x1950pro vs. x1950xt

I am considering getting a new card soon because I am getting impatient with the current generation midrange cards. My setup is:

1 320gb HD (not sure of the model)
2gb (2x1gb) OCZ 800MHz DDR2 ram
Pentium 4 3 Ghz single core w/ hyperthreading
hauppauge Wintv 1600
x300se
soundblaster xfi card
350W power supply (not sure about the rails)

1. If I would want to upgrade to one of these cards, will my PSU be able to support it?
2. Is one of these chipsets significantly more power efficient?
3. I know that the new chips (HD2X00) are better at hardware decoding of video, but do these chips help lessen the load on the CPU significantly due to AVIVO?

Had the same question (1950 Pro vs 1950 XT). From responses, XT higer performance, Pro - lower performance, slightly less power consumption, and slightly lower temps. I went for the 1950XT.

Ref PSU: NO, a 350 watt PS is not cut it. Some have indicated they have it running on arround 450 Watt PS. BUT since you have to get a new PS, I would recommend a good 550 -> 650 Watt PSU. It is overkill for your current system, But will prevent having to Buy again when you upgrade.

For what it is worth (or Sh__ and grin), the increase in power consumption going from idle to gaming is an increase of 110 Watt for the x1950XT

Forgot to factor out PSU eff. Make that an increase of 85 to 90 watts
when going from Idle to Gaming (Approx a 7.5 Amp increase in +12 V current)

This is somewhat OT on my own thread, but is a 650W PSU going to cover just about any reasonable PC assuming 1 GPU, 1 cpu, 2-3 PCI cards (sound, TV capture, etc.) and maybe 2-3 HDD?

My system C2D E6400 @ 3.2 MHz, 2 Gis DDR2800, X1950XT, 4 Sata HDDs, and 2 DVD Writers.
@ Idle 1.6 A x 120V = 192 Watts
with 3DMarks06 running 2.6 Amps x 120 V = 312 Watts

This would lead one to think a 350 would work (Will not), I had a 600 watt igreen which would work, but only provide 8 amps to 6 Pin PCI-e connector. This was not suffient to raising the clock even 20 MHz.

IF you are not planning on running SLI a "Good" 600, or 650 Watt - Look at 12V rails - will work just fine.

Ref: shadowmast - Agree 8600 GTS is only 10% lower than 1950Pro, Plus as you stated less power drain - plus also it is DX10 - a Plus for vista.

a 1200W PSU? Woah!

The onboard graphics could be causing problems, make sure that they are disabled in the bios and that you have uninstalled any related drivers before installing the X1950XT.

??? PSU efficiency affects what it pulls out of the wall socket, it has nothing to do with how much power it outputs. A PSU with 10% efficiency that has a 200W power draw on it will still supply just 200W (assuming it has the capacity to do so) but will pull about 2kW from the wall socket (and burn up in seconds from the wasted heat, but thats beside the point).

EDIT: Fixed typos

You need a PCI-E 6pin cable to go into teh XT and probably the PRO anyway, to provide enough power to them.

Ramdomizer. PS eff relates to losses in the PS.
Using a eff of 80% and a Current draw, at the outlet, of 1.6 Amps:
1.6 Amps X 120 V = 192 Watts (Total Power)
192 x 0.2 = 38.4 Watts consummed by the PS
192 x 0.8 = 153.6 W delievered to load
Then if Mains I increases to 2.6 Amps:
2.6 A X 120V = 312 W (Total Power)
312W x 0.2 = 62.4 W (PS losses)
312 W x 0.8 = 249.6 W for Load

Net change for PS and Load is 312W- 192 W = 120 W.
Net change for load is 249.6W - 153.6 W = 96 W

It turns out that if you want the X1950XT to run in Vista then it must be on a motherboard on Microsoft's Vista Hardware Compatibility List.

https://support.ati.com/ics/support [...] onID=19933

Mine isn't

Are they just slow in bringing out new drivers? I can't find any related to Vista on the Gigabyte site - or am i just screwed !?!?

Randomizer.
I think you are misinterpreting what I have said. Power supplies have an effecience rating which is simply Power used by load (ie computer) divided by Total power. Note in my example 249.6 Watts (computer Power consumed / 312 Watt (Input power to PSU) = .8 (80%) which is the Efficency rating. I used a PSU with 80 %. You are correct that a PSU will provide what is need ( As long as max ratings are not exceeded), What changes is input power as a function of eff.

No problem, I probably should have stated it better. Now I have a problem. What I Measured using a fluke multimeter (expensive model) does not jive with what ATI tools reflects as the change in GPU current going from idle to displaying 3D image. I trust my measurements and calculation vs an unknown algorithm. I don't think I want to cut my 3 +12V rails an insert a current meter to find the answer.

You have that right! Although I'm an elect Tech, I have had to write some programs. Wrote one for converting 24 K-type thermistors to display temperatures an a Space Flight unit undergoing Thermal Vacumn testing.