New Card For The Kids, Thoughts?.

[jon bda]

Hey all, putting together a slightly newer PC for the kids, another Aopen XC Cube...current machine is...

EZ65 XC Cube
P4 2.6ghz
1gig Kingston RAM
120gig HDD
128meg 6600GT

New machine (so far) is...

EZ915-T XC Cube
P4 650 3.4ghz
2gig Corsair RAM
320gig HDD

...and i'm undecided about the gfx side of things. I thought about the X1950Pro for a while but have also had the 8600GT suggested, and looking at Scan they are pretty cheap too. If i got a 8600GT it would probably be the 512meg version, anyone care to suggest anything else please?.

[cotswoldcs]

That's a pretty hot running CPU in a small case - hopefully you have adequate cooling especially when you add a decent graphics card.

You didn't mention what OS you are running. I would recommend a 8000 based nVidia card if you are running Vista but otherwise an nVidia 7950 or ATI 1900 series would be a better (cheaper) choice for XP.

Scan have this on TodayOnly for £89.89 or this for £122.19

They recently have a great offer on a 7950. I wouldn't worry too much about GPU memory unless you are running a large widescreen monitor. What res will you be gaming at?

[Merlin4458]

if ur going to get a 8xxx, dont get anything slower than a 8800GTS. If ur not going dx10. The 7950 or the x1950pro are the only 2 choices atm

[GSte]

Yeah the 1950pro nails the 8600gt in DX9 performance, and I wouldn't even get an 8600 for dx10, as the current 8 series cards supposedly suck in dx10, even the higher end ones.....

[cupra-sport]

x1950 would be your best bet or somthing 2nd hand for the same price maybe

[Pob255]

Well from the current crop of BioShock numbers kicking around the 8600gt is slightly beating the 7900gs in dx9 at 1280x1024, although still behind the x1950pro, and you only lose a couple of fps in dx10

It's starting to look like the 8600gt will be ok on new games in low resolutions but don't bother with it for any thing over 1280x1024 / 1440x900 (and don't bother with FSAA)

However I wouldn't hold your breath for any dx10 only games for a while yet so you'd be far better off with a x1950pro or 7900GS (or a 7950GT or 7900GTX if you can find one for a good price but it's getting harder)

[jon bda]

Hey guys, kids pc will be running XP and most likely a max res of 1280x1024 (currently on a 17" Iiyama CRT but its going for a 17" or maybe 19" TFT). Seems like the original plan of an X1950 may be the way to go...time to measure up and double check it'll fit...

[Pob255]

Well if you're sticking to xp no point in dx10 as that's vista only.
An Ati x1950pro will be the best card for the price.
if you want an nvidia then 7900gs

unless you don't mind 2nd hand/ebay, you should be able to pick up a cheap x1950xt, 7900gt or 7950gt for a good price

[jon bda]

Love secondhand, its entirely how this pc's being put together mate!.

[filbert]

There's a new-s/hand 7900gs going in the for sale Threads:

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=119217

[jon bda]

There's a new-s/hand 7900gs going in the for sale Threads:

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=119217

Hehe, but i'm an ATi boy at heart . Is there much difference between the 256 and 512meg versions of the X1950?.

[Smudger]

Hehe, but i'm an ATi boy at heart . Is there much difference between the 256 and 512meg versions of the X1950?.

Not sure if there's much difference on 1280x1024 but the HIS Turbo 1950 I got was only about £6 more expensive for 512 so I went for that. So far it's turned out to be a great card.

[jon bda]

Spotted a 7950GT on another forum that i'm thinking about. Does anyone know what the power consumption is like on these cards compared to the X1950 Pro?. I remember somebody telling me before that the X1950 is quite a low powered card given its size and twin power connectors!.

[Sprite]

X1950 Pro has twin power connectors ?

[jon bda]

Seems to have mate.

[filbert]

That's an agp card, pci-e only has 1 power connector