x1950PRO or 8600GTS ?

Hi,

I'm buying a new PC, and dunno which to choose, x1950pro or 8600GTS. 1950 wins over 8600 in a few frames and is a few bucks cheaper, but 8600 has dx10.
I used to have x700pro, and i dont want to have problems which i had with it earlier, as it supports only sm2, i couldnt play any sm3-only games... i just hope sm4-only games will not come out too soon. Also i had some hardware problems with my ATI, so now i'm thinking on going back to nVidia... so now i dont know what to choose! Any advice?

Reply to adomolis

x1950pro FTW , dont worry about DX10

1_It will take 1-2 or even more years for games to be fully DX10 optimized

2_The difference between DX9 and DX10 isnt much in todays game

------------------------------ The end is near...
Reply to Maziar

8600GTS is a dog in games compared to the 1950pro

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Reply to deuce271

I agree, I just spec'd a 1950pro for a friend over the 8600.

Reply to Gryphyn

I suspect it really depends on what you will be doing. The gts is all over the 1950 in some games, worse in others.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/grap [...] &chart=300

Reply to onestar

yup, and if you are into HD movies a bit, then 8600 demolishes the 1950 but still fails in terms of performance

Reply to spuddyt

the 8600 is so incredibly bad, why do people even think about buying that thing.

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Reply to Rabidpeanut

Go with the X1950Pro. It's faster then the 8600 and the later won't be nearly powerful enough to play Dx10 titles anyway. Present Dx10 titles are already putting the ultra-powerful 8800GTX on their knees, so imagine what next gen titles will do to a lonely 8600.

Just put aside whatever you save by purchassing the X1950Pro aside and get a next gen Dx10 card in 12-18 months from now.

My 2cents.

Reply to NightlySputnik

Rabidpeanut wrote :

the 8600 is so incredibly bad, why do people even think about buying that thing.

Amen brother! You speak the truth and only the truth.

------------------------------ Anxiously awaiting the Hydra 100 and the Hydra Engine...
www.lucidlogix.com
Reply to emp

Talk about weirdness.
When I read this post, to me it seemed as if I had posted it.

I was coming here to ask about the 8600GTS and the X1950Pro.
The most weird thing about this all, is that I am currently on an X700 myself, and am looking to upgrade.

Now everywhere I have read, people say that the X1950 is better than the 8600GTS.
I am cool with that, but the thing that bugs me is, that the 8600GTS has higher clock speeds than the X1950.
I thought the Clock Speeds of a GFX card was self-explanatory.

So my question is:
How do you tell how good a graphics card is without seeing benchmark results? Is that even possible?

Please don't flame me if I should already know this, which I don't.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Ultra_Immortal

how does 8600GT perform in XP? / direct x 9?, is it better then 1950pro?

Reply to spotless

it performs weak in both XP and VISTA compared to X1950PRO

------------------------------ The end is near...
Reply to Maziar

Ultra_Immortal wrote :

Talk about weirdness.
When I read this post, to me it seemed as if I had posted it.

I was coming here to ask about the 8600GTS and the X1950Pro.
The most weird thing about this all, is that I am currently on an X700 myself, and am looking to upgrade.

Now everywhere I have read, people say that the X1950 is better than the 8600GTS.
I am cool with that, but the thing that bugs me is, that the 8600GTS has higher clock speeds than the X1950.
I thought the Clock Speeds of a GFX card was self-explanatory.

So my question is:
How do you tell how good a graphics card is without seeing benchmark results? Is that even possible?

Please don't flame me if I should already know this, which I don't.

Don't worry that's a common misconception, what you need to take in consideration is that they are based on completely different architectures, which is what matters most. The X1950 Pro runs on the RV570 GPU, while the 8600GT and 8600GTS run on the G84 GPU.

If you want to see how little clock speeds actually matter, the 8600GTS has a 675Mhz core (using the G84 GPU) vs the 8800GTS's G80 core running "only" at 500Mhz, but the 8600GTS will still get horrible (And I mean HORRIBLE) results against the 8800GTS any day. So to answer your question, what truly matters is the architecture, which can only truly shine with good drivers on benchmarks.

------------------------------ Anxiously awaiting the Hydra 100 and the Hydra Engine...
www.lucidlogix.com
Reply to emp

OK, I got that. Thanks for pointing that out "Emp."

By The Way, is it a bad idea to buy the Ati or Nvidia GFX Cards from China?

Reply to Ultra_Immortal

When the price of the 8600GTS was around $220 and the 1950Pro around $150 the question was a lot easier. Now you can get either card for about $130.
Size matters. What resolution do you use? 1280x1024 or 1600x1200? Using AA/AF? Depending on those answers and the actual games you play you could go either way. The 1950Pro does not blow the 8600GTS out of the water.

Do your homework. Research the games you want to play. Be sure to check if the benchmarks show the gaming resolutions and AA/AF setting you prefer to use. Then check prices too.
(charts from review @ Xbit Labs 16 total games benchmarks plus synthetic benchmarks)

Reply to WR2

Thanks "WR2", that actually shed light on my situation.
By The Way, where do you recommend I should buy the GFX Card from?

Reply to Ultra_Immortal

Rabidpeanut wrote :

the 8600 is so incredibly bad, why do people even think about buying that thing.

WORD.

Reply to nevasumma

Is this a Good Card?
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Product [...] uctID=2291
I was reading about it, and apparently it is, but is it?

Reply to Ultra_Immortal

most people think of 8600 as "gt" while "gts" is a more powerful and imho is the better buy than x1950pro.

Reply to accu

One good source is NewEgg.com 1950 Pro & 8600GTS cards where you can compare cards side by side.
Without knowing where you are its hard to suggest the "best" source since things like taxes, shipping and rebates can also come into play. Be sure to check the length of the warranty. EVGA and XFX have lifetime warranties.
I hope you already know about the "sticky rebate" issue - its not as easy to get the rebate as its to get the card. So pay attention to what you pay upfront. And then follow the rebate procedures VERY carefully.
Once you find a card you like you can use some of the price checking engines to look for better deals.
www.pricegrabber.com searing for MSI OC'd 8600GTS

Reply to WR2

OK. So what card would be just above the 8600GTS and the X1950Pro?

Reply to Ultra_Immortal

The upcomming 8800GT.

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Reply to kpo6969

kpo6969 wrote :

The upcomming 8800GT.

Supposedly.

Thanks WR2 for being one of the only people who actually do research before bashing hardware.

Reply to randoMIZER

To be fair I was one of those suggesting X1950Pro or 7900GS over the 8600GTS six months ago.

Back then the GTS were going for $225~$235 and the price/performance was in favor of the $160 1950Pro/7900GS.
8600GTS prices have dropped below $150 and the performance has improved a bit. And so the price/performance has shifted around in favor of the DX10 card just in time for the new DX10 games.

Right now I'd put the 8800GTS & ATI 2900Pro above the 8600GTS/1950Pro. Also in DX9 only cards the 7950GT and the X1900XT but the prices are too close to the 8800GTS/2900Pro to be a good price/performance value.

Im just guessing but I'd say the 8800GT will fall in around the $225
price point or halfway between a 8600GTS and a 8800GTS. Looks like
stiff competition for the ATI 2900Pro. We should know in just a few weeks.

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Reply to WR2

Yea, six months ago the 8600GTS was useless, same as the 2900XT. Times change.

Reply to randoMIZER

WR2 wrote :

To be fair I was one of those suggesting X1950Pro or 7900GS over the 8600GTS six months ago.

Back then the GTS were going for $225~$235 and the price/performance was in favor of the $160 1950Pro/7900GS.
8600GTS prices have dropped below $150 and the performance has improved a bit. And so the price/performance has shifted around in favor of the DX10 card just in time for the new DX10 games.

Right now I'd put the 8800GTS & ATI 2900Pro above the 8600GTS/1950Pro. Also in DX9 only cards the 7950GT and the X1900XT but the prices are too close to the 8800GTS/2900Pro to be a good price/performance value.

Im just guessing but I'd say the 8800GT will fall in around the $225
price point or halfway between a 8600GTS and a 8800GTS. Looks like
stiff competition for the ATI 2900Pro. We should know in just a few weeks.

I guess it depends on the market you're buying on. Here in Canada, the 1950 XT remains, IMHO, a pretty good buy. It's about 200$ while the 1950 is around 160$ as is the 8600 GTS. You'd be hard pressed to find a 8800 GTS for under 300 unless you're lucky and find one on discount like I did. In fact most of them are still around 350$ Over all though, I pretty much agree. At this point in time, the 8600 GTS is probably a better buy then the 1950 pro

Message edited by fatcat on 10-06-2007 at 02:58:51 PM

Reply to fatcat

Cat; agree the 1950XT is still a great card but can you link a 1950XT for that $200 amount?
Best I found was a GeCube 1950XT 256MB for $260US
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814241049
And a DIAMOND ATI X1950XT 256MB for $327CAD
http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] X1950XT256

Could you be thinking of the 1950GTs?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by WR2 on 10-06-2007 at 03:22:02 PM

Reply to WR2

Actually, Neigher card is the best deal for the money.
Here is a card that is rated slightly Higher than both and FAR cheaper.....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102705

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/1 [...] page6.html

Reply to zenmaster

Um, that card is old and slow (relative to the x1950 pro and 8600gts).

EDIT: Actually it is simlilar to the x1950 pro now that I look at it again, but uses more power. Depending on the game, it is both faster and slow than the 8600GTS. But being old tech, why would you get it? The only thing it has going for it is the price.

Message edited by randoMIZER on 10-07-2007 at 04:06:36 AM

Reply to randoMIZER

Personally I'd get a 7900GS or GT...

Reply to justinmcg67

WR2 wrote :

Cat; agree the 1950XT is still a great card but can you link a 1950XT for that $200 amount?
Best I found was a GeCube 1950XT 256MB for $260US
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814241049
And a DIAMOND ATI X1950XT 256MB for $327CAD
http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] X1950XT256

Could you be thinking of the 1950GTs?

I can't link you to the 1950 XT but I bought one a week ago for a bit over 200.00$, it was 215.00 to be exact.(ok not 200.00) I went on the website where I bought it but for some weird reason it's not listed. The 1950 GT you're referring to was 139.00$ in store(189.00$ on the website) Both those prices were for 256 mb version, Sapphire brand. The funny thing is, the prices indicated on their website are actually higher than when you go in store.(for some items at least) BTW, I bought the card from Microbytes, the store is a 5 minutes drive from home. I have bought quite a bit of hardware from that store and one thing that amazes me is that they have very competitive pricing for a B & M outlet. In fact, their prices are on par or better than most top E-tailers when you factor in the shipping cost and they have particularly aggressive prices in the GPU segment. Anyways, I can't do it handly but if solid proof is needed I could scan my bill and post it here........

Reply to fatcat

well, just ordered x1950pro.
it just sucks that 1950 goes mostly with 256 mb's...
sapphire had 512 but nope, i'll buy Asus. I will not ever buy a thing from sapphire...

Message edited by adomolis on 10-08-2007 at 04:16:02 PM

Reply to adomolis

I'd wait for an 8700 series card.

Reply to rodney_ws

Forum Graphics & Displays : Graphics Cards x1950PRO or 8600GTS ?

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