Which is faster: My Opteron 165@ 2.65Ghz or Core2 Duo E6300

[DecomposingStar]

Well an easy one for you guys:- Once the drivers are optimised for the 88s, would the cheapest 88 be better than the dearest x1950 for dx9c games?

Haven't seen the specs, and i'm guessing you mean in a totally DX9 environment (ie, windows XP).
The cheapest 8800 against the most expensive X1950 would probably be quite close, but the you'd have to weigh up the prices you pay on them. If the drivers were better aswell, who knows.

If it was on a DX9 game with decent drivers, in Vista, with an 8800, it would run more efficiantly due to the modified DX9 that Vista uses, so you would probably gain some frames. This would put the X1950 behind it.

Also, consider that the 8800 is "future-proof" (loose use of the term, as not much is future-proof), so it would outlive the X1950. But lets wait til the R600 gets into the game, shall we?

[Smokey21]

Well an easy one for you guys:- Once the drivers are optimised for the 88s, would the cheapest 88 be better than the dearest x1950 for dx9c games?

A 8800GTS is a better card NOW, than a X1950XTX, whatever way you look at it. Hell it's about £75 cheaper from most places ive seen, the 320mb version that is.

I haven't really checked benchies of a GTS, but from what little ive seen, it's faster than ATI's best card, in pretty much every game ive seen. It does HDR a lot faster, and is DX10. It's not really a contest.

Im a bigger fan of ATI as anyone, the X1950XTX was a great card, but it can't compete with G80, which i don't know why is a surprise, and hard to take for some people.

ATi's drivers are better, but there going to be, there cards have been out a long time. Though opinions on drivers is subjective a lot of the time.

[excalibur2]

A 8800GTS is a better card NOW, than a X1950XTX, whatever way you look at it. Hell it's about £75 cheaper from most places ive seen, the 320mb version that is.

I haven't really checked benchies of a GTS, but from what little ive seen, it's faster than ATI's best card, in pretty much every game ive seen. It does HDR a lot faster, and is DX10. It's not really a contest.

Im a bigger fan of ATI as anyone, the X1950XTX was a great card, but it can't compete with G80, which i don't know why is a surprise, and hard to take for some people.

ATi's drivers are better, but there going to be, there cards have been out a long time. Though opinions on drivers is subjective a lot of the time.

So it's bye bye x1950 unless it becomes very cheap.

[Smokey21]

Yes, and it won't become very cheap because the flagship cards never do.

[excalibur2]

Yes, and it won't become very cheap because the flagship cards never do.

Well I meant the x1950 going cheap, I'm upgrading my computer soon and if the x1950 doesn't drop substantially in price in April/May, I will go for the cheapest DX10 card.

BTW I only play a few well known games and willing to take a chance that the new games coming out will be backward compatable (somehow).

[DecomposingStar]

Well I meant the x1950 going cheap, I'm upgrading my computer soon and if the x1950 doesn't drop substantially in price in April/May, I will go for the cheapest DX10 card.

BTW I only play a few well known games and willing to take a chance that the new games coming out will be backward compatable (somehow).

It will drop in may. The R600 is due out in may.

[teknokid]

why go dx9 when dx10 is here?

[excalibur2]

why go dx9 when dx10 is here?

Of course you are right, but for me it's all about spending money wisely if you only play games now and again.
And not forgetting there is always the choice of a very cheap S/H 6600/6600gt etc, to use in the meantime and spend the money saved on second hard drive or whatever.

[DanceswithUnix]

why go dx9 when dx10 is here?

I went from Nvidia 4200 AGPx8 to 6600GT, completely skipping the first generation DX9 cards. This has not put me in therapy, my children do not even point and laugh

Before christmas I needed an upgrade and got a discount 7900GT, so I am good for any DX9 spec games. I suspect by the time DX10 becomes an issue, the 9xxx series will be out and I will find I have done the same with the first gen DX10 cards. You don't *have* to adopt each new technology as soon as it comes out.

Heck, maybe by second gen ATI will have a working Linux driver and I will have a choice!

[aidanjt]

Heck, maybe by second gen ATI will have a working Linux driver and I will have a choice!

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you, unless you can hold your breath for years.

[asmith]

Well I thought I would drop in and comment, but so I don't get flamed for any reason can I please begin by saying the following sentences are my opinion and everyone is entitled to one.

I have always brought nvidia graphics cards, don't ask me why I have no particular reason just seemed the majority I knew owned Nvidia. Anyway I had a major upgrade last year as I will still running an 6600GT and a Single core AMD 3800, when I finally decided to upgrade I resorted to good old reviews of cards.

Now this is where it begins, from what I saw the 8800 appeared to outperform the 1950xtx in most games besides a few, the crossfire setup seemed to keep up with a single 8800 in those games it was beaten by the 8800. However using the Hexus bang for buck comments the 1950xtx was better value.

at the time the 8800 was more expensive and the x1950 was only 280 when i decided to upgrade so i though hell why not switch, I love performance as much as the next person but from all the games I own and run I have no problem so maybe at least for me theirs no concern.

I don't have the worlds best trained eye so when fps jumps from 50-60 I don't really notice like some may be able to. At the moment I am just waiting for the R600 based card to come out. I have used my mates computer he has a 8800GTS and from what I can see theirs not much discrepancy so I cant see what the big hoohar is about?

Anyway thats my rant over please remember these are my opinions and if you feel angry about them please don't flame me

[shaithis]

As with most things, its horses for courses

Using an 8800GTX card with a 19" monitor (for example) is currently overkill, as I am not aware of any current software that would require the immense power that this card has, on a screen of that size.

The only reason I purchased one was for running at 2560x1600 in games, which is extremely demanding and the Crossfired X1950s just could not handle it in most games. They were only just managing to hang in there at 1920x1200, yet the PQ difference between the 2 resolutions was immense, as was the framerate unfortunately.

It was also interesting to note that the 8800GTX seems to break away from the "CPU limited" environments that we are used to, I had to drop my PC down to stock speeds recently (2.4GHz) and noticed a large framerate decrease. Now that my overclock is back and stable I can see FPS increases each time I push the CPU harder......something the 1950s didn't do.

[Smokey21]

It will drop in may. The R600 is due out in may.

But not by much, not enough to warrant getting one. Flagship cards rarely drop enough in price.

[teknokid]

idd still go dx10 for future proofness.

[DecomposingStar]

But not by much, not enough to warrant getting one. Flagship cards rarely drop enough in price.

Well, i doubt anyone will buy one, it'll be redundant, and not long after the R600 comes out, the budget R630's etc will hit the shelves for DX10 compatibilty, this will push the price down even more.

[Smokey21]

Well, i doubt anyone will buy one, it'll be redundant, and not long after the R600 comes out, the budget R630's etc will hit the shelves for DX10 compatibilty, this will push the price down even more.

Your not getting it though. Flagship cards, as ive already said 2 times, rarely drop in price a lot, it's not the same as the lower cards.

7800GTX are still sold for nearly 300quid.