Planing to upgrade from Sapphire X800 GTO2

[Inquisitive_Idiot]

As the title says, I am planing to upgrade from my Sapphire X800 GTO2, and while I have a few candidates to take its place I am unsure which one would be best for my current setup. I am looking for something in the mid range section (approx. $250 - ~$300 CAD) and so far I have stumbled across the Sapphire X1900 GT 256MB $249, Sapphire X1900 PRO 512MB $289, Asus 7900 GS TOP 256MB $259 and the Sapphire X1900 XT 256MB $309. I know the X1900 XT has the best performance of the four and is the one I am currently considering to replace my X800 GTO2, however with the eventual release of mid range DX10 cards I am uncertain the $300+ investment will have a good return. I would hope that any one of these cards would last at least around a year with most visuals at medium / high at 1280x768 and some AA / AF levels. My current monitor does not allow for the higher resolutions the X1900 XT affords, thus gaming at 1600x1200+ is not a concern for me and I only wish to have a card that plays most games at a decent framrate (45-60 FPS) with most visual effects enabled. I am also curious about Crysis, and the chance that any one of these cards would be able to play the game with acceptable performance.

Here are the specifications for current setup:

Windows Vista Home Premium
AMD Athlon 64X2 4200+ (s939)
1GB DDR 400 (considering upgrading to 2GB)
Sapphire X800 GTO2

 

[Arty]

In order of recommendation:
X1900GT - $209
X1950XT - $309
7950GT - $279

Then there's always the statutory advice, waiting a month might just be a better idea.

 

[swaaye]

Honestly I wouldn't bother with anything below an 8800GTS. I have a GTO2 myself (for over a year now) and am waiting to see what R600 does.

 

[Inquisitive_Idiot]

Honestly I wouldn't bother with anything below an 8800GTS. I have a GTO2 myself (for over a year now) and am waiting to see what R600 does.

Yeah, I can just picture myself going ahead with the X1900 XT and then three weeks later reading about a new mid range available from nVIDIA / AMD with DX10 support and superior performance for around the same price. Most of the 8800 GTS's I priced were around the ~$520+ mark (BFG's was $519), making them uneconomical for someone with a part time job on minimum wage who does not want to blow all of their money on computer hardware. The only question I have remaining would be how much of a performance increase would I see between an X1900 XT and my X800 GTO2 with my current set up. The GTO2 came factory unlocked to 16 pipes but has trouble reaching X850 XT speeds, usually hovering stable around ~480 / 520.

On a side note, I found someone selling a four month old X1900 XT 512MB for $280 o.b.o. Of the cards I have priced, the X1900 XT offers the best performance and even with the prospect of new DX10 mid range cards I imagine it would be hard to find one that would offer similar performance without being $30-$50 more.

 

[swaaye]

Yeah, I can just picture myself going ahead with the X1900 XT and then three weeks later reading about a new mid range available from nVIDIA / AMD with DX10 support and superior performance for around the same price. Most of the 8800 GTS's I priced were around the ~$520+ mark (BFG's was $519), making them uneconomical for someone with a part time job on minimum wage who does not want to blow all of their money on computer hardware. The only question I have remaining would be how much of a performance increase would I see between an X1900 XT and my X800 GTO2 with my current set up. The GTO2 came factory unlocked to 16 pipes but has trouble reaching X850 XT speeds, usually hovering stable around ~480 / 520.

On a side note, I found someone selling a four month old X1900 XT 512MB for $280 o.b.o. Of the cards I have priced, the X1900 XT offers the best performance and even with the prospect of new DX10 mid range cards I imagine it would be hard to find one that would offer similar performance without being $30-$50 more.

X1900XT 256MB is a steal if you can find one. Or 7900GTO (super steal). In the US, the 8800GTS is more like $330 or so. Crazy Canadian prices! An X1900 XT 512 for $280 sounds like an ok price.

My GTO2 also came unlocked and runs fine at 515/630. So it's pretty darned decent, especially that RAM clock! If I wasn't trying to push 1920x1200 with it, I'd be quite content with the card. I actually can run Oblivion at 1920x1200 fairly acceptably. Weird thing about this GTO2 is that ATITool sees it as R430 and most progs call it X800XL, but I looked at the GPU and it says R480 right on it. Heh. It's a dual DVI Sapphire GTO2.

 

[Berek]

Unfortunately the 7900GTO is pretty much non-existent now, otherwise I'd say go for it as well. I bought the card and can't be more pleased with it. It seems to have disappeared off most shelves now. It doesn't have the shader performance of the x1900 class cards, but it doesn't seem to matter much in most applications. I bought mine for $249 and it was a 512MB part (the GTOs are true 7900GTXs).

For the same price point you could go for the x1900xt which has even more shader power, the only catch is for the mid-200 dollar range you're looking at only 256MB of memory. That is also disappearing, however. The x1950xt is more up-to-date and a Sapphire card can be had right now on Newegg for less than $290 for a 512MB version. At that price-point its far better than the 7900GTO, x1900xt, or 7900GS especially.

The only other exception I'd say would be the 8800GTS, but that's is going to cost you another $100, as they're selling for about $380(about $360 w/rebates) average. It does support DX10 and the performance is certainly enough in many cases to take note of, especially when the advanced features of the card are being used. If you don't intend to purchase a video card for awhile the 8800GTS might be your best consideration if you're willing to hit that price point.

If you are willing to wait, although waiting can be a forever process, I'd head the other posters advice on their mid-range DX10 predictions. For now though:

For the $200-300 range I'd recommend the Sapphire:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102082

For the $300-400 range I'd recommend the 8800GTS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127225

 

[Skrying]

X1900XT 256MB is a steal if you can find one. Or 7900GTO (super steal). In the US, the 8800GTS is more like $330 or so. Crazy Canadian prices! An X1900 XT 512 for $280 sounds like an ok price.

Where are you finding 8800GTSs for $330? Where!?

 

[BRiT]

Newegg has a MSI 8800GTS for $345 after rebate, Leadtek for $355 AR, and EVGA for $359 AR right now. I've seen them sometimes dip down to around $330 as well. Right now on Froogle, one place/person is selling up to 4 of them for $330.

 

[Skrying]

Newegg has a MSI 8800GTS for $345 after rebate, Leadtek for $355 AR, and EVGA for $359 AR right now. I've seen them sometimes dip down to around $330 as well. Right now on Froogle, one place/person is selling up to 4 of them for $330.

Ahh, I do not count rebates and only shop at a very limited places online. I've been ripped off by rebates before, and know those who have by no name places online.

 

[Berek]

For $330 or less I'd consider them too, if it wasn't for it would be a waste for me in my situation. If you can find it for that price, that would be the one to pick IMO.

 

[swaaye]

Ahh, I do not count rebates and only shop at a very limited places online. I've been ripped off by rebates before, and know those who have by no name places online.

I've gotten Newegg rebates on many occasions. Just make damn sure you follow the instructions.

Personally, I like rebates. I used to be able to go to Best Buy and pick up a $30 80 gig or a $50 160 gig. Now, with their new "no rebates" thing, those same drives end up costing more than 2 years ago. I don't think I ever got taken on a BB rebate.

As for Inquisitive_Idiot, let us know what you do. Considering the prices up there, that X1900XT 512 is probably the way to go. X1900XT 256 is a decent option too as it's not really slower and is faster than X1950 Pro. It is/was very cheap in the States.

 

[Inquisitive_Idiot]

As for Inquisitive_Idiot, let us know what you do. Considering the prices up there, that X1900XT 512 is probably the way to go. X1900XT 256 is a decent option too as it's not really slower and is faster than X1950 Pro. It is/was very cheap in the States.

Just an update: NCIX, a Canadian e-tailer, has just announced their 8800GTS 320MiB lineup with the prices ranging from $379 to $439. Wow... the XFX card has an instant rebate that brings it to $329 and includes Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, COD2 and a G80 mouse pad. Right now I am thinking my decision is pretty clear, go for the 8800GTS 320MiB for DX10 features and improved performance over the X1900 XT 512MB.

What do you guys think?

 

[BRiT]

Spend the little bit of extra money for a 640Meg 8800 GTS.

 

[Inquisitive_Idiot]

Spend the little bit of extra money for a 640Meg 8800 GTS.

Little? The average Canadian price for the 8800GTS 640MiB is ~$510+, while the 8800GTS 320MiB is priced around ~$380+ (The XFX 8800GTS 320MiB I talked about earlier was only $320 with rebates, some X1900 XTs / 7950GTs are selling for more than that). Considering I do not care about what I would consider high resolution gaming (1600 x 1200 and above) and the fact that the 8800GTS 320MiB offers similar performance to the 8800GTS 640MiB in most games around 1024 x 768 / 1280 x 1024 I really do not think I am going to see the benefits of the extra memory.

 

[BRiT]

Yikes. In the US, the price difference is $30-$40 between the 320 and 640 models.