X1800XT vs X1900GT

[stevemedes]

Debating over these 2 cards. Planning to upgrade sometime in the next 3 months.

X1900GT is a single slot card, and consumes less power, but is slightly slower in benchmarks. Some say this card is more "future proof", if there is such a thing.

Here's the card I would get: HIS X1900GT 256MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161016)

X1800XT is cheaper, and faster in 'most' benchmarks. Also available in 512MB version.

Thinking about this card in particular: Sapphire X1800XT 256mb (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102007)

What's your take?

[stevemedes]

Noone?

[Mr_LoL]

Have a look at this article.
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/919/

[Dr.Nick]

The X1800XT should be faster overall

[stevemedes]

Thanks for the linky Akbar :)

This sure is a tough decision. I'm leaning towards the X1900GT because of it's sizeable lead in HL2 and I play alot of CS:S, also its single slot, quieter and consumes less power.

[Dr.Nick]

Thanks for the linky Akbar :)

This sure is a tough decision. I'm leaning towards the X1900GT because of it's sizeable lead in HL2 and I play alot of CS:S, also its single slot, quieter and consumes less power.

Did you check out the AA/AF benches? I guess if you dont plan on using either the X1900GT is faster...

[stevemedes]

well when im playing CS:S, i play at low resolution and with no aa/af, complete minimum settings.

also my LCDs native resolution is 1280x1024 so i wont be playing at 16x12 with ridiculous amounts of eye candy. Most games i play are multiplayer and i run those at low res and low IQ b/c i like to play competitevly.

[AirJarhead]

well when im playing CS:S, i play at low resolution and with no aa/af, complete minimum settings.

also my LCDs native resolution is 1280x1024 so i wont be playing at 16x12 with ridiculous amounts of eye candy. Most games i play are multiplayer and i run those at low res and low IQ b/c i like to play competitevly.
Then why not just keep the card you have?
The only reason to upgrade would be to play with AA and AF at 12x10.
If your still going to play at your current settings then your card is fine.
I was playing BF2 multi with an X850XT at 10x7 with 4xAA and 8xAF. Then I upgraded to a 7900gt and played at 12x10 4xAA and 16xAF. It looked much better, and you'd be amazed at how much better you can see the enemy. The gameplay was a little smoother too (except when I died in an explosion - but I was already dead).
Just my 2 cents, but if you listen it would save you more than that ;)

[stevemedes]

oblivion is a major reason to upgrade. also i want to upgrade for upgradings sake, its about that time. i also play fear and graw and they run like molasses.

[Chiles4]

If you don't mind the noisey fan on the X1800XT, you might want to get it as in most cases (with the exception of Oblivion) it performs better.

A week ago, I decided to get the same HIS X1900GT that you linked to. At the time it had a rebate with a final cost of about $235.

I haven't loaded up GRAW to check performance and I haven't even run any 3DMarks yet. The card seems to have come underclocked. ATI Tray Tools reports the core at 500 Mhz not 575Mhz.

In the long run, I'll probably be pleased with the performance of it in the games I play. My 6800GT only averaged about 40-42 fps in GRAW with most settings either low or off. I sold it to get the X1900GT. Hope to see a nice boost there.

The only thing that really bothers me is the heat. In the original Ghost Recon, I'm maxing at 83C with the ambient temp being reported is very high too (low 50s?). How could I ever run this card in Crossfire?-unless I want to use my rig as a space heater. If the 7900GTs didn't have their "problems" I definitely would have gone with that.

I could put a Zalman VF900 on that sucka but it would still blow the heat around my case. The HIS IceQ3 cooler is supposed to be awesome but adds about $45 to the price.

[{WOR}lock]

The card seems to have come underclocked. ATI Tray Tools reports the core at 500 Mhz not 575Mhz.


Not to worry there Chiles, they have different clock speeds for 2D mode and 3D mode. You'll only be seeing the 2D clocks through ATT.

[zer0]

7900GT ftw!!! :D

[Viventis]

well when im playing CS:S, i play at low resolution and with no aa/af, complete minimum settings.

also my LCDs native resolution is 1280x1024 so i wont be playing at 16x12 with ridiculous amounts of eye candy. Most games i play are multiplayer and i run those at low res and low IQ b/c i like to play competitevly.

I trust you believe that a higher frame-rate improves your performance in multiplayer games. I have always wondered about the ping/frame-rate interaction but have never seen an article on it or any proof that going from +/- 60 fps to 120 fps at the same ping would improve performance in a multiplayer game like BF2 (IE kill an opponent faster). What is your experience?

[stevemedes]

Well Viventis, I play alot of scrims and am actively involved in putting together a
CAL team for us. My monitors native rez is 1280x1024. Currently I play with all settings on minimum. The reason i do this is because with high detail levels and AA/AF, it is PLAYABLE. However for me playable settings are completely different between SP and MP modes. I cannot afford to have my FPS dip just because someone threw a smoke grenade or there is alot of people on the screen. I find that I play much better due to the sustained framerate I achieve with my low settings. Vsync always stays off despite my high FPS with low settings. I find vsync makes the mouse much less precise, almost as if mouse filter is on.

[stevemedes]

Zero, id love a 7900gt, but the performance diff between it and a x1800xt is minimal. Price is also way lower on x1800xt. Im also concerned about all these RMA'd 7900's ive been seeing. Only real negative i see about going with ATI is the inferior drivers.

[nJake]

The Radeon x1900GT was nothing but a failure, imo. We commonly see the Radeon x1800XT / Geforce 7900GT surpasing it in performance by roughly 10%, and yet all are within the same price range.

As far as being "more future-proof"...I'm not sure who told you that, but I wouldn't take it with much legitimacy. The only basis for making that claim is the fact that the x1900GT has multi ALUs per "pipeline" like R580 (only 36 total opposed to 48), but even so, the difference wasn't anything stellar, atleast not compared to the x1800XT, like we see.

Also, I believe eVGA's new SKUs have already appeared in Newegg stock (I checked a few weeks ago), and these are the GPUs that are fixed from the initial issue, that affected less than 2% of their Geforce 7900 buyers (according to them).

To double-check, I believe you can refer to the list they posted up noting the new SKU models, and then matching it to those found at Newegg. Like I said, they were already appearing a few weeks ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if all of the bad models have already been phased out.

[Chiles4]

Not to worry there Chiles, they have different clock speeds for 2D mode and 3D mode. You'll only be seeing the 2D clocks through ATT.Thanks, WOR-Lock, I found that out too in the time away from this thread.

I don't consider the X1900GT a failure at all - regardless of how it stacks up against a 7900GT. Actually, I think it's an awesome card. There's only one big looming question mark about this card...and that is how much did you pay for it? I paid $249 less a $15 mir and that was a month ago. Is the card worth $280? No way. Is it worth what I paid? Probably not. At the time I bought it, the 7900GTs were at least $50 more and just starting to come out of the shadow of the "problem".

7900GT surpasing it in performance by roughly 10%I've seen it worse than that in texture-heavy game comparisons but it still didn't deter me from picking the X1900GT over the 7900GT. But I think the kicker in my decision was that I was coming off a 6600GT and then a 6800GT. And after using Nvidia's lame control panel for two years I was just bored out of my skull with Nvidia. I didn't know at the time that NV had a new CP (which I've never used) and I couldn't bear to spend all that money and 3 days later be bored with the card.

Now I'm using ATI Tray Tools and tweaking the bejeebus out of all my games to look exactly as I want them. I've got a Zalman VF900 on my card and my peak load temp is 43C. I know that looks like a typo but it's not - after putting in the VF900 I can't get the card hotter than 43C with anything. I couldn't be happier with my X1900GT...for now that is. ;)

[mullet]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2812&p=7

[Xion X2]

I didn't know at the time that NV had a new CP (which I've never used)

You're not missing much...

[Fotis]

X1800XT 512MB is a lot faster than a X1900GT according to Firingsquads (http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_x1900_xt_256mb_performance/default.asp) review.The X1900GT gets beaten by 40% in Quake4 ,20% in BF2,25% in FEAR,25% in Oblivion,25% in CoD2 and they are about even on Far Cry.
End result is the X1800XT 512MB is a lot better than the X1900GT and its on par with a preoverclocked 7900GT clocked at 520/1440.:)

[mullet]

X1800XT 512MB is a lot faster than a X1900GT according to Firingsquads (http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_x1900_xt_256mb_performance/default.asp) review.The X1900GT gets beaten by 40% in Quake4 ,20% in BF2,25% in FEAR,25% in Oblivion,25% in CoD2 and they are about even on Far Cry.
End result is the X1800XT 512MB is a lot better than the X1900GT and its on par with a preoverclocked 7900GT clocked at 520/1440.:)

ATI 100-435705 Radeon X1800XT 512MB = $339.99
SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB = $199.99

newegg.

[Fotis]

X1800XT 512MB 180€
Χ1900GT 256ΜΒ 250€

Greece

[mullet]

X1800XT 512MB 180€
Χ1900GT 256ΜΒ 250€

Greece
.
wow, thats weird.

[Fotis]

.
wow, thats weird.
Well not really.The X1800 price was a "clear stock" price and the X1900GT price droped today to 200€ so all is normal.:)