Nvidia 7900GT, 7800GTX or ATi 1900XT

[sawyen]

what I meant was, if you have a PSU that have split rails.. make sure you have at least 25-30A on each or else you'll have to combine it.

I have a Tagan EasyCon 530W, and I cant even overclock my X1800XT 1MHz without aritfacts when I'm in split rails.. I'll have to combine it to generate enough current to feed that hungry X1800XT.. so i think X1900XT will be no better..

[[DW]Cougho]

what I meant was, if you have a PSU that have split rails.. make sure you have at least 25-30A on each or else you'll have to combine it.

I have a Tagan EasyCon 530W, and I cant even overclock my X1800XT 1MHz without aritfacts when I'm in split rails.. I'll have to combine it to generate enough current to feed that hungry X1800XT.. so i think X1900XT will be no better..

My lowly Enermax 425w has split rails (with no way of combining them) and my X1800XT was perfectly happy to overclock on it. Cant understand why a 530w tagan would struggle.

Oh and im not sure if id recommend the zalman for cooling the X1900XT as it is very borderline for the heat. Check these links:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...92&postcount=5
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...t=93803&page=7
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.ph...9&postcount=35
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33851653
http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php...33&postcount=1
http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php...8&postcount=28
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...9&postcount=59

[sawyen]

Well, in all honesty.. when the rails are split in my Tagan, the rails on each are around 18A and peaks no more than 20A.. probably due to my other overclocks as well..

when combined tho, my card becomes lots stable at 700/1600.. together with my dual core at 2.4Ghz..

[TeleFragX]

So what fan would you recommend

[[DW]Cougho]

So what fan would you recommend

Many times i searched a decent fan for the X1900/X1800 series and i found the Sytrin KuForumula VF1 and the Evercool Turbo 2 as the only ones that offered any real increase in cooling over the stock HS.

Unfortunately these arent available in the UK yet.

[TeleFragX]

Well as long as its quiet and cool and can overclock a little its fine with me can the zalman do that?

[ExceededGoku]

why does everyone ignore the accelero? its a brilliant cooler and looks coola swell...

[TeleFragX]

This it?



Its a bit big...

[sawyen]

If you're using an 7900GT, yes.. an X1 will work..

[TeleFragX]

No thanks that would total 3 SLOTS!! Hell no! Whats best cooler for 2 slots tops? (gfx and the next one down)

EDIT: Some said this on another forum:

CS:S -- 54C
COD2 -- mid to upper 60's, never reached 70
Fear -- mostly hung around 71C, hit 72C once
HL: Lost Coast -- Mostly 70C, hit 75C once

*Note* This is with my x1900xt overclocked to 680/780 and with the room temp around 70 - 72 F.
Something else: once you exit out of a 3D app. it automatically drops the timings down to 2D. So with that and because of the cooler, it takes about 30 seconds or so to bring the core right back down to idle temps. Pretty cool IMO (no pun intended)

EDIT 2: Someone also said on the XTX its 10c higher then the stock cooler! Oh dear!

[kevpuk]

Another vote for a X1900XT - got mine 1 week back, Sapphire model (on recommendation ), to replace my BFG 7800GT OC.....what a card

Find no noise problems when idling etc. and in game haven't noticed over the game

Best of all, it clocks happily beyond XT-X speeds (highest tried so far, without any fancy modding/volt adjustments etc.) is 685/786 and this scores over 6000 in 3DMark06

TBH, the 7800GT was a great card, but the X1900XT is worth the extra pennies, imho

[TeleFragX]

I had a x300LE ATI around november and was egged on by friends to give nvidia ago so got the 6800GS and TBH I didn't see much difference except games less stable.. Now I know fanboys etc will say ATI has driver problems well I hate to disagree but I never had a problem - infact i got my FPS on FEAR with my x300LE then the 6800GS!

So I think im going for a Sapphire X1900XTX + Zalman VF900 Fan! What do you think?

[Syd]

I couldn't stretch to those dizzy heights But I did just buy a X1800XT256 and I've just ordered a Zalman 900 due on Monday, so I can happily let you know how I get on with it if you are still pondering then

[kevpuk]

There are 2 camps on the XT-X front.....1 says not worth the extra pennies as many XTs clock to XT-X speeds happily (and speeds are the only difference) and the other camp that says maybe the XT-X really offer better OC potential......

For me, I guess the XT is fine providing you get one which happily clocks (got one myself ), but would have been disappointed if it hadn't and would no doubt have thought I should've paid the extra for the XT-X !

Zalman 900 has a good name......but, tbh, don't have a problem with the stock heatsink

[Barkotron]

I have the X1900XT, which is fantastic, and clocks up to 690/800 no problem.

As for cooling, using the Thermalright V1 Ultra - took 15-20C off overclocked and under load (now maxes out at high 60s, low 70s depending on ambient temperatures), and is much quieter/less annoying than the stock cooler, even when turned up full (I'm running it off a Zalman 6-channel fan controller). It doesn't have to be turned all the way up even during gaming, but I do as I'm using headphones anyway so can't hear it over the screams of the dying .

You do need decent airflow over the voltage regulators though, as they don't get any cooling when you fit the V1 ultra. I stuck a bunch of ramsinks on them and now they're fine.

As for getting the hot air out of the case, the fan sits on top of the back of the card and sucks through the radiator, so the hot air is, at least in my case, stuck directly in the path of the rear exhaust fan, and exits almost instantly.

[sgoaty]

Well I paid £400 plus postage for my sapphire X1900 XTX just after they came out. I thought If i was spending over £300 I should just stretch to the extra few quid or it would niggle me that i didnt have the top card. SOME of the X1900XTs have slower RAM than the 1.1ns XTX cards If you land with one of these chances are you wont get XTX speeds. Also I found the cooler to noisey compared to my old 7800 GTX so I fitted the VF900 and its now nice and quiet.
Scott