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[wupaz]

Hi,

Maybe you could help me ...
I have a Dell 8400 (base) with a 350watt ... and a ATI x800 XT (PCIE) and I would change to play BioShock (x800 doesn't support Pixel stuff 3).

What card suggest me ? (I wound't change my power supply)

Thanks for your helps !

 

[jrb531]

x1950GT (GT version takes less power)

or for less $$$

x1650Pro or XT version

-JB

 

[wupaz]

You are sur 1950gt will run on a 350w PSU ?

 

[Arnge]

Get ana EVGA 7900GS.

Cheaper , way more overclockable.

and worked amazengly on my old 300 Watt system.

 

[jrb531]

You are sur 1950gt will run on a 350w PSU ?

Well it really depends on the rest of your system. A video card draws a certain amount of power as does you CPU, HD, DVD etc... so it would depend.

This might help:

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000662.html

and this:

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354

The 1950Pro (2nd link) takes about 66w and I am going to guess (due to it being clocked a bit lower) that the GT version comes in at around 60w

If you have 1 hd and 1 DVD and a moderate speed CPU then I say you are fine "if" you have a good power supply. Dell usually has some pretty good PS's.

If you had a generic no-name 350w then I would say no as they cannot sustain a heavy power load. Dell PS's are pretty rugged (or they used to be LOL) so I think you would be fine with the GT version.

-JB

 

[jrb531]

Get ana EVGA 7900GS.

Cheaper , way more overclockable.

and worked amazengly on my old 300 Watt system.

The 7900GS takes 45w vs the x1950GT's 60w but the 1950 is a much faster card in newer games.

"way" more overclockable means what? The more you OC the more power the card draws.

Yes I will agree that it's the safer pick as it draws 15w less but if you OC the 7900GS to try and make up for it being a slower card then you are making it draw more power.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards...8545eeb5a00d68c98a20865d7&card1=500&card2=443

I am going to guess here on numbers:

x1950GT = 60w
7900GS = 45w
7900GS overclocked = 50w

So the 7900GS is "safer" but it will be a ton slower in shader games as it has only about half the shader power.

-JB

P.S. But I would go with the 7900GS over the x1650 as the 7900GS is the much better card

P.P.S. If the 7900GS at 45w works on your 300w system then I would think the x1950GT at 60w would be fine on a 350w system

Of course it all depends on what the rest of the system looks like

 

[wupaz]

It's a Dell 8400

3.2 mhz
3g Ram
No DVD /CD (Disconnected)
Full USB Slot use
1 HD (Sata 160g)

ATI X800 XT

 

[jrb531]

It's a Dell 8400

3.2 mhz
3g Ram
No DVD /CD (Disconnected)
Full USB Slot use
1 HD (Sata 160g)

ATI X800 XT

Well considering that your present x800 draws 58w I would guess that you could handle an extra 2w

-JB

 

[wupaz]

Thanks a lot for your help ...

Last question ... ~$150 will give me an extra power (FPS, etc) vs my X800 XT ?

 

[jrb531]

Thanks a lot for your help ...

Last question ... ~$150 will give me an extra power (FPS, etc) vs my X800 XT ?

Yes and no

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards...a8545eeb5a00d68c98a20865d7&card1=500&card2=41

In older games they will be about the same speed. In newer games, however, the x1950 is about 2.5 times the speed (look at shaders)

x800 = PS2
x1950 = PS3

The x800 is a nice card and actually has a few more pipes (16 vs 12) over the 1950. What sets the 1950 apart is the shaders.

x800 = 1 shader per pipe (16 pipes for 16 shaders)
1950 = 3 shaders per pipes (12 pipes for 36 shaders)

-JB

 

[evolucion8]

Yes and no

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards...a8545eeb5a00d68c98a20865d7&card1=500&card2=41

In older games they will be about the same speed. In newer games, however, the x1950 is about 2.5 times the speed (look at shaders)

x800 = PS2
x1950 = PS3

The x800 is a nice card and actually has a few more pipes (16 vs 12) over the 1950. What sets the 1950 apart is the shaders.

x800 = 1 shader per pipe (16 pipes for 16 shaders)
1950 = 3 shaders per pipes (12 pipes for 36 shaders)

-JB

The performance improvement will be minimized because of the P4 CPU that you have. If you want to see improvements you'll have to overclock it, otherwise, only eye candy can be increased, but pretty much the same FPS (Except in GPU dependent games like F.E.A.R.) Because of the CPU bottleneck, you're not gonna see a 2.5 performance improvement, not even in benchmarks. With my P4 EE 3.4GHz and the X800XT PE i used to score 6,134 on 3DMark05 and when I upgraded to the X1950XT, it increased only to 7,784 which is not good cause I have seen many guys with the X1950PRO in the 9K threshold. That's why I had to change my CPU to see appreciable differences, now I'm able to score 10,086 in 3DMark05 and see improvements accross the games. You'll have to overclock the CPU, otherwise only a 30% improvement can be seen in most scenarios.