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Thread: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

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    Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    A couple of years ago I built a new PC. Link here.

    Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP
    Processor: Core 2 Duo E6400
    RAM: 2Gb (2X1Gb) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2
    Graphics Card: MSI GeForce 7900GS 256MB PCIE DVI
    Monitor: Dell 3007WFP

    Red Alert 3 is about to come out and I was thinking about upgrading my video card. Something passive (because I like it quiet) and something dual link DVI (because the monitor is big).

    Is it a smart move to upgrade the card? My gut sense is that the rest of the components haven't aged much so I'm assuming they'll support a modern card properly, but I might be wrong. Also, if I were to upgrade to a 9600GT, what kind of speed increase could I expect from the card? 50%? 100%?

    Recommendations for cards welcome.

    Thanks in advance.

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    Folding Flunkie Webby's Avatar
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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    Will an upgrade show an improvement yes how much is hard to quantify as it will depend on far to many things to list here.

    Graphics wise it will all depend on how much you want to spend almost all current cards will be an improvement

    I would be tempted to get a 4850 for ~£110-120 this card is quiet and cool http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148952
    Since you suggested a 9600GT which will cost ~£80 you could look at the 3870 for similar money and this overclocked with very good cooler costs the same http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143111
    You could also find one of the cheaper 8800GT/9800GTs which are similar in performance to the 3870 but generally considered slightly faster.

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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    Your current card 7900GS is roughly on par with an 8600GT or 9500GT (they both have 32 stream processors). One of those should be in any recent graphics card comparisons you look up.

    I would expect roughly a doubling in performance upgrading to a 9600GT, but as Webby points out there may be better options out there. The ATI stuff also runs cooler which could help your low noise aims.

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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    Thanks. I had a bad driver experience with ATI cards a while back and I've stuck with nVidia since.

    I think I'll probably go for Asus EN9600GT SILENT/HTDI/512M. Although it's not the fastest card, it's good step up from my current card and won't break the bank. Unless you know of a good reason?

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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    Personally, I think (since AMD took over) ATI have had far better drivers than nVidia. However, I canm understand your desire to stay with nVidia - it took me ages to make the move across.

    Anyway, back on topic, I think if staying with nV then I'd be looking at least the 8800GT/9800GT, or you might find the improvement a tad minor - especially if going to higher resolutions on a larger monitor.

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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    Since none of these cards seem very expensive I'd like to get the best nVidia. At your suggestion I've been looking for passive 9800 GTs. There's one by Elite Group and one by Sparkle which doesn't seem to be out yet.

    Is that my lot? £75 for that Elite Group card seems too good to be true.

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    Senior Member Pob255's Avatar
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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    ECS don't have a great name on the motherboard's they make, no idea on there graphics cards. (I'll not mention OcUK's rep, shopping with them is your choise)
    Sparkle however do have a good reputation. (they are less heard of in the eu but they do have a good rep outside the eu) however there products often seem to take a while to filter down to us in the uk and some of there good ones never make it.
    You may have better luck finding the slient 8800gt, it's basically the same chip as the 9800gt the only differnce between them is the new low power regulation when idle
    http://www.sparkle.com.tw/product_de...=57&sub_id=152
    One thing to note here is many of the eairly 9800gt where stuck on 8800gt boards so they lack the lower idle power anyway.

    Another option is the Asus 9800gt TOP, although slightly more and currently out of stock at scan
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=859181
    Basically has a 8800gts 512mb cooler on it which is very quiet

    Quick look on ebuyer turned up these
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148188 9800gt passive £98 (this site says it's an AC ACCELERO S1M http://www.noacomp.co.il/Product.aspx?productID=3863 )
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149065 9800gt i-chill £120 these are not passive but suposed to be very good. (basically the acccelero with 2 92mm fans)

    EDIT: Ebuyer also have the passive ecs 9800gt but it's £99 so I'd go for the passive innovision

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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    I think the Innovision Card has fans. See here.

    Tempted by the ASUS EN9800GT ULTIMATE provided it's not too noisy.

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    Senior Member Pob255's Avatar
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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    the iChill ones do, the other I linked doesn't (well shouldn't as it's listed as passive)
    here's the pic of it from the other website (why is it so many manufactors don't include all there models on there websites )
    http://www.noacomp.co.il/UploadImage...celero_s1m.jpg

    but both the 9800gt top and ultimate should be very quiet as they basically have a 8800gts 512mb cooler on them and they are known as quiet.

    EDIT: PS you'll get a nice boost out of that I went from a 7900gs to a 9800gtx, so many of my games are now limited by my 17" monitor resolution now, I had et:qw running with max everything and forced 16x fsaa at over 120fps steadly but the tareing makes it impossible to play shame as I know I could push that more.
    Last edited by Pob255; 24-09-2008 at 02:12 AM.

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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    Gah! Well, having gone for the ASUS EN9800GT I was unable to get it working properly in Vista. I just see a black screen. More details here.

    I'll start another thread.

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    ALT0153™ Rob_B's Avatar
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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    http://forums.hexus.net/graphics-car...-upgraded.html

    And thats just an 8800GS from a 7900GTO so a 9600GT or above will be an amazing upgrade for you!

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    Re: Should I upgrade my 7900GS 256MB?

    I would definately upgrade your 7900GS, the 7900GS can run most new games out now at around the medium setting however medium looks pretty bad compared to the very high settings in most games, as a result if you can afford it I'd go for a 4850 for £110 from scan which can run any game out now fully maxxed out.

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