GPU to power 1920X1200?

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Sifu

Weaksauce
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Jan 18, 2006
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The GPU is the only thing I have yet to settle on for my new system, which will include a DFI Ultra-D mobo, and Opt 165, and 2 Gb of OCZ Plat.

I want to be able to play Oblivion with all the bells and whistles at native res (1920X1200) on my 2405.

Suggestions? I'm looking at eVGA's 7800GTX/256 and the new x1900xt. But I'd love to go with a vanilla GT if that would do the job. Not many reviews include WS benches, so it's hard to tell.
 
I game on my 24'' CRT at 1600x100, Although 19200x1200 is possible, it seems to lag a lil when I turn all that eye candy on. I would go for the GTX.
 
A regular GTX will not handle the 1920 x 1200 with all the eye candy. A GTX512 would be close, but I still don't think the frame rate would be satisfactory. I am Nvidia man, but I would recommend the x1900xt if you must order right now. Otherwise, wait until the G71 comes out in a few months, and see how that competes. Or you could grab a couple of GT's and get a little SLI action going.
 
I'm personally going to SLI 7800GT's since it's a pretty cheap alternative. Planning on modding my Ultra-D soon.
 
My vote would be for Crossfire X1900XTs. That should be able to power you through Oblivion with max settings.
 
Bona Fide said:
My vote would be for Crossfire X1900XTs. That should be able to power you through Oblivion with max settings.
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I'd like to see a X1900XT master card for sale before recommending one. :p

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Sifu: if you have to buy something right now, the X1900XT (or XTX) is the better choice out of the two you listed.
 
pxc said:
I'd like to see a X1900XT master card for sale before recommending one. :p

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Sifu: if you have to buy something right now, the X1900XT (or XTX) is the better choice out of the two you listed.
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What I meant was buy an X1900XT right now and then get the X1900 master card when it comes out :)
 
Borgschulze said:
Yey, more people seem to realize ATi has got some damn good performance out there.
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Just wish their drivers were worth a crap.... I run a 7800gt at 1920x1200 and I run most games at high settings at that res, games like fear and cod2 I have to lower the res to keep the frames about 30. bf2 at 1920x1200 runs 50 to 90fps with everything maxed and aa to 2x.
I will be adding a 2nd 7800gt to the mix sometime in the future.
 
With current technology, you'd need 512 SLI or X1900XT CrosFire at that resolution, with 4aa and max detail, to play any game you want smoothly, at least with current games.

If you're going to buy now and don't have a preference as to ATI or nVidia, I'd wait and see how CrossFire is working out and the motherboards.

Looks like X1900 is indeed the fastest out there now, would be tempted myself, but doesn't look like its enough over 512 GTX to warrent an upgrade six weeks later and a new motherboard.
 
RabidRodents said:
I game on my 24'' CRT at 1600x100, Although 19200x1200 is possible, it seems to lag a lil when I turn all that eye candy on. I would go for the GTX.
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Fw900? Why not run 1600*1024? Or add in custom 1680*1050? Shit, no hard up native res is one of the big reasons these monitors are the bees knees!!! 1920*1200 at 98Hz helps too. :D

That actually brings me on topic, 1920*1200 is total hardcore on any single card setup in certain games. Maybe even these next cards. Glad I have flexibility with res. GT SLI (low as $270 *2) or x1900 will probably be doable for a little while. 1920*1200 is a bitch.

Moral of the story: For your goals, the best you can afford.
 
texuspete00 said:
Moral of the story: For your goals, the best you can afford.
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Exactly. Figuring out what that is is the hard part. I use my system as a home theater setup too, so if I go NV I'm going to have to pay extra for their decoder.

So what's the deal with ATI drivers vis-a-vis NV drivers? Is there a general consensus about which provides superior driver support, or is that a contentious question?

Right now, I'm using a 9700 Pro AIW which has served me well for years - however, ATI's latest CCC is all fricked up on my screen. It doesn't display correctly and I don't know why. But it bugs me. Shouldn't is display correctly at 1920X1200?

For power consumption and noise reasons, I'd like to stick to a single card solution. Whatever I drop in the box will have aftermarket cooling, which consumes space. So SLI is out.

Down to x1900xt(x), 7800GTX/256, or wait for new NV. My worries with waiting for the 7900 are: must buy separate decoder for DVD, availability at launch, possibly ridiculous price, performance compared to 1900, and timeliness (I can wait awhile to complete this system, but want it up and running in the next 1-2 months). My worries with 1900 are now: driver quality/support and performance compared to 7900.

I realize I list fewer concerns for the ATI product, but driver issues are a big deal.

Here's another interesting consideration: ATI did the GPU for the new XBOX, a platform upon which Oblivion will also appear. If Bethesda is optimizing performance for ATI's XBOX GPU, is it reasonable to think that Oblivion will be more optimized for the x1900xt (compared to NV products)?
 
Sifu said:
Right now, I'm using a 9700 Pro AIW which has served me well for years - however, ATI's latest CCC is all fricked up on my screen. It doesn't display correctly and I don't know why. But it bugs me. Shouldn't is display correctly at 1920X1200?
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Try This.
 
you do not have to get the nvidia decoder btw, but it is one of the best ones out there regardless of what card you use.
 
So what's the deal with ATI drivers vis-a-vis NV drivers? Is there a general consensus about which provides superior driver support, or is that a contentious question?
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no problem with any of the drivers, i prefer ATI's to NV's, just less finicky but i can't complain about either

better driver support definetly goes to ATI, guaranteed driver release every month, they usually address the major problems that come up with the newer games off the bat, and you won't see a crapton of beta releases
 
Two problems with ati to start, if you have a television for one hooked up via dvi (htpc for instance), turn the tv off and then back on, you will lose video, have to reboot the machine to get it back. Plus two machines here at work, one with a 9600 pro other with a 9800 pro, you play a game and exit, the minimizing and maximizing of windows will stutter, have to go into the ati control panel and change graphic settings and then back to where you had them to clear it up. This may not be a common problem, but outta the 2 machines I have with ati cards they both do this, my buddys 9800xt in his htpc has the television issue, he had to go back to 5.6 drivers I think it is to fix the tv issues, but those drivers are not very htpc friendly with resolutions etc so he has to use powerstrip to get it to look right.
 
RabidRodents said:
I game on my 24'' CRT at 1600x100, Although 19200x1200 is possible, it seems to lag a lil when I turn all that eye candy on. I would go for the GTX.
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what kinda monitor do you use? :0p
 
Sifu said:
Here's another interesting consideration: ATI did the GPU for the new XBOX, a platform upon which Oblivion will also appear. If Bethesda is optimizing performance for ATI's XBOX GPU, is it reasonable to think that Oblivion will be more optimized for the x1900xt (compared to NV products)?
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Sifu brings up a good point, if Oblivion is truly your poison of choice. Plus, play around with your res. Some lcd's actually don't look like crap running in a non-native res. Try it, you might be surprised. I thought I'd be doomed to run f.e.a.r. with less eye candy at native res, but when I tried bumping the res down one notch (below the native), I was pleasantly surprised with excellent image quality.
 
MooseEdit: Take your fanb0yism to the ATI subforum.

If you want high resolutions with high IQ than that is the absolutely best choice for your dollar. Just check out the dozen or so reviews out there today...and my word. I have had my X1900XTX running since early yesterday and believe me playing BF2 at 1900x1200 4AA and 8AF with every damn thing turned up at 45-60+ FPS is pretty damn sweet.
 
Point taken. Examining the screen grab comparisons, the new 1900 looks awesome with all the eye candy. Fire effects, in particular, looks incredible.

I wish I had enough industry knowledge/foresight to be able to predict whether ATI's focus on shaders will really pay off. I'm certain the G71 will be a powerhouse, and will likely produce incredibly high frame rates. Obviously, frame rates aren't everything - I'd rather get 50 fps with beauty than 60 fps with a little less beauty.

Reading over all the reviews, it is a little irritating that so many do not collect data for 1920X1200. And people constantly make forum remarks (not so much here) such as, "Who cares about anything higher than 1078X784 [or whatever the standard for a 17" screen is]?" Cracks me up. I care!

Factored into all of this is the knowledge that AMD is switching to new socket tech for DDR2 and the whole MS Vista business with DX10. I like to keep my upgrades to every three years (gasp) if possible, but I can't really wait for DX10 cards this time round.

So, my choice has been narrowed down to x1900xt or wait for 7900GT(X). Decisions, decisions.

It was interesting to see that SLI'd 7800GTs generally outperformed the x1900xt by a good margin, but I don't know if I can stomach the increased noise and power consumption.
 
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