Don't mean to crosspost...

Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
30
...but I didn't get any meaningful responses to my thread in General Hardware even after bumping it. I'll just distill the video card related parts here and hope for a better response.

Basically, I'm upgrading with Oblivion in mind, and also hoping to try FEAR, and get better performance out of BF2 / Source engine stuff. My current system is a Barton 2500+ and 9600 Pro, and what I'm looking at getting is a BFG 7900GT, an X2 3800+ and an A8N-SLI Premium to put them in. Chime in if this trio is mismatched at all.

I've seen people saying the X1800XT is faster, and then people refuting that with "but that's the 512," ad infinitum. However, I've also heard it's considerably hotter/louder, and personally, I am NOT a fan of the .NET CCC bloatedness they've ceased providing an alternative to.

I was also curious about the speed binning practiced by XFX and eVGA, and wondering if picking up a lower tier 7900GT from one of those manufacturers is a death sentence for hopes of a good OC, rather than a roll of the dice.

Extra credit:

I have 2x512MB sticks of Corsair XMS 3200, they are unmatched (subtly different SPDs) and don't seem to like the idea of running in dual channel in my current machine. I'm not sure if, upon upgrading the rest of my machine (A8N-SLI, X2 3800), I should add more alongside it, or just replace it entirely. Please explain in exty words or less...
 
I think the x1800 would be good.

As for CCC, well, I am running cat 6.3 with control panel on my X1900XTX, so you can get away without the CCC as of now.
 
Well I got an 7900GT XFX extreme clocked at 520/1500, it runs everything fine at that speed (meaning 3dMark03,05,06, Counter-Strike:Source) but in Oblivion I have to bump down the memory to 1490 (or it flickers), 10mhz doesn't really affect performance but it was anyoing to have to do. (although my core overclocks just fine)
 
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