Sorry for bringing this question up again, but i used search, it gave me 3 threads, and when i checked them, it said neither of them exist...
So the title says it all, going to upgrade from my 8400GS that came with my PC next week
and I need help guys, I can't decide, I'm already gettting head ache's from all this choosing and checking which card does better. I just wanted some direct answers from people that really can say whicch do better.
I already got it that 8600gts has poor DX10 performance, so i can like uncheck dx10, and stick with dx9, and x1950 does far better on that and is cheaper.
But I heard that ATI drivers are very unstable, which really scares me, is that true? Also it's getting hard to find a x1950 over here, it's like all places are stopping to sell them, they are just full of GF8 or HD2xxx Series.
So I found and was thinking on getting one of these X1950 Pro
http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/pro [...] =168&grp=3 or
http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l [...] odelmenu=1
or an Asus EN8600GTS
My current rig is:
ECS 945P-A (v3.0) s.775
Pentium Dual-Core E2140 @1.6Ghz - Going to upgrade to Core 2 Duo E6550 in the nearest future(next two months or so)
2GB DDRII PC4300/533Mhz
320GB HDD Samsung SATAII 16mb
256MB Club 3D 8400GS... and 400W Codegen PSU (I think)
So from what I know, my PSU is weak for neither of the two cards, so I'm gonna upgrade that too,
So another question is how much power does a X1950 or a 8600GTS require, so what kind of a PSU would be enough to run one of the cards AND considering that I will upgrade my Proccessor.
I recommend going with the ASUS 1950pro, I and others like me have not had a lot of luck with Sapphire's cards due to poor quality and even worse service. It will require a 450w psu with 30A on the 12v rail (according to spec's).
I'm not sure what the 8600 would require as far as power is concerned, certainly both fewer Amps and Watts. You might even be safe with the psu you have (if it's quality). But, like the others, I would recommend the 1950pro, hands down.
Some have had problems with ATI's drivers, but probably just as many have had problem with nVidia. I am running Catalyst 7.10 (newest version) and have had no problems in-game though the install was slightly rough (it froze on me once, but I was able to get around it).
It seems NV has the better Vista DX10 drivers, but otherwise ATI's are just as stable. If priced the same I see the 8600GTS and X1950 pro as pretty equal buys. A little better fsaa performance for the X1950 pro. I have a X1950Xt and a 8800GTS and neither companies Win XP drivers seem any better to me than the other.
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MSI P6N SLI Platinum, Q6600, 2GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC8000,
SLI BFG 8800GT OC 512MB, SB X-Fi Fatality, Antec TruePower Trio 550W, Windows XP pro
I think the X1950 Pro is the better buy, however on this case I'd base my purchase on pricing alone (Cheaper one). If I were you I'd wait until the RV670 offerings from Ati are out in a week or two, they are said to be pretty affordable and will give a lot more performance than the 8600GTS/X1950 Pro
For the most part, or overall, the x1950pro is the better card. Newer games tend to favor the 8600GTS. I justed looked at newegg and found both cards to be around $110, with the GTS requiring a $35 MIR. The x1950pro can also be found at that price with the same $35 MIR, or just over $110 openbox.
Perhaps its just because I favor AMD over Nvidia, or perhaps its because I'm used to seeing the original GTS reviews that showed it losing to the x1950pro, but I really feel that the pro is the better card. (it was certainly the better card back when the GTS was $180, Nvidia seems to have priced it much better now.)
As said above, depends on the price. About how much would you be paying for each card? If the x1950 pro is alot more go for the gts else wise the x1950 is the better buy.
X1950 Pro was hands down better when the 8600 was released, but now they're pretty much equal as long as you don't kick in AA. Given the same price I would choose the 8600 since driver updates are still improving performance and dx10 is looking better and better.
When prices come down a bit I will say the 8800gt is the way to go, but for now it's prohibitively expensive for most.
Message edited by homerdog on 11-06-2007 at 06:20:31 AM
I recommend going with the ASUS 1950pro, I and others like me have not had a lot of luck with Sapphire's cards due to poor quality and even worse service. It will require a 450w psu with 30A on the 12v rail (according to spec's).
I'm not sure what the 8600 would require as far as power is concerned, certainly both fewer Amps and Watts. You might even be safe with the psu you have (if it's quality). But, like the others, I would recommend the 1950pro, hands down.
I'd go with the 8600 in his case too. That's because drivers have improved performance at that price range. The 8600's I looked at at Newegg required 20 amps for an 8600GT and 22 amps for an 8600GTS. I didn't get one after all because I'm waiting for benchies comparing the X3870 and the 8800GT. Until then, I'm still using a 7600GS.
Well over here, both cards are close to each other over here, with the 1950 being a little cheaper
Saphire X1950 Pro is ~160$
Asus EAX1950 Pro ~182$
Asus EN8600GTS ~183$
and yes I know that those prices are high, but I'm in Europe, and in my country those are probably the best prices I found from all the PC Hardware stores
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