Future proofing vs. price savings.

[Skipper007]

I need to recommend a video card for a friend's new system. The two best deals I've seen locally are a EVGA 7900GT ($330 Canadian) and a Sapphire X1900XT (about $550). Given that he only has a 17inch CRT, I doubt there will be a difference between the two in most games. The exception appears to be Oblivion... in Firing Squad's Foilage HDR test at 1024X768, the X1900 got 36FPS compared to 24 for the GT.

Now, $220 Canadian is a lot for performance in one game, but I'm thinking the boost in Oblivion may be an indication of how future titles may run, such as UT2007 and Crysis.

On the flip side, it's $220 he could spend on upgrades in two years or so (I'd imagine he'll be keeping this rig for at least three years, since his last machine is a 1GHZ Athlon!). Combined with the fact that he actually has a few hundred that he planned to spend but that are required for the spec I'm recommending, and he could come out way ahead in a couple years time.

Anyone want to weigh in on this one?

As a side note, I know the X1800XT also did great in Oblivion, but it's almost impossible to find in Canada at the sort of discount prices you can find on US sites.

 

[quadnad]

Out of the two of those, and judging by what the price difference is and by the screen size, I'd go for the 7900GT. Put the money elsewhere in the system.

 

[Trimlock]

indicating future performance is extremely hard, the features of these cards needs to be supported in future titles and hopefully taken full advantage of to really see if they are good for future titles or not

if you can find the X1800XT i'd say go for that, with a limited budget the 7900GT and the X1800XT's are really good for their price, either or will work great, and will also play UT2k7, especially at that resolution (hopefully). Saving the 220 for the future possible upgrade is alot better then buying the best now and trying to again in a year or so (not to mention if he only plays at 1024x768 the X1900XT is kinda wasted...)

 

[Child of Wonder]

With the eVGA 7900GT you could step up within 90 days, too.

With a simple volt mod and good after market cooling the 7900GTs will overclock so great that I'd have to recommend them.

Once mine is RMAed and works good for at least a month, I might even get a second one.