Radeon X1900XTX upgrade?

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polonyc2

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I'm thinking about selling my BFG 7800 GTX 256 card and getting a X1900XT 512 or XTX card....any opinions on whether it is worth it or not?...also I'm looking for an unbiased/non !!!!!! opinion on which card gives the best 2D image quality, the 7800 gtx or the x1900 xtx??...also which has the best AA/AF image quality?

also is ATI's cooling system good or should I replace that with another 3rd party cooler such as the Zalman VGA cooler?...I hear that ATI's cooler is loud

Thanks for any help...
 
2d image quality will go to the ATI card by 1%. The AA and AF quality will have to go to the X1900XTX also. However in a few days the 7900GTX will be out and that may be a closer image quality scenario. If your willing to wait a few days I'd compare those side by side if I were you and choose whichever meets your criteria.

If the 2d quality and AA AF quality were your only points or reasons for purchase go with the X1900XTX

If sound and superior performance are your only points or reasons for purchase wait and go with the 7900GTX.

If it's a mix of sound and eye candy, & performance wait for the 7900 and look at them thoroughly side by side and I dont think a decision will be hard for you.
 
Lord_Exodia said:
2d image quality will go to the ATI card by 1%. The AA and AF quality will have to go to the X1900XTX also. However in a few days the 7900GTX will be out and that may be a closer image quality scenario. If your willing to wait a few days I'd compare those side by side if I were you and choose whichever meets your criteria.

If the 2d quality and AA AF quality were your only points or reasons for purchase go with the X1900XTX

If sound and superior performance are your only points or reasons for purchase wait and go with the 7900GTX.

If it's a mix of sound and eye candy, & performance wait for the 7900 and look at them thoroughly side by side and I dont think a decision will be hard for you.
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by sound I take it you mean that the x1900 cards have a loud cooler on them correct?...but if I were to purchase the X1900 card I would replace the stock cooler with the Arctic Cooling Axelero X2 cooler...

if as you say the X1900 cards have superior AA, AF and 2D image quality then aren't those the biggest aspects of buying a high end video card?...so how would Nvidia have the superior performance?...also I heard the new X1900 cards have a more forward thinking design for the future...I'm not an ATI faanbooy I just want the best card no matter who makes them
 
I would try to survive for now with the GTX and wait a year or less to the next gen which should be a little revolutionary.

If you've got the cash, and can buy current gen card and the next gen card too, I'll sugest you to wait a few weeks for the G71 to see which card is better and then decide.

2D quality for both are the same, but if you have a big monitor that needs Dual Link DVI you better go with ATi's which brings you 2 Dual Link DVI ports.

3D quality is another thing, actualy, from what I've seen the differences in AA are minor and depends on the game, ATi has their Adaptive AA and nVIDIA has the Transpirecy (forgive me for the spelling mistakes) AA with MS and SS which are both great.
AF is a different thing, nVIDIA has the regular AF and ATi has the High Quality AF which gives you a lot better AF image quality then nVIDIAs one.

As for cooling, I saw lots of ppl tend to like Zalman's coolers more than the Silencers altough the Silencer cools a little better and gets the very hot air from the video card out of the case and thus, help cooling the other hardware in the case.

I hope I helped.
 
I upgraded from a leadtek 7800 gtx clocked at 490/1300 to an ATi X1900 XTX, here are my thoughts:

1. 2D quality: About even with a slight nod to ATi

2. Colors: They seem deeper with the ATi card in 3D without the need for digital vibrance

3. Fan noise: I water cool my card but I did test it in a run of 3dmark06 when I first bought it and it never got above the first level of noise so it was fairly quiet. Some reviewers have noted that when it revs up to full throttle it can get noisy.

4. Image Quality:

AF: Default AF quality for ATi is quite a bit better than nVidia's Quality AF mode. In certain games you notice shimmering with nVidia cards in Quality mode that ATi doesn't exhibit nearly as much (e.g. CSS/HL2). HQ AF for ATi is a lot better than nVidia's solution since it's angle independent and takes a smaller hit.

AA: Adaptive Anti-aliasing is about on par with nVidia's Transparent SuperSampling except it takes a much smaller performance hit - especially when set to performance mode. nVidia's Transparent Multisampling mode is worthless or at least it was when I used it since it did almost nothing for alpha textures.

5. Performance: I play Battlefield 2 a lot and the performance between the two cards is night and day. In the most combat intense situations where you have artillery raining down coupled with multiple APC's and soldiers firing at each other my fps almost never drops below 50 and typically stays pegged in the 90-100 fps range. The settings I use are 1680x1050 4xAdaptive Anti-aliasing (performance), 16x HQ AF and all settings in the game set to high.

6. Design: The card is designed with shaders in mind and if ATi's right, games coming out in the near future will be more shader heavy than ever and this card will continue to flex its muscle. Keep in mind that we will likely see a lot of shader heavy games that are ported from the Xbox 360 to the PC as well.

7. Value: Obviously the X1900 XT/XTX are available and at reasonable prices so they're priced well and widely available.


The 7900 hasn't been announced yet and it's specs are unknown. It's speculated to have 32 pipes and is built on the G70 core so don't expect much in feature advancement. It's rumored the card will be announced/launched at CeBit sometime in March but like I mentioned, pricing, specs and availability are unknown. The 512 GTX is not really worth considering since it's overpriced, scarcely available and only manages to outperform an X1900 XTX in some OpenGL titles.
 
polonyc2 said:
by sound I take it you mean that the x1900 cards have a loud cooler on them correct?...but if I were to purchase the X1900 card I would replace the stock cooler with the Arctic Cooling Axelero X2 cooler...

if as you say the X1900 cards have superior AA, AF and 2D image quality then aren't those the biggest aspects of buying a high end video card?...so how would Nvidia have the superior performance?...also I heard the new X1900 cards have a more forward thinking design for the future...I'm not an ATI faanbooy I just want the best card no matter who makes them
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The ati card does indeed have a louder cooler on it. The AA & AF eye candy is a bit sharper on ATI, but performance or FPS will probably be in favor of the 7900GTX where the games will run faster. The difference in Grapics quality is minimal but, personally I rather play the higher end games over 60fps with great graphics rather than 45fps with slightly better graphics. This may not be the case as noone knows for sure how well the 7900 will perform. I guess it's what you prefer. On a high end videocard you are really buying it for it's horsepower. As eye candy is the same from a mid range card like a X1800XL 256. If just sharp AA and AF is what matters then a mid range card will suffice. If you are playing with the big ballers like X1900XTX or 7900GTX then you are not buying it for it's looks but the horsepower under the hood as well.

Think Cars e.g. Subaru WRX and Subaru WRX STi, when you compare mid range and high end cards. Looks the same somewhat but the STI is for the big ballers. :D
 
Lord_Exodia said:
If you are playing with the big ballers like X1900XTX or 7900GTX then you are not buying it for it's looks but the horsepower under the hood as well.
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That is some really odd logic you have there. People spend $650+ on top end cards not for the ability to use the best image quality but rather raw fps? :eek:
 
Whatever you do ; do not buy any new card before the 7900's are revealed.

Then compare the 7900GTX vs X1900XTX.

I have a X1900XTX myself atm coming from a Gainward 6800GT golden sample.
The peak fan speeds of the Ati exceed the dual fan Gainward card, which is no
silent card at all.

I like the XTX's performance, but it can get hot so I adjusted the fanspeeds with
Ati tool. I kind of put up with the loudness for performance sake.

Looking at the 7800GTX's formidable silent cooler, I wouldn't be surprised if the
7900GTX will offer both performance and relatively silent operation.
 
5150Joker said:
That is some really odd logic you have there. People spend $650+ on top end cards not for the ability to use the best image quality but rather raw fps? :rolleyes:
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Did you really read my post joker? If you really read it you'll see that I said that it's both that people buy high end cards for. It's just that if eye candy is everything a mid range card will suffice. If you want eye candy and performance you get a high end card.

If I like the design of the subaru wrx and really wanted it why by the impreza STi it would be overkill. When both matter get the STi
 
Lord_Exodia said:
Did you really read my post joker? If you really read it you'll see that I said that it's both that people buy high end cards for. It's just that if eye candy is everything a mid range card will suffice. If you want eye candy and performance you get a high end card.

If I like the design of the subaru wrx and really wanted it why by the impreza STi it would be overkill. When both matter get the STi
Click to expand...

Again that makes no sense. You can't use a midrange card in newer games like BF2 at high res with eye candy turned up and expect to have reasonable performance. A high end card is what allows people to enable at least 4x AA/16x HQ AF at high resolutions and maintain reasonable framerates. You get what you pay for so with midrange cards, you can get reasonable framerates in newer games at high resolution as long as you turn OFF the eye candy or at the very least drop it down a few notches.
 
A few things I should point out in previous posts. the 7900GTX will have dual dual link dvi ports just like the X1800 and X1900 series. It is not built on the G70 110nm core but a refresh core called G71 @ 90nm which will reduce heat and increase clocks. It will also be a 32 pipeline design with a core clock at or above 650. this information has leaked already from reliable sources. Just want to make sure all the facts are on the table and accurately, so that the OP can choose what's best for him/her.
 
5150Joker said:
Again that makes no sense. You can't use a midrange card in newer games like BF2 at high res with eye candy turned up and expect to have reasonable performance. A high end card is what allows people to enable at least 4x AA/16x HQ AF at high resolutions and maintain reasonable framerates. You get what you pay for so with midrange cards, you can get reasonable framerates in newer games at high resolution as long as you turn OFF the eye candy or at the very least drop it down a few notches.
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I'm inclined to disagree. Mid range for ATI would be a X1800XL with the X1900XT and X1900XTX out. You can enable these features on those cards and get similar if not the same eye candy. That is my point. The end result is that your performance drops quite a bit to about 30 fps or so. For the extra boost you would buy a high end card. to have the exact same IQ but at around 60 fps. The choice is yours the user. It makes perfect sense, it's not like i'm speaking in riddles :rolleyes:
 
thanks for all the good info everyone....

I think I'm gonna go with the X1900XT card...I can't wait another 3 weeks for the 7900GTX to come out and since it is basicially the same architecture as the 7800 line I don't see any major improvements...just a higher clock/memory bump...

the thing that really pushed the ATI card into the lead for me was the fact that the X1900XT series allows HDR with AA, which none of the current cards from Nvidia can do!!...for me image quality is more important than FPS...plus once you get over 50-60 FPS the difference is barely noticeable
 
polonyc2 said:
thanks for all the good info everyone....

basicially the same architecture as the 7800 line I don't see any major improvements...just a higher clock/memory bump...
Click to expand...

Ehm.. sorry, but the 7900 are a different architecture than the 7800's.
7900 will feature HDR+msaa. I suggest you wait a little longer...
 
Knot3D said:
Ehm.. sorry, but the 7900 are a different architecture than the 7800's.
7900 will feature HDR+msaa. I suggest you wait a little longer...
Click to expand...

I very much doubt nv reworked there core that much for a refresh, you wont see fp16 hdr + aa from nv until there next gen core.
 
Spank said:
I very much doubt nv reworked there core that much for a refresh, you wont see fp16 hdr + aa from nv until there next gen core.
Click to expand...

I believe this above to be true and since it matters to the OP then the X1900XTX is for him. It will simply make him/her happier and that's all that counts.
 
I'd just like you to know that my evga 7800GT's fan is loud as fuck. It's almost as loud as my old, whiny 5200fx. If I stop the fan on it my computer is alwmost silent.

Is it just me or does lord_exodia seem like he's on the payroll?
 
pwnererr said:
I'd just like you to know that my evga 7800GT's fan is loud as fuck. It's almost as loud as my old, whiny 5200fx. If I stop the fan on it my computer is alwmost silent.

Is it just me or does lord_exodia seem like he's on the payroll?
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I wish I could have some extra $$$. Probably allow me to afford a 7900GTX SLI rig and a RD580 Crossfire X1900XTX rig too. :D
 
get it, you will notice a huge difference in quality and performance

definately enough to justify 200-300 dollars worth of upgrade cost no doubt, you will always notice it when gaming, and the 2d, you will def notice when you are not gaming, its totally worth it
 
Knot3D said:
Ehm.. sorry, but the 7900 are a different architecture than the 7800's.
7900 will feature HDR+msaa. I suggest you wait a little longer...
Click to expand...

Wrong on all counts.
 
Lord_Exodia said:
I wish I could have some extra $$$. Probably allow me to afford a 7900GTX SLI rig and a RD580 Crossfire X1900XTX rig too. :D
Click to expand...

It just seems like your taking sides too quickly. 7900GTX specs haven't even been anounced, release date hasn't been announced, and your already in love with it. No offense, but thats fucking stupid. I own and am in love with my 7800GT(albeit the fan is fucking loud), but that doesn't mean I can't acknowledge the X1900XT as a better product.

How old are you, really...
 
pwnererr said:
It just seems like your taking sides too quickly. 7900GTX specs haven't even been anounced, release date hasn't been announced, and your already in love with it. No offense, but thats fucking stupid. I own and am in love with my 7800GT(albeit the fan is fucking loud), but that doesn't mean I can't acknowledge the X1900XT as a better product.

How old are you, really...
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Where does it seem like i'm in love with it? Hell in this thread I even gave a nod to the OP for choosing the X1900XTX over the 7900 because of his/her need for HDR +AA. I think you jump to conclusions too quick. No offense but that's fucking stupid. Many people in these threads know me as someone who is unbiased. When I form a opinion I stand strong behind it, but i'm unbiased.
 
pwnererr said:
It just seems like your taking sides too quickly. 7900GTX specs haven't even been anounced, release date hasn't been announced, and your already in love with it. No offense, but thats <profanity removed> stupid. I own and am in love with my 7800GT(albeit the fan is loud), but that doesn't mean I can't acknowledge the X1900XT as a better product.

How old are you, really...
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QFT.
 
I really dont think I'm taking sides too quickly. I might go crossfire with RD580 in the next month or so depending on performance #s Will I be taking sides too quickly then :rolleyes:
 
I have a BFG 512 GTX if you/anyone wants want it
nice and quiet too...
=)
$650
 
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