Is the HD2900XT 1GB any good still? Was it Ever? PLEASE HELP!

[spurs1882]

Hello all, I am new at this so bear with me if it doesn't make total sense!

I currently have the following setup:

CPU: Intel Q6600 GO 2.4GHz
RAM: 4GB OCZ 800MHz 5-5-5-15
GPU: ScanFX HD2900XT 1GB GDDR3 - Output Res generally 1680 x 1050
MBO: ASUS Blitz Formula

I bought the board for when I had 2 HD2900s but I sold one of them as Crossfire performance was awful (when it even worked). I'm now wondering if I have the right graphics card to go it alone as the 2900XT seems to have so many issues (not many recent games I can play with High graphics settings and good frame rates).

All that said, is it really worth upgrading now to either Nvidia's GTX260 or the Sapphire ATI HD4870. Both are in my price range but I wonder if I am impulse buying or if I will really see a serious improvement.

If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. I can't really spend more than about £160 (though might be able to jump to £200 if really worth it).

[matty-hodgson]

will you see an improvement? - definitely.
the GTX260 and HD4870 will both run most games at full graphical settings at your resolution, so if you do go and splash £200 on a graphics card, you're sure gonna see some eye candy and some very nice frame rates too

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

There are some newer GPU refreshes coming out in the next couple of months from both ATI and Nvidia. Unless you really need to replace your graphics card now I would wait.

[Webby]

If you want to do a bit of a comparision your 2900XT is on a par with a 3870 so you will see decent improvements in applible image quailty settings and/or frame rates by moving to any cad from the 4850 and above.

Crossfire has moved on a bit and the current crop of cards crossfire very well you could consider 2x 4830's in crossfire (£180) they will obliterate a 4870 or GTX260 in most things.

As Cat says the newer revisions are coming soon so if you can wait it could be worth it either to get the newest tech or to catch a bargain as the old stock prices fall.

[Meaker]

Wait till march, seriously.

[Rollo]

If you want to do a bit of a comparision your 2900XT is on a par with a 3870 so you will see decent improvements in applible image quailty settings and/or frame rates by moving to any cad from the 4850 and above.

Crossfire has moved on a bit and the current crop of cards crossfire very well you could consider 2x 4830's in crossfire (£180) they will obliterate a 4870 or GTX260 in most things.

As Cat says the newer revisions are coming soon so if you can wait it could be worth it either to get the newest tech or to catch a bargain as the old stock prices fall.

Two 4830s offer very good performance for the money at games that scale well with Crossfire.

The problem is there have been a lot of problems with CF drivers, and for games that don't work with CF he'd be stuck with one 4830 level performance. Even on games that scale, scaling is variable, so you can't just say 4830CF "obliterates" the two other cards. It wins some by a lot, some by a little, and loses some.

In answer to the OP:

Either the 4870 or the GTX260 would be a big upgrade to you.

[Pob255]

Ahh but even a single 4830 will be a step up from a 2900xt, not a massive step up but a step up none the less.