Hi I'm in the hunt for a new video card. My current setup is:

AMD X2 Energy Effiecient 65W 4400+
ASUS M2V-MX
2GB OCZ 800MHz Special Ops DUAL CHANNEL
18X LG DVD +/- RW
250GB Seagate SATA
ANTEC SONATA II with a 450W SmartPower v2.0 power supply

Now im looking at 4 potential video cards, the ATI x1950 XTX, ATI x1950 XT, the ATI x1900 XTX and the nVidia Geforce 7900 GTX.

i was wondering which of these video cards would be a good choice and will my power supply be able to handle it, it seems like theres dual 12V rails one rated at 15A and the other at 17A does that mean i have a 32A max current rating? and which of the 4 would be a good choice for under $250 canadian

Thanks

O and on a side note can someone explain to me why the 7900 gtx was discontinued??

Probably because it's expensive to manufacture, and overpriced.

The X1950 XT can be found for about $200 nowadays (when they're in stock), and they'll put a hurt on the GTX. And if you have a few more bucks, the 8800 GTS 320mb is a far superior card to either for about $280.


With your PSU it'll probably work with any of these cards, although there's no margin for error. All the card you listed are fine, get the cheapest one if it's by a solid margin.

7900 GTX seems to be goin for 250$ CAD brand new, so i was wondering if it would be a safe bet to get the 7900 GTX although it seems to under perform compared to the ATI's

No, the method for figuring out your amps is long and stupid IMO and I am not joking about this. You need to find out how many watts are being supplied to the +12v rails and then divide that by 12. That will give you the amps on your +12v. That process is difficult if you can't find the wattage. I can't seem to find it, but I don't think you could power any of the ATi cards, maybe the pro. The 7950GT is less power hungry, would be a good alternative and I think you would be ok with that.

Here are the full specs: http://www.antec.com/specs/SP450_spe.html

Unfortunately antec doesn't specify total wattage on the +12V rail. I wouldn't venture it supports above 25A. Which is a wee bit short for an X1950. It could work, though.

I was thinking similarly. He's being helped out by his CPU. I'm not sure I would personally try it.

hmm so would a x1900 pro or 7900 gtx be a better and safer bet

probably, but then i run a x1950pro on a 380 watt psu with one 22amp +12V rail without any issues. you can see my set-up if you click the computer image at the top of this post.