Where's the bang for buck sweetspot now?

Alistair

Regular
So I'm having to upgrade my whole system, and looking round at graphics cards, I have no idea what's going on. Everything seems to have a different number of Xs after its name, which mean nothing to me at all.

I'm coming from an x800xl and it and its 9600 predecessor both offered the best performance per £ I could find at the time. Can anyone tell me the equivalent card today? I would compromise a little on performance for coolness & quiet, but want a noticable kick in speed...

Cheers.
 
Alistair said:
So I'm having to upgrade my whole system, and looking round at graphics cards, I have no idea what's going on. Everything seems to have a different number of Xs after its name, which mean nothing to me at all.

I'm coming from an x800xl and it and its 9600 predecessor both offered the best performance per £ I could find at the time. Can anyone tell me the equivalent card today? I would compromise a little on performance for coolness & quiet, but want a noticable kick in speed...

I would say a 7900GT or maybe a x1800XT 256MB.
 
Here's your choice: X1800XT with 512 meg or 7900GT. Personally, at around $325.00:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102629

This card cannot be beat. It's a real steal.... However, if you have to have nVidia, the 7900gt is great deal, too. At the same price,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150150

you get 1/2 the memory, no HDR+AA, but the card is much quieter.

Can't afford $325.00? Then consider either the 7600GT or the X1800GTO. the GTO will run you around $230.00...but here's a great deal for $183.00 after a $60.00 rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142067

7600GTs run around $184.00, but here's a decient deal for $170.00 after a $15.00 rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142067

Both cards have same memory, but the same HDR+AA applies, but may not be as much a factor as the GTO may not have the power to use in in anything above 1024x768 rez.
Again, the 7600 is a bit quieter...but not near as much difference at the X1800 vs. the 7900.

But. if you can afford the $325.00....get the X1800XT 512..........
 
Current market options (I'll do this in euros due to not being American):

Obviously beyond3d has a great video card specs overview site. However, for ease of use this page is also quite handy, even though of course the theoreticals don't tell one the whole story:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/geforce-7600-7900/index.x?pg=7

High end = €500. Think 7900GTX or X1900XT. 512MB RAM onboard and usable too. Difference in performance is marginal but ATI has the edge in technology, which NVidia has the edge in ease of cooling.

Great price/performance = €300-350. Think 7900GT or X1800XT 256MB. However, paying a few euros more will get you the X1800XT 512MB. Will the extra RAM make enough difference? Not sure, but I went for one myself.
Note that quite soon the X1900GT/GTO variants are coming, and they are likely to hit this price point and offer similar/more(?) performance than X1800XT. However, we will have to wait and see how quickly they arrive.

Midrange = €200-220. The 7600GT is a great option at less than 200, but as stated elsewhere the X1800GTO and other X1800 variants perform a bit better and are not very much more expensive.

And now a direct comparison with your X800XL : Currently I'd say 7900GT or X1800XT. Similar price, similar performance relative to the ultra-high-end.

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/geforce-7600-7900/index.x?pg=14
 
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If you're in OCing the 7900GT can reach near 7900GTX performance with a simple voltmod, many people have tried it and it works with no problems but you'll have to get a 3rd party heatsink for yr peace of mind.
 
X1800XT 512MB for me is the best at around $300. Last week newegg had them fir $250ish.. that was a steal. Doesnt do you much good being over seas though.

martrox said:
you get 1/2 the memory, no HDR+AA, but the card is much quieter.

This is a common misconception. The GT is pretty loud, guru3d shows it at 50db, the same they show the XT at.
 
as of 5/16/06 you could pick up a X1800XT 256MB for $239 off of newegg

that is a steal imho


what is up emilee :cool:
 
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