well. I'll be buying a new card soon and I'll probably go for the 1950XT. I am not sure if it will be the 256 or the 512 MB version.

 

[Dahak]

If you run at a high resolution,then I recommend the 512 version.Trust me,the extra memory is good to have with the higher monitor resolutions.And Bill Gates said the PC itself would never use more than 64kb???LOL.Goodluck dude.

Dahak

AMD X2 5600+ @ 2.8ghz(stock)
M2N32-SLI DELUXE MB
2 GIGS DDR2 800 RAM
THERMALTAKE 850WATT PSU
7950 GX2 560/1450
ACER 22IN. LCD
SMILIDON RAIDMAX GAMING CASE
80GIG/250gig SATA2 HD's
XP MCE
3DMARK05 14644

 

[shambling]

Well, I was about the buy the x1950xt this morning after checking the banking account. Got in from walking the dog, and cried.


Went from $169 with $20 mail in rebate this morning before I walked the dog, to $199 with $20 mail in rebate on newegg.


Truely, I love how it dropped $10 last night, I waited to make sure it wouldn't bounce any checks till this morning (payday) and it jumped $30.


I was quite set at $169 + 20MIR, but at $199 I might as well just get an 8800gts 320 EVGA card at 279, or get the OC'd version for 286 and have a lifetime warrenty with tradeup possibilities for when the real DX10 cards get released.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

I run a 1900 512mb on a 420 watt enermax, never have had problems. Bare minimum system, 1 HD, 1 DVD play/write, 1 gig ram , audy 2zs sc and its doing fine. The old 1900512 draws more than a newer 1950. Make sure you have a quality psu tho, and youll squeak by. My enermax runs 18 amps per rail, 29 combined on the 12 V

 

[boner]

7900GT?

 

[shambling]

Ok, apparently the $199 was just a temporary friday pricing thing. It settled back to $169(USD) at around 10:30pm EST, and I bought one.

I should be happy with it for how long I need it, then I'll upgrade to a real DX10 card when the games start coming out. No sense blowing my cash on an 8800gts to play DX9 games, when DX10 and vista will be more towards the norm in 1-2 years.


Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll die near its 2 year anniversary, and I can RMA it for a DX10 card

 

[nachowarrior]

make sure your psu can handle it... but either that ati or the 79gs would work fine... the gs is dirt cheap now too... just over 100 bones... course if you wanna wait a few minutes see if the hd 2600xt will work out... gddr4... an impressive list of specs on it, but you have to wait for good drivers.

 

[williamtheface]

I forgot to refresh, please delete/ignore this post. ><

 

[nachowarrior]

8800gt is out... wait a month, then buy the 256 one... should be about your price range. and out perform the 88gts. k/bye now

 

[pauldh]

I can't believe people recommend the 7900GS over an 8600GTS. The X1950 pro or 8600GTS are better than the 7900GS. The 7900GS is the worst choice by far for Oblivion of these 3 cards. And the 7900GS is getting spanked by these cards in many new titles.

Look at the links I posted in this thread to see how the 7900GS & GT are hurting in many new titles: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/245730-33-help-video-card-purchase


And since they left the GF7's out of Oblivion (they can't do fsaa+HDR) in the firingsquad review, look back to an old review and you'll see how the X1900's are alot better in the demanding foliage areas of Oblivion than the GF7's. Not onll the average fps, but the minimum fps too.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/oblivion_high-end_performance/page5.asp