POLL: Grab an OEM X1800XT for $299 or a 7900GT for $299?

[mazeroth]

Insane. The poll is a tie at 69/69!

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: mazeroth
Insane. The poll is a tie at 69/69!

kind of goes to show you how close they really are. both very good values, each with it's own advantages. just depends on which advantages are most important for the individual.

 

[Powermoloch]

it's all about the OP's decision now

 

[StrangerGuy]

Keep in mind that the X1800XT probably draws like 2x more power than a 7900GT.

 

[Teetu]

i finally got around to playing with the x1800xt and I'm enjoying it- it's a bigger improvement over my x800xl than I thought. COD2 runs like so smooth and I can't get enough of it. A lot of reviews say the game is ok to play at 30FPS, which is true, but it's honestly so much better at 60. My case temps dropped as well.

The difference between this and a 7900GT is so small it's not worth the effort for me to send this back to compusa. People should just get the one they can get for cheaper

 

[mazeroth]

Well, I did make up my mind. I splurged for an X1900XT!

Thanks for all who took part in the survey. I guess it's still a useful tool for anyone else that was in the same boat as I was.

 

[moonboy403]

lol....how'd a x1800 xt / 7900 gt jumped to a x1900 xt?

hahah...congrats anyway!

 

[bjc112]

Can't go wrong with either!

 

[LW07]

Originally posted by: mazeroth
Well, I did make up my mind. I splurged for an X1900XT!

Thanks for all who took part in the survey. I guess it's still a useful tool for anyone else that was in the same boat as I was.

:thumbsup:

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: CaiNaM

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Yeah I know they weren't using 7900 series cards. But I still doubt they'll be able to make up the disadvantage Nvidia has in high AA modes. Look at the firingsquad review, at max AA modes (16AA nvidia and 14AA ati), Nvidia loses every benchmark. I doubt the image quality is much different but the speed increase for ATI is there.

why would you doubt the IQ wouldn't be different? do you have any thing to base this on, or just making stuff up so ati looks better? it's also hypocritical; on one hand, nvidia is slammed for having inferior af modes, yet on the other, ati's applauded for having inferior aa modes because it's faster.

as i stated in another thread, this stuff is meaningless as you don't put this into any sort of relevance. ati's 14x "super aa" is not 14xaa; and it doesn't symmetrically correspond to nvidia's 16x "sli aa".

it is 12x msaa (edge aliasing) complimented by 2x ssaa (full screen aa)

nvidia's 16x otoh is 16xmsaa with 4x ssaa, so of course it's going to be slower as it's doing a lot more calculations than ati's parts.

furthermore, there's nothing whatsoever showing that at the high resolutions you speak of, the aa modes you tout have any noticeable impact on image quality.

the real advantage of these modes would seem to apply in those apps which are cpu limited, such as flight sims - apps in which ati is already at a disadvantage to nvidia.

in effect, your claims that ati's 14x "super aa" adds any advantage is nothing more than using "marketingese" to put ati in a better light. with the information available, whether it actually adds any realworld advantage is at best, arugable.

True, the AA modes are not comparable on a exact basis. But the closest match is NV's 8x SLI AA vs. Ati's 10x SuperAA. Both do 2x SSAA combined with MSAA, and NV loses in that scenario also. In fact, because Ati uses programmable sampling patterns, it can offer better IQ at the same AA level. But anyway, the results on this page paint a clear picture of what happens at high AA levels:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/605-...0-xt-and-x1900-crossfire-in-tests.html

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: munky
True, the AA modes are not comparable on a exact basis. But the closest match is NV's 8x SLI AA vs. Ati's 10x SuperAA. Both do 2x SSAA combined with MSAA, and NV loses in that scenario also. In fact, because Ati uses programmable sampling patterns, it can offer better IQ at the same AA level. But anyway, the results on this page paint a clear picture of what happens at high AA levels:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/605-...0-xt-and-x1900-crossfire-in-tests.html

i'd agree those modes are more relevant and an "apples to apples" comparison.

imo ati does have the performance edge in higher aa modes, but until they make it more streamlined - get rid of the "master card" requirement, dongles, etc. and we see some crossfire boards that are solid and without missing features, dual gfx are still heavily in nvidia's favor.

i mean, even if i was willing to give up some features and go with a crossfire motherboard, i would have to buy a $500+ "master card" to pair it with my $300 x1800xt. i mean, how much sense does that make?

if i was set on dual gfx, i would not have purchased the xt, but i prefer a single fast card for heat, power consumption, noise, etc.

in fact, if i decide later to go dual gfx, i'd likely sell the xt an purchase 2 gt's as it would save me $300 in gfx cards and more, as i already have an sli capable board.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: CaiNaM

Originally posted by: munky
True, the AA modes are not comparable on a exact basis. But the closest match is NV's 8x SLI AA vs. Ati's 10x SuperAA. Both do 2x SSAA combined with MSAA, and NV loses in that scenario also. In fact, because Ati uses programmable sampling patterns, it can offer better IQ at the same AA level. But anyway, the results on this page paint a clear picture of what happens at high AA levels:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/605-...0-xt-and-x1900-crossfire-in-tests.html

i'd agree those modes are more relevant and an "apples to apples" comparison.

imo ati does have the performance edge in higher aa modes, but until they make it more streamlined - get rid of the "master card" requirement, dongles, etc. and we see some crossfire boards that are solid and without missing features, dual gfx are still heavily in nvidia's favor.

i mean, even if i was willing to give up some features and go with a crossfire motherboard, i would have to buy a $500+ "master card" to pair it with my $300 x1800xt. i mean, how much sense does that make?

if i was set on dual gfx, i would not have purchased the xt, but i prefer a single fast card for heat, power consumption, noise, etc.

in fact, if i decide later to go dual gfx, i'd likely sell the xt an purchase 2 gt's as it would save me $300 in gfx cards and more, as i already have an sli capable board.

The ironic part is that the master card is the very reason why Ati takes less of a performance penaly in higher AA modes. The master card compositing engine has the hardware to blend AA samples from both cards. Nv does not have it, and hence the heavy hit. The only other options are either including the compositing hardware on every card or do it the Nv way w/o special hardware.

 

[v8envy]

One last thing. If Linux is a factor for you, remember that ATI's Linux drivers are ass incarnate, and the X1000 series cards are not yet supported.

But even with that little tidbit, whichever one is cheaper is #1 in my book. Identical prices and I give the nod to the X1800.

 

[CaiNaM]

i have a half dozen linux servers (where my old geforce cards are reborn, lol)... and while i enjoy playing around with 'nix, it's still pretty much irrelevant when it comes to gaming.

 

[xnguyenx]

Originally posted by: mazeroth
Should I go with the OEM X1800XT with 256megs from Newegg for $299 or one of the 7900GTs for $299? I currently have a 3 week old 7800GT and don't mind paying the difference.

Thanks!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102007

Get 7900GT and do SLI down the road.

SLI > Crossfire me think. This only work if you have 24inch plus monitor. .

 

[BrokenVisage]

Damn, 84 to 84.. this poll was really conclusive.

 

[namityadav]

So here I tilt it towards 7900 then

 

[compgeek89]

7900 GT >>>>>>>>>>> x1800 XT

 

[erikistired]

dang. where were you people a few days ago when i ordered my 7900 gt? bah. actually. the only x1800xt i see on newegg is 499. that's 200 bucks more. nevermind.

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
i have a half dozen linux servers (where my old geforce cards are reborn, lol)... and while i enjoy playing around with 'nix, it's still pretty much irrelevant when it comes to gaming.

Even if you don't play windows games on linux like I do, there is still Xgl and Composite extensions to do vista-like eye candy on the linux desktop. Xgl relies on having a non-broken opengl hardware driver. And there's always java3d as well.

While this doesn't require the latest hottest gaming card, it's nice to have a dual boot box that doesn't blow greasy chunks in one OS because ATI views the Linux market as only deserving an intern or two poking at ancient, obsolete drivers with a sharp stick.

BTW, switching from XP to Linux gave my previous gaming box an extra 2-3 month lease on life. Only had 512 megs in the poor thing, so not having XP bloating in the background let me run some games smoothly where on XP they chunked along every few seconds.

But the big, giant plus is I'm immune to Starforce and other viral/spyware infections. There are positives and drawbacks to each OS as your primary gaming platform, IMO. I just don't think it's possible to pull off Linux+windows games feat using ATI cards at the moment.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: fisher
dang. where were you people a few days ago when i ordered my 7900 gt? bah. actually. the only x1800xt i see on newegg is 499. that's 200 bucks more. nevermind.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102007

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker

Originally posted by: fisher
dang. where were you people a few days ago when i ordered my 7900 gt? bah. actually. the only x1800xt i see on newegg is 499. that's 200 bucks more. nevermind.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102007

nice. i guess the guided search is not the way to go.

 

[TheSuper]

I would say go with the x1800xt if you want better image quality I just switched from a x1800xt to a 7900gt and the Af texture shimmering is still a problem on the geforce products even when you change from quality to high quality , I put the x1800xt in my daughters computer and play them side by side in the same games and the ati card is far better image way less flicker and no texture crawling and I was running the 7900gt at 8xs Transparancy supersaming AA and 16x AF (no card running 8xAA and 16x AF should have this texture crawling at all atleast I would think )the ati card at 6x AA and 16x High quality AF and there is no comperison to me atleast and everyone I show says same thing. I will prob sell this 7900gt and buy another x1800xt.

 

[RussianSensation]

For those still considering X1800XT vs. 7900GT, the price of X1800XT came down even more to $289 / $339 (256mb/512mb) versions

If no overclocking is taken into account, X1800XT wins hands down. With overclocking, 7900GT is the way to go.

 

[Tom]

Ha Ha, I hoped this poll would help me decide about buying an x1800xt or not, but it's a tie !!