X1950 Pro AGP is coming!

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Paratus
Congrats Apoppin!


How's your PSU holding up?

thank-you and ... fine

it is a 480w Thermaltake ... a lot better than generic, but still 'weak' on the 12v rail [18a] ... i originally bought it 2-1/2 years ago for a 6800u

no instabilities with my CPU o/c'd ... i am not gonna o/c my x1950p till i decide i am gonna keep it or go for the 512 MB version

but a definite upgrade over my x850xt ... especially if you love the eyecandy ... oblivion is a much better looking game with HDR than with bloom.

and Gothic3 DOES play better ... not smoothly
[damn that game is FUN ... i like it MUCH better than Oblivion]

 

[Paratus]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Paratus
Congrats Apoppin!


How's your PSU holding up?

thank-you and ... fine

it is a 480w Thermaltake ... a lot better than generic, but still 'weak' on the 12v rail [18a] ... i originally bought it 2-1/2 years ago for a 6800u

no instabilities with my CPU o/c'd ... i am not gonna o/c my x1950p till i decide i am gonna keep it or go for the 512 MB version

but a definite upgrade over my x850xt ... especially if you love the eyecandy ... oblivion is a much better looking game with HDR than with bloom.

and Gothic3 DOES play better ... not smoothly
[damn that game is FUN ... i like it MUCH better than Oblivion]

Well thats good news. My coolmax 400W has 18A on the 12V rail as well.

I'm holding off until Christmas or early January (my birthday) to see if anyone in my family picks this up for me, (I've made it fairly well known this is what I want). Else I'm buying the best AGP model in January.

Besides if the wife can come home with $200 worth of clothes because they were "on sale"
I can "accidently" buy a $200 graphics card.

BTW Zipzoomfly now has a page for the 512Mb Sapphire version here for $249

It's not in stock for the moment however.

 

[apoppin]

you should know there is a BIG 'difference' between your wife's buying clothes and your buying a videocard.
:Q



GOOD luck!

it's a very nice upgrade for $250 and it looks like there will be 'competition' ... so waiting might be good
[if you can 'handle' it ...
... i just couldn't wait any longer]

 

[Canterwood]

Still not released in the UK yet.

Looks like its still a decent upgrade though even for those with 6800 or X800 range of cards.

512mb version sounds good too .

Anyone tried the card playing FEAR yet?

 

[wizzard0003]

Originally posted by: Paratus

BTW Zipzoomfly now has a page for the 512Mb Sapphire version here for $249

It's not in stock for the moment however.

Don't know if this is a typo but, the spec's on ZZF say's it only has 8 Pixel Pipelines...?

I believe the 256MB claims 12...

(Or am I wrong...?)

\\//_

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: wizzard0003

Originally posted by: Paratus

BTW Zipzoomfly now has a page for the 512Mb Sapphire version here for $249

It's not in stock for the moment however.

Don't know if this is a typo but, the spec's on ZZF say's it only has 8 Pixel Pipelines...?

I believe the 256MB claims 12...

(Or am I wrong...?)

\\//_

8 vertex pipelines.

 

[Eomer of Aldburg]

I need help because I really want to buy a pci-express version of my socket 754 and buy a mainstream dx10 card so while I use that I can slowly upgrade to a conroe system. Buying a AGP X1950 Pro seems almost worthless in the long run as I can't put that in a future conroe system as its AGP and not to mention its slower and not dx10. I could also get a PCI-express motherboard and a X1950 pro for Pci-express too. What do you guys think I should do? I'll have around 350$ by late december and I'm not sure whats the best choice to make.

 

[postmortemIA]

by the time mainstream DX10 cards come out, they'll be too slow for DX10 games (first generation always is - try to play something in DX9 with Radeon 9500)

If you want to play something badly in next 6 mos, I would say wait 1-2wks till 1950pro's appear at online retailers, it will be less than $250, most likely lil bit over $200.

Then, when 1950pro starts to age, make big overhaul to pci-e

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Canterwood
Still not released in the UK yet.

Looks like its still a decent upgrade though even for those with 6800 or X800 range of cards.

512mb version sounds good too .

Anyone tried the card playing FEAR yet?

yes ... it really doesn't look any different over my x850xt ... just more 'effects' and runs about the same [fair to good]

OTOH, Oblivion looks [& runs] worlds better ... Big Difference! Night & Day!!

G3 plays better [looks better] ... medium difference over my x850xt

 

[zcubed]

still no proper reviews online eh? cant seem to find any news on it really.

edit: found a site with 2 release information:

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=4615
apparently sapphire is releasing the 512 version in the second week of dec.

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=4613
Gecube version of 256 version. released dec. 1. no idea why none have hit newegg yet.

 

[deadken]

Best Buy has them, but at $299, I think I will just hold off.

I am running a X1900 XTX PCI-e in my rig, but since I still have 3 AGP rigs running in my house, a new AGP card always gets my attention.

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: zcubed
still no proper reviews online eh? cant seem to find any news on it really.

edit: found a site with 2 release information:

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=4615
apparently sapphire is releasing the 512 version in the second week of dec.

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=4613
Gecube version of 256 version. released dec. 1. no idea why none have hit newegg yet.

I think this is hoax:

As the PCI-Express model the X1950 Pro AGP sports 36 shader units and 8 pixel pipelines, not 12 for some reason.

I swear I saw 12pp by the RivaTuner (can't check anymore, returned)

 

[zcubed]

8 is still pretty decent. how many does the 7800gs have?
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=471&card2=382
according to this page (very clean cut comparision) the x1950 rocks the 7800gs in everything but 'texture units'. the 7800gs only has 6 pipelines versus the 12 of the x1950 according to the site. i believe that the author of the previous article i posted is also confused as to why sapphire has said it will be 8 pipelines. guess we will just have to wait and see.

 

[Paratus]

Its 8 Vertex shaders - they're just confused.

+ I don't think you could disable 4 tmus & ROPS but leave the 12 PS.

posted via Palm Life Drive

 

[sumrtym]

All the cards I've seen are 8 pipelines, 36 shaders. The max on a PCI version is 12 and 48.

Good upgrade none the less.

I'll probably do this start of next year for my 3.2 GHz P4 with 2 GB RAM and 430W Antec Truepower supply. I'm probably pushing it on the PSU though since I have 4 HDD's in there. If I get this to replace my AIW 9800, I'll be looking at a 650 tuner card from ATI, and then if I get a good price, a Auzentech Meridian to replace my Santa Cruz. Then the tuner and soundcard could be rolled into a new system LATE next year / year after.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: sumrtym
All the cards I've seen are 8 pipelines, 36 shaders. The max on a PCI version is 12 and 48.

Good upgrade none the less.

I'll probably do this start of next year for my 3.2 GHz P4 with 2 GB RAM and 430W Antec Truepower supply. I'm probably pushing it on the PSU though since I have 4 HDD's in there. If I get this to replace my AIW 9800, I'll be looking at a 650 tuner card from ATI, and then if I get a good price, a Auzentech Meridian to replace my Santa Cruz. Then the tuner and soundcard could be rolled into a new system LATE next year / year after.

Well hey, which is it? If the AGP version is MISSING features .. should they even be allowed to call it an X1950 Pro? Just a thought.

 

[zcubed]

well we will just have to wait and see wont we? im going to wait for some decent credible reviews and a few weeks for supply to increase and price to go down. u know its not going to be cheap during the holiday season.

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: sumrtym
All the cards I've seen are 8 pipelines, 36 shaders. The max on a PCI version is 12 and 48.

Good upgrade none the less.

I'll probably do this start of next year for my 3.2 GHz P4 with 2 GB RAM and 430W Antec Truepower supply. I'm probably pushing it on the PSU though since I have 4 HDD's in there. If I get this to replace my AIW 9800, I'll be looking at a 650 tuner card from ATI, and then if I get a good price, a Auzentech Meridian to replace my Santa Cruz. Then the tuner and soundcard could be rolled into a new system LATE next year / year after.

Well hey, which is it? If the AGP version is MISSING features .. should they even be allowed to call it an X1950 Pro? Just a thought.

Can somebody with the X1950 AGP card confirm this with RivaTuner?

 

[wizzard0003]

From what I've been told on another forum, nVidia and ATI Pixel Pipelines are different , in that, nVidia only has ONE Shader per Pixel Pipeline where ATI has THREE per Pixel Pipeline. Using this formula the ATI has 36 Shaders devided by 3 = 12 Pipelines...

I will need to research this myself but, it makes sense and since the PCI-E version has 12 Pipelines, and from what I've read EVERYWHERE, the AGP versions will be "Exactly" the same cards with just an AGP Bridge added for compatability with AGP systems...

Just to give an idea of what this card is like, here is a review of the 512MB PowerColor PCI-E version that will give an Idea of what we can expect from this card...

REVIEW

One thing is certain (in my eyes anyway), if there are any limits running this
card in AGP, it will be the system it's installed on holding it back... NOT the
Graphics Gard...

Whatever your particular AGP SYSTEM can handle, this card will give you...

JMHO...

\\//_

 

[Snakexor]

the agp version is the same as the pci-e version just with a rilatto (sp) bridge on the back. i have the visiontek agp card .

 

[Ephemeral]

I just upgraded my Clawhammer machine with the Visiontek card. I am very impressed with the performance over the 7800 GS that was in it previously. It effectively doubled the frame-rate, especially considering the minimums are now much higher...and this is with 4xAA and 16XHQAF (In some cases even with the addition of bloom, previously a card killer for the 7800 :shocked: ), instead of being limited to 2xAA and 8xAF. This card really is a great addition to the AGP market, a smart move on ATI's part.

I used the winclk utility to set the card to 600/1400, and I'm sure it can go higher...but without a temperature reading I don't want to risk it. I wish ATITool was compatible with this card, hopefully there will be an update soon.

DMoMM runs very well with this card, I am finally able to use the high texture setting and bloom without it going to crap.

I was hoping for more out of Oblivion but 4xAA and bloom still kills the outside framerate with grass on. Its playable, but it sure is annoying to go from silky smooth inside environments to chugging along outside .

The only real benchmark I've run so far is the CS:S stress test. In game settings maxed, 4xAA 16xHQAF @ 1280x1024 - 125fps. I remember the 7800GS at similar settings being in the 60-70fps range, so a very respectable upgrade.

Has anyone tried the Catalyst 6.12's out with this card yet? The download size is huge, have they added something significant to the drivers/control center?

 

[VinnieColaiuta]

I picked this card up on Friday, and I guess I haven't yet applied the proper driver support/tweaking, 'cause it's just not running the way I thought it would. My 3dm05 score was only 6167, and I know that's very low. I know my cpu is most definitely a bottleneck, but I don't think it should be this bad. I installed the 6.11 drivers, but have done no tweaking in ATITT. I wonder if I should try and see how the drivers are that came with the card. For those of you wondering, as far as noise, it's much better than the X5900XT from which I came. When trying to run FSAA in CoH (City), I literally got 1 frame every two seconds at 16x12 res. At the suggestion of others, I'll try Driver Cleaner again and reinstall the drivers on the disc to see if it helps. Is anyone using this card with a P4?

 

[sumrtym]

Well, Sapphire states in the specs of their card 36 shaders, 8 pipelines.

Powercooler states the same regarding their X1950 Pro AGP models.

Visiontek doesn't state their specs for those 2 on the website, but given the other cards on the market, I'd find it hard to believe that they are any different. The fact 2 companies are stating the 8 pipes figure leads me to believe that it's a fact, not a typo.

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: sumrtym
Well, Sapphire states in the specs of their card 36 shaders, 8 pipelines.

Powercooler states the same regarding their X1950 Pro AGP models.

Visiontek doesn't state their specs for those 2 on the website, but given the other cards on the market, I'd find it hard to believe that they are any different. The fact 2 companies are stating the 8 pipes figure leads me to believe that it's a fact, not a typo.

Sapphire states that PCI-e version has 12 pixel pipelines

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/pressfiles/53_reg1.doc

 

[Auric]

Sapphire's product pages list "36 pixel shader processors and 8 vertex shader processors" for both PCIe and AGP models. The PCIe XT and XTX suffixed variants sport "Up to 48 pixel shader processors and 8 vertex shader processors". AMD likewise states nothing other than 8 vertex shader processors. So 12 must be an err. Who knows maybe there are 12 in hardware but only 8 are activated. Or something.