Stone knives & bear skins

[rartist]

I have been living with a ATI Radeon X1950 XTX for a number of years. My current config under win7 64bit runs my games and graphics aps mostly well with some exceptions. My mobo is a MSI P35 Neo2 FR under 4gb ram; with 2x PCI Express 16x slots.

I don't think I can do anything about going to the crossfire setup with what I have to add the second card. I was wondering if there could be something a bit less primitive graphics-wise I could get that would work with what I have. Some aps can be rather laggy (Team Fortress 2) at times, and some one graphics ap I use the has an openGL preview (Modo) that turning that option on is pretty much stops it cold.

Throwing out the baby and the bathwater by getting a new system isn't what I can spend right now.

 

[SchizTech]

Is that a reference to Spock in an old episode of Trek of did you get that from elsewhere?

Anyway, it would help to have the full specs of your rig.

 

[rartist]

"City on the Edge of Forever"

Windows 7 Professional 64bit SP1
Intel Xenon X3210 2.13ghz
ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512mb GDDR4+DVI-I+DVI-I+VIVO
(I think this is it http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2467563&CatId=1826)
2x 2GB 1066 DDR2
P35 Neo2-FR w/ 2x PCI Express 16X

Thinking of buying it 4 more GB ram for it again. Eventually I'll get something else, but for now I use big work computers to do big things (professional digital artist). But for my personal use this machine is getting thin, and games and work put the stress test on the stitching. I can make do for a while; I'm interested in amendments that will make making do easier.

I've never considered the crossfire option until now, but don't know if it is possible with what I have; my mobo docs say I can do it, if I can find the companion card and it will work with the X1950.

Or ditch the X1950 in favor of something else

 

[maxalge]

"City on the Edge of Forever"

Windows 7 Professional 64bit SP1
Intel Xenon X3210 2.13ghz
ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512mb GDDR4+DVI-I+DVI-I+VIVO
(I think this is it http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2467563&CatId=1826)
2x 2GB 1066 DDR2
P35 Neo2-FR w/ 2x PCI Express 16X

Thinking of buying it 4 more GB ram for it again. Eventually I'll get something else, but for now I use big work computers to do big things (professional digital artist). But for my personal use this machine is getting thin, and games and work put the stress test on the stitching. I can make do for a while; I'm interested in amendments that will make making do easier.

I've never considered the crossfire option until now, but don't know if it is possible with what I have; my mobo docs say I can do it, if I can find the companion card and it will work with the X1950.

OR, ditch the X9150 for something like the GeForce GTX 550 Ti?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=356682&csid=_61

Crossfire would only work while playing in fullscreen.



Much more powerful than the 550 ti:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5121336&CatId=7387

 

[rartist]

Didn't see that the GTX 550 TI is 2x PCIE. 3x is a step in the wrong direction? Don't understand how the older outdated hardware can be more expensive.

I think the Mobo is PCIE 1x? Don't understand the numbers:

Slots

• Two PCI Express 16X slots with 1x16 and 1x4 operations (PCI Express Bus SPEC V1.0a compliant; supports CrossFire Technology)
• Two PCI Express x1 slots. (support PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
• Two 32-bit PCI v2.3 master PCI bus slots.
- Support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface.

The X1950 also suffers from orphaned drivers.

 

[maxalge]

Didn't see that the GTX 550 TI is 2x PCIE. 3x is a step in the wrong direction? Don't understand how the older outdated hardware can be more expensive.

I think the Mobo is PCIE 1x? Don't understand the numbers:

Slots

• Two PCI Express 16X slots with 1x16 and 1x4 operations (PCI Express Bus SPEC V1.0a compliant; supports CrossFire Technology)
• Two PCI Express x1 slots. (support PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
• Two 32-bit PCI v2.3 master PCI bus slots.
- Support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface.

The X1950 also suffers from orphaned drivers.

The higher the number the newer and better when it comes to PCIE slots.

3x is a step forwards, but is also backwards compatible, there is a loss of performance when going to an older slot, but it is negligible, on the 1-2 fps or thereabouts.




Your mobo will handle it fine, just remember to put the card in the slot that is marked x16.

Also as long as you have the proper power supply to handle the GPU:

400 Watt power supply Minimum recommended with +12 Volt current rating of 20 Amps for a 650 ti.

 

[coozie7]

@ Rartist: Crossfire is not really an option, you'll have a difficult time finding viable drivers, the second PCI-E slot only runs a X4 speed, and, as I recall, the older setups required a master card to work and they're as rare as hens teeth now.
Any powersupply that can feed a X1950 will have no problems powering a more modern card of far higher performance, just check any card you have in mind uses a single 6pin PCI-E power lead and you'll be fine.
You do n't give a budget so I'll point you here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

As a matter of interest, the HD7750 is the most powerful card out there that does not require an additional power lead to operate.
Do n'tworry about later generation cards not performing at their best with a PCI-E 1.0 slot, only high end cards are any where near fast enough to be affected by more than a few percent.
I would suggest the GTX650 (non Ti) as the highest card to go for, Nvidia cards are more tolerant of older PCI-E slots than their AMD counterparts, and anything more powerful is going to be heavily held back by the CPU.

 

[rartist]

Looking at this one again; I have a freelance job where adding a little to my antique would be beneficial and a tax write off. I did go and double the ram (though occasionally at max Q its not entirely stable), I'm still using the X1950 and would like to chuck it. I use Modo, and it has an openGL preview function that under the X1950 brings things to a stand still at best; more often a crash. I'm looking at the GeForce GTX 650 again, and want to make sure that it will still step down to my PCI-E 1x before I put any money on it.

I'd like to add a second monitor while I'm at it, and need a version of the 650 that would support two DVI plugs. I'm looking at this, but it is unclear if it supports two DVI or not:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7370266&CatId=7387

It has 2 x Dual-link DVI-D and I don't understand what that is.

 

[rartist]

Or this; I have the dual 6 pin DVI power on a 500w power supply (Earthwats EA500)

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N650OC-2GI/dp/B00942TJXY/ref=pd_cp_pc_0