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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Graphics quandary, please assist.

Graphics quandary, please assist.

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
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dreadhead   03-01-2008 at 03:40:47 PM

Greetings all.

I game on a Dell 24" native resolution of 1920 x 1200.

I have an ATI x1900 crossfire edition, and I am looking to upgrade the graphics.

The problem I have is whether it is worth buying another X1900 xtx, thus giving me a total of 1gb of vram, or whether it would be better to buy a 512mb 8800 gt as a single card solution.

The money is not the problem, I would like to know which set-up would give me the most performance.

I relise that the extra ram would be useful at the native resolution of my monitor, but at the same time I would like to be able to see some directX 10 effects.

I dont really have enough cash for an 8800 ultra, but could possibly streach to a GTS 640mb.

So two questions, really:

1 - Would the crossfire performance come anywhere close to the GT/GTS.

2- Would a gigabyte of video ram serve me better than the directX 10 eye candy as I play in a high resolution.

Any help in this matter would be duly appreciated.

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dev1se   03-01-2008 at 03:46:00 PM
- 0 +

Sell your old card, the crossfire editions still get a decent amount on ebay etc

Then buy a 8800GT 512mb. Or the 8800GTS 512mb

Dont bother with the 8800GTS 640mb... it performs worse than a GT.

Message quoted 2 times
Reply to dev1se
jay2tall   03-01-2008 at 04:56:47 PM
- 0 +

Get the 8800GTS 512 for the simple fact that it has a 2 slot cooler and blows the hot air out. I keep hearing people run into issues with cooling on the GT's in some instances. It's worth the extra few $$ for the better cooling.

------------------------------ VMWare is SkyNet

 

Reply to jay2tall

spencercpu1983   03-01-2008 at 05:21:31 PM
- 0 +

I would look at the Radeon HD 3870 X2,it's faster than a 8800 GTS 512 MB sometimes faster than the 8800 ULTRA.

SAPPHIRE 100221SR Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB (512MB x 2) 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$439.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102723

Check out this review http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/0 [...] index.html

Reply to spencercpu1983
homerdog   03-01-2008 at 06:33:33 PM
- 0 +

dev1se wrote :

Sell your old card, the crossfire editions still get a decent amount on ebay etc

Then buy a 8800GT 512mb. Or the 8800GTS 512mb

Dont bother with the 8800GTS 640mb... it performs worse than a GT.


Seconded :)

Reply to homerdog
jay2tall   03-01-2008 at 09:31:43 PM
- 0 +

dev1se wrote :

Sell your old card, the crossfire editions still get a decent amount on ebay etc

Then buy a 8800GT 512mb. Or the 8800GTS 512mb

Dont bother with the 8800GTS 640mb... it performs worse than a GT.


I Third this.

Id go for the GTS 512 though for the better cooling. It's worth it trust me.

------------------------------ VMWare is SkyNet

 

Reply to jay2tall

dreadhead   03-03-2008 at 02:37:12 AM
- 0 +

Thanks for the response folks. I presume that considering another x1900 for crossfire is going to be a waste of time then.

currently im leaning toward the gts.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to dreadhead
dev1se   03-03-2008 at 02:44:12 AM
- 0 +

I feel so agreed with today :)

Reply to dev1se
jay2tall   03-03-2008 at 03:41:39 AM
- 0 +

dreadhead wrote :

Thanks for the response folks. I presume that considering another x1900 for crossfire is going to be a waste of time then.

currently im leaning toward the gts.



I had an x1900xtx and was looking at crossfire. And the benefits vs power needs vs everything else, the GTS512 is pretty much better than a crossfire set. Unless you want to roast marshmallows in your computer case :D

------------------------------ VMWare is SkyNet

 

Reply to jay2tall

skywalker9952   03-03-2008 at 04:55:12 AM
- 0 +

I fourth the 8800 GTS 512.

Reply to skywalker9952
wrathloki   03-03-2008 at 05:22:24 AM
- 0 +

Get a zotac 512 8800gt amp edition, I have it overclocked to 740 core, 1804 shader and 1105 memory with absolutely no heat problems at all because zotac puts some hardcore coolers on their cards. The card comes stock 700 core, 1700 shader and 1000 memory even if you don't plan on overclocking, which is a really nice overclock from stock 8800gt's. It'll stomp the gts and you'll never have heat problems.


Message edited by wrathloki on 03-03-2008 at 05:25:42 AM
Reply to wrathloki
nkarasch   03-03-2008 at 05:36:58 AM
- 0 +

Dont do crossfire or get the 3870x2 because you want a gig of vram, it is still acting as 512megs.

Reply to nkarasch
blotch   03-03-2008 at 06:10:44 AM
- 0 +

Not sure where you got your information but crossfire acts as a full gig. btw i would recommend a 3870x2.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz(1.5V), Zalman 9700 as5, ASUS P5E , Crossfire 2X 3870xt ,8Gigs RAM (4x2) @ DDR2 800 4-4-4-12, Gigabyte Odin 800W PSU, 2X WD 640AAKS HDD Raid0, Vista 64-bit, XClio case, 24" KDS 1900x1200



Reply to blotch
homerdog   03-03-2008 at 03:32:41 PM
- 0 +

blotch wrote :

Not sure where you got your information but crossfire acts as a full gig. btw i would recommend a 3870x2.


No it doesn't.

Reply to homerdog
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