evga 7900GTO 512 or Sapphire x1900xt 256

[mrfatboy]

These cards seem to preform similarly depending on which article you read. Obvisouly the 7900gto has the 512 mem. They both are in the best bang for the buck category but I am having a hard time picking because all the info is conflicting.

Why would I get the x1900xt? $15 is no big deal and it's a rebate.

Please help me decide.


7900gto $245
x1900xt $249 or $235 after rebate

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814102051
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130065

 

[Dainas]

oh......thats a hard one. Its really difficult as the the only game that there is an unquestioned advantage(Oblivion) for the ATI card is offset by the fact that its 256mb. Dispite what benchmarks say, benches usualy miss the common situations that cause memory swap and therefor hitching(dense foliage viewed from ground level).

Also the AA/Anis UQ mode in all games is a coin toss between the GTO superior memory and ATI better/more efficient algorithms.

I would go with the GTO by merit of being 512mb only if you CAN get it for $250,... the eVGA one for alittle more as it supposedly has better memory than the vanilla 7900 GTO.

 

[mrfatboy]

What about Fan, Heat, Noise?

Who has the better fan? Does it dump the air in the case or outside?

Which card runs hotter?

Which card has more noise?


These cards are so close and think we will have to pick apart everything to find a winner.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: mrfatboy
What about Fan, Heat, Noise?

Who has the better fan? Does it dump the air in the case or outside?

Which card runs hotter?

Which card has more noise?


These cards are so close and think we will have to pick apart everything to find a winner.

The 7900GTO has the better fan, but it does dump air into your case. It runs cooler and isn't as noisy.

As far as which to pick...whew, you picked a tough question. At the same price, I think I'll give the 7900GTO an ever so slight nod here.

 

[mrfatboy]

Here is the Newegg comparison chart for the two cards. I noticed a couple of differences - Vivo support and Open GL revision. I don't know if these are that important though.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCo...List=N82E16814130065%2CN82E16814102051

 

[mikek753]

at what res. you plan to use it?
if more then 1200 then 512Mb will pay off
if less then x1900XT 256 will be faster
overall x1900XT/256 < 7900GTO < x1900XT/512

again depends on what kind game you like

would be nice to see real life benchies for 7900GTO vs. x1900XT/256, however we can assume that GTO runs as fast as GTX with OC memory - can't we?

 

[Wreckage]

Many people have been succesful in clocking the GTO up to the GTX, so it would be the better choice...even at stock speeds.

 

[mrfatboy]

I am running a 1280 x 1024 LCD. I will be playing BF2 and BF2142.

I do like the idea of the 512 mem for future proofing a little.

Anandtech needs to do a bench on these cards pronto!

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: mrfatboy
I am running a 1280 x 1024 LCD. I will be playing BF2 and BF2142.

I do like the idea of the 512 mem for future proofing a little.

Anandtech needs to do a bench on these cards pronto!

Both cards will eat that game up pretty well. (BF2)

But for BF2141, tis a toss up.

preview of BF2142 peformance

12x10 4xAA 16xAF HQ
7900GTX - 67.4
X1900XT 512 - 61.1

 

[robkas]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster

Originally posted by: mrfatboy
I am running a 1280 x 1024 LCD. I will be playing BF2 and BF2142.

I do like the idea of the 512 mem for future proofing a little.

Anandtech needs to do a bench on these cards pronto!

Both cards will eat that game up pretty well. (BF2)

But for BF2141, tis a toss up.

preview of BF2142 peformance

12x10 4xAA 16xAF HQ
7900GTX - 67.4
X1900XT 512 - 61.1

i wouldn't hold out to beta perfomance (never know what they could do to the finished to product to make it run better/worse)

anyways, i would go with the 7900gto because of noise and heat issues with the x1900xt

 

[Zebo]

I would buy the NV card because I favor NV.. better drivers, definity lower mem profile drivers, less power, less heat, quieter...

They are close, however, even the 256MB x1900xt is faster than GTX so it will be faster than GTO.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7950_gt_preview/page12.asp

Just depends what you're after. Look at the games you like and the benchmarks above and then choose.

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
Many people have been succesful in clocking the GTO up to the GTX, so it would be the better choice...even at stock speeds.

O dear, like the 1900XT does not mod to a 1900XTX which kills the GTO? Sorry but the 1900XT will kill the GTO if both are overclocked.

 

[Zebo]

Oh BTW it's only $239 shipped at cheifvalue and no rebate hassles.

 

[Dainas]

Originally posted by: Zstream

Originally posted by: Wreckage
Many people have been succesful in clocking the GTO up to the GTX, so it would be the better choice...even at stock speeds.

O dear, like the 1900XT does not mod to a 1900XTX which kills the GTO? Sorry but the 1900XT will kill the GTO if both are overclocked.

Not with only 256mb of memory, sure it could match clocks, but substance matters too.

 

[moonboy403]

i currently OWN the x1900 xt 256mb and it's VERY good in all games that i play especially oblivion at 1680x1050 w/ 2aa/16 hq af along with hdr

the extra 256mb is NOT gonna matter much unless you game at resolution higher like 1600x1200 with like 4aa

as for IQ between nvidia and ati, i was truly impressed with ati's in game IQ (it's better than nvidia's period)

noise? the x1900xt is freakin loud (think of blow dryer)

drivers? nvida's driver is much more light on resources and intuitive but ati has ati tray tools which even out the playing field

psu? i can game with an antec 380w with my x1900xt with my amd dual core heavily overclocked just fine

gameplay? i feel like the x1900xt is much smoother than the 7900gtx (maybe because minimum framerates of x1900xt is higher than that of gtx generally?)

I TOTALLY RECOMMMEND BUYING THE X1900XT 256MB OVER THE GTO, HECK, I'D EVEN RECOMMMEND IT OVER 7900GTX NOW THAT I'VE TRIED BOTH

THIS IS COMING FROM A PREVIOUS 7900 GTX SLI USER

 

[n7]

Here's my thread in which i compare an X1900XT (512 MB version though) to a 7900 GTO.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1937749&enterthread=y

I'd kinda lean toward recommending the X1900XT 256 MB, as it will outperform the 7900 GTO pretty easily in most games i think.

However, you do get a very hot running card with a loud cooler (not loud under idle, but under stock)

You gain GDR + AA & slightly better IQ with X1900.
You also gain a bloated driver set with the X1900 that's retardly slow for loading.

There are a lot of pros & cons both ways IMO...

 

[moonboy403]

Originally posted by: n7
Here's my thread in which i compare an X1900XT (512 MB version though) to a 7900 GTO.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1937749&enterthread=y

I'd kinda lean toward recommending the X1900XT 256 MB, as it will outperform the 7900 GTO pretty easily in most games i think.

However, you do get a very hot running card with a loud cooler (not loud under idle, but under stock)

You gain GDR + AA & slightly better IQ with X1900.
You also gain a bloated driver set with the X1900 that's retardly slow for loading.

There are a lot of pros & cons both ways IMO...

QFT....i think using ati tray tools is pretty tolerable though (no need to load up catalyst)

 

[thilanliyan]

Here is a link that has both cards. It's in French but graphs are universal. I can't read the settings they used though. It shows the X1900XT 256 winning most of the time.

 

[moonboy403]

where are our french anandtech members when we need them?!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Zebo
I would buy the NV card because I favor NV.. better drivers, definity lower mem profile drivers, less power, less heat, quieter...

That's why I choose to go back to Nvidia, after going through several X800GTO and X850XT cards.

 

[aiya24]

i just got my sapphire X1900XT 256MB a few days ago. overclocks nicely to 715/801 with a litte bump in memory voltage, core on stock volts. the core will go higher just haven't really pushed her yet. she's watercooled and silent as can be. i mostly play CS:S, DoD2 and CoD2. runs them all like butter.

i highly recommend the X1900XT 256MB.

 

[Zebo]

Nice OC aiya24..if thats representative I change my vote... will simply destory a GTX...

 

[moonboy403]

my 256 x1900xt is running at 725/770 right now!

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: aiya24
i just got my sapphire X1900XT 256MB a few days ago. overclocks nicely to 715/801 with a litte bump in memory voltage, core on stock volts. the core will go higher just haven't really pushed her yet. she's watercooled and silent as can be. i mostly play CS:S, DoD2 and CoD2. runs them all like butter.

i highly recommend the X1900XT 256MB.

How did you raise you RAM voltage? I'm using ATITT .940, but it only lets me change the Vcore. When I raise VRAM, it just goes right back to the stock setting (2.089 or something close).

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Nice OC aiya24..if thats representative I change my vote... will simply destory a GTX...

I think it is fairly representative. I've had 3 different X1900XT (all 512MB models) and they all did 675/1600 or higher with stock volts. The only XT I have left (a Sapphire 512) does 690/1650 with ease. The 256MB parts seem to do just a little better, even.

I don't think there is any question here, X1900XT > 7900GTO.