Successor to X1900XT?

[fat jez]

hi Guys,

I've been looking at doing my last PC upgrade for a while, bringing my graphics card up to DX10 spec. I'm after something which is in the ball park performance area to my existing X1900XT. So far it has come down to an nVidia 8800 GTS, either 320MB or 640MB or an ATi Radeon HD2900XT. I'm trying to keep things as cheap as possible, as I also plan on going on holiday this year. The display will be a 20" Widescreen, so 1680x1050 res, preferably with some bells and whistles enabled.


Any thoughts? The reviews suggest that the 8800GTS will outperform my X1900XT, although I am keen to get something with as much oomph as possible.

Cheers,
Stephen

[staffsMike]

The 320mb is great. It's borderline at that resolution... it's good for current games but next years games will probably benefit from the 640mb edition.. Both are great cards though.

The ATi is interesting.. Some reviews show it to be fantastic and others...not so much. You need to make sure you have at least 2 x 4pin PCI-E Power adapters for the ATi or 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 if you want to overclock it.

Personally I'd go with one of the GTS's but the ATi's are supposed to be formidable in DX10..;but who really knows that.

[Boon72]

The 320mb is great. It's borderline at that resolution... it's good for current games but next years games will probably benefit from the 640mb edition.. Both are great cards though.

The ATi is interesting.. Some reviews show it to be fantastic and others...not so much. You need to make sure you have at least 2 x 4pin PCI-E Power adapters for the ATi or 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 if you want to overclock it.
Personally I'd go with one of the GTS's but the ATi's are supposed to be formidable in DX10..;but who really knows that.

that should read 2x 6pin to run or 1x 6pin & 1x 8pin to overclock, which only come on newer PSU's

[Mad-Max]

At that resolution get yourself a 8800 GTS 640mb BFG or EVGA which ever is the cheapest

[roorooroo]

I have an x1900xt and was wondering the same thing too..interesting but i will wait a while i think.

[fat jez]

The memory thing is kind of swaying me. I'd rather not spend the extra for the sake of doubling the memory. I don't see myself going for a bigger monitor than I have now anyway, unless they really come down in price. If I am spending the extra for the memory, I'd be more likely to go ATi.

The only other thing swaying me in favour of ATi is that I do folding@home using the GPU client, which I can't do on an nVidia card.

Cheers,
Stephen

[NightshadowUK]

If you're upgrading for DX10 I'd wait a few months until ATi sort their drivers out and there's been some proper DX10 benchmarking - at the moment no-one's too sure if these current cards are any good in DX10.

[twoblacklines]

i want a 2900xt and although they are poor now i think they will get better, the hardware is there on paper...... so it must be software (driver) problems.

320 stream processors........ that WILL be good

[fat jez]

I've got an order in with Tekheads for a Radeon HD2900 XT for £236.47, including P&P.

Cheers,
Stephen

[treefingers]

I have a x1900xt & 20inch Monitor & plays all current games fine. I reckon its worth waiting till September, Crysis & world in conflict are due for release then & the price of the current D10 cards should have fallen by then.

[TarnxTarn]

I also have a 1900xt and i would really wait for more DX 10 games to come out, not just Crysis...

[Leepox]

are you guys not selling your old cards for cheaps ???

[this_is_gav]

Given how much you'd get for an X1900XT (~£110) I can't see any point in getting rid of it. There's very little it won't run at max, and the only true upgrades at the moment are the 8800GTX and Ultra. The HD2900XT will shoot past it once the drivers have been sorted, but at the moment it's not much cop in DX9 (DX10 performance looks good on initial tests though).

I'd stay put to see how things develop in the next few months.

[Mithrandir]

are you guys not selling your old cards for cheaps ???

lol... I'm thinking the same

I'm happy with my x1900 cf edition (512mb)
If I can get another for cheap then I could use the cf board I got from evesham

[roorooroo]

Not selling mine for a few months yet!

[n00dey]

Read an article at anandtech a while back. It basically says that all current DX10 cards are pretty pants. When comparing the same set of games in DX9 mode vs DX10 mode.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3029&p=6