Video Card recommendation based on the following:

J

joseywales

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Nov 2, 2006
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Here's my deal. I have an offer from a friend that'll convert my existing AGP system over to PCI Express. While admit the upcoming components are not what I'd opt for if I were buying new, I feel for the price I'm getting it's still a good deal. So, here's what I'm moving up to:

Asus A8N Premium SLI
AMD FX-60 CPU
2GB RAM
750 watt PSU

My primary goal is to be able to drive my 24" monitor at its native resolution of 1920x1200 at acceptable frame rates (mostly FPS games). This mobo is SLI ready, but I'm going to start, for financial reasons, with a single GPU. That being said, what is the best single card solution that would suit my needs?

Although it would make sense to go the nVidia route so that in the future I could upgrade to SLI, I'm not a !!!!!! of either camp and because of the fact that I'll be running a single card for the foreseeable future I'm looking for suggestions on what to start with knowing that I'll be performing a complete overhaul within the next 8-12 months (thereby negating the need to plan longterm SLI perhaps?).

Right now I'm looking at the 7850GT 512MB variants and the X1900 cards. Of those, which would you recommend....for that matter, if it's something else please let me know.

Thanks all!
 
I'm pretty impressed with the 1900XT cards. XTX seems like a waste considering how the XT overclocks.

A Zalman VF-900 is a MUST if looking into 1900s

The EAX1900 is on newegg right now for 309. Pretty good deal,
 
As part of the "package" listed above my friend is also offering an X900XTX for $250. I'm just not sure if it's the 256MB or 512MB variant, and for that matter, how much of a difference it'll ultimately make.
 
My set up is as shown in my signature,in FEAR with everything set at maximum running at 1900x1200,it runs and look awsome.When I run the in game video test I get;

Min: 43 FPS
Average: 78 FPS
Max: 196 FPS

Not saying this is the set up you should run but it may be an interesting option.
 
EricC said:
My set up is as shown in my signature,in FEAR with everything set at maximum running at 1900x1200,it runs and look awsome.When I run the in game video test I get;

Min: 43 FPS
Average: 78 FPS
Max: 196 FPS

Not saying this is the set up you should run but it may be an interesting option.
Click to expand...

Trust me, I'd love to move up to C2D, but with money being an issue right now I think the offer I'm being presented with makes sense. I'm migrating over from an Opteron 146, 1GB RAM, ATI 9800XT and a Gigabyte AGP mobo, so this is still an upgrade and for the cost it's a smart move, at least in my eyes.
 
joseywales said:
Trust me, I'd love to move up to C2D, but with money being an issue right now I think the offer I'm being presented with makes sense. I'm migrating over from an Opteron 146, 1GB RAM, ATI 9800XT and a Gigabyte AGP mobo, so this is still an upgrade and for the cost it's a smart move, at least in my eyes.
Click to expand...

I understand,I ran a sorry X300 for quite a while before being able to upgrade,it wasnt exactly gaming paradise...

I ran a few tests with FEAR and since you dont want to go SLI,I disabled it and tried to see what kind of results I could come up with.In my first test I left every settings as is,meaning everything was totally maxed out at 1900*1200,as expected it wasnt really playable.Results using the in game video test went as such;

Min -FPS - 20
Ave -FPS - 36
Max-FPS - 80

I then disabled Soft Shadows,FSAA and set Texture Filtering to Bilinear,I did leave every other settings maxed out.The results were impressive,much better than I anticipated,the game ran very smoothly even during intense battle scenes and the game still looked awsome.Results using the in game video test went as such;

Min FPS - 43
Ave FPS - 68
Max FPS - 139

I beleive any video card with similar or superior specs as a 7900 GTO would satisfy your current needs,hope I helped.
 
Great info, thanks EricC!

BTW, I'll be getting an X1950XTX 512MB card as it turns out....very cool luck on my part since I have to stick with a single-card solution right now. Plus, it's only gonna cost me $250, so that in my eyes sweetens and seals the deal!

Thanks again.
 
I think you will be very pleased with the results, I did not expect a single card other than a 7950 GX2 of course to run FEAR at that high a resolution without having to very serioulsy lower video settings,it ain't the case at all.
 
I'll be shipping it out to be overhauled tomorrow morning...I was told to expect about 1 week to do the work (with the holiday and everything) and then 2-3 days for return shipping. I can't wait! Again, by no means cutting edge, but I still expect a drastic improvement to what I currently regard as a good system despite its age.
 
Hum your in a spot because here is the issue. That SLI board can't handle two of the newer 8800 cards B/C they need each 16 lanes. Thus I would recommend A single 8800GTX for the high end, or on the low end a X1950XT 256MB card. With ram at DDR3 nearly hitting 1GHZ mark and with decent cooling the core should scale. At 269$ is a very good buy IMO.
 
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