Which card?

Z

Zake202

Gawd
Joined
Jan 19, 2008
Messages
559
I don't have the money to build a new machine atm and my AGP card is artifacting.

The past few days I've been trying to decide what to replace it with.

From what I've read and looked at, the only good options I have are the ones below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130076

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130099

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161205

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161032

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102711
(Does it have working drivers?)

My concerns are how much power would I need for the X1650GT (amp wise) and how much better are these cards than my 9800XT?

System specs:
DFI Lanparty 875B
P4 3.0GHz
2048 Corsair DDR400 PC3200
Thermaltake 430watt Psu (18A on 12+)
Western Digital 7200rpm 60gb
Ati 9800XT
Hyundai ImageQuest L90D+

I just need help choosing, thanks to anyone who replies.
(btw I'm aware I have another post going)
 
Out of the cards you selected I'd go with the EVGA 7600GT. According to their site, the card requires a 350w PSU and a +12v rail @ 18a. So your Thermaltake meets the requirements.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130099

You may also want to play around with tthis VGA Chart for a general idea of how the cards stack-up against one another. The chart isn't perfect but it's not bad for a rough comparison.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=716&model2=735&chart=318
 
Another vote for the 7600gt... good bang for the buck card, and will suit your system nicely.
 
Ok

So even compared to the 2600XT and X1650GT The 7600GT would be better?

Do you think the 7600GT would run hot in my system (or run hot on it's own with that heatsink) ? I'd rather not buy a 3rd party heatsink/fan.

Also, based on the newegg reviews, do you think it would really come underclocked?

Also, the 7600GT off of newegg doesn't have GDDR3, how big of a difference would that make? Since the others I listed use GDDR3.
 
Zake202 said:
So even compared to the 2600XT and X1650GT The 7600GT would be better?
Click to expand...

Way better than the 1650 Pro, and I never heard of the GT before so I can't comment on that one.

I also woundn't worry about heat at all with the 7600GT either.

As far as the 2600XT goes, sorry didn't even give the 2600XT a second thought because it's usually compared with superior cards. It appears to be neck and neck with the 7600GT in performance, although it really depends on the game. The 2600XT definitely has a better feature set and I am now going to change my mind and suggest you get this card built with newer tech instead. The only thing I have reservations about now is your power supply. I know the power equirements are low for this card, I just don't know how low.

As far as clock rates go, EVGA only lists one 7600GT on their website and it has the same clocks as the one on NewEgg, so I would be inclined to think the NewEgg user was "confused". Other NewEgg user said his clock rates were as advertised.
 
Yea, the only problem with the 7600GT from EVGA is it isn't GDDR3... it's a 7600GS overclocked to look like a GT, but it's only 580/800 and the GS is 400/800.

Which makes me wonder if the Evga 7600GT is even worth the extra $20.

Also, it seems the 2600XT has a lot of driver issues. So not sure about getting that one either unless it really is better than the other cards.
 
Zake202 said:
Yea, the only problem with the 7600GT from EVGA is it isn't GDDR3... it's a 7600GS overclocked to look like a GT, but it's only 580/800 and the GS is 400/800.

Which makes me wonder if the Evga 7600GT is even worth the extra $20.

Also, it seems the 2600XT has a lot of driver issues. So not sure about getting that one either unless it really is better than the other cards.
Click to expand...

I hear you, and yeah, I've heard about the driver issues with 2600XT but did not know enough about them to comment one way or another. Very hard decision. Have you considered flipping a coin? :) If you threw another $50 into it, you'd be in a new class of cards and the decision would probably be easier.
 
I want to keep this computer going a few more years, not just for my use but other peoples.

So I won't be upgrading it any further than a new AGP card.

I plan to build myself a new computer after a year or so.
 
Zake202 said:
I want to keep this computer going a few more years, not just for my use but other peoples.

So I won't be upgrading it any further than a new AGP card.

I plan to build myself a new computer after a year or so.
Click to expand...

No, I meant throwing another $50 into an AGP card, not changing platforms, but if you have a new rig in he near future no sense doing that.
 
Eh, rather not spend over $100 on a new card.

I'm starting to think the 2600 would be worse than one of the others based on this review.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/09/13/the_radeon_2600xt_remixed/page11.html

Basically states that having AA and AF on with a resolution of 1024x768 or higher is bad.

I'm starting to lean towards the X1650GT, the speed is almost the same as the 2600 and I doubt it would have driver issues or AA/AF issues with resolutions.

Seeing as how there really isn't a good 7600GT with GDDR3 for around $100, that leaves me with the 7600GS running at 400/800 Vs the X1650GT that runs 525/1400.

What do you think about the X1650GT? Would it work with my 430watt 18A PSU?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161205
 
Zake202 said:
Yea.

Just like EVGA saying the 7600GS and 7600GT of theirs needs 350watt with an 18A, I can only guess the requirments for the HIS X1650GT of 450watt isn't needed.

I could be wrong though.

Can anyone here confirm that I would absolutely need a 450watt to run this card? Or would a 430watt 18A work?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161205
Click to expand...

Per my previous post it says on ATI's site that the X1650XT needs a 350w power supply to run. The 1650GT isn't going to be more. Where are you getting the 450w info from?
 
Someone said they saw a similar X1650 by the same manufacturer off of tigerdirect that required 450Watt and 30Amp.
Edit: Found the link
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3477296&body=MAIN

This is also just one review off of the card on newegg that made me wonder.

"Cons: my would be, in the specs it doesnt say it has to have a power supply 450watt or higher and 30 Amps, and 12 volt rail. I did have a 300watt, got the video card and i was excited, then read on the back of the box, that it supports 450watt power supplies and higher, so i had to buy one."

I was sure I saw the same requirement somewhere else. I can't find it now though.

I did find out that my 9800XT uses 60watts at full use and the X1650XT uses 5watts. So 5 less, but I'm not sure how the amp reading fits in or would compare.

What do you think?

X1650XT Power Consumption
http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/video/radeon-x1650xt/1650xt_power_full.gif&1=1

9800XT Power Consumption
http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/video/ati-powercons/t3.gif&1=1
 
Zake202 said:
Someone said they saw a similar X1650 by the same manufacturer off of tigerdirect that required 450Watt and 30Amp.
Edit: Found the link
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3477296&body=MAIN

This is also just one review off of the card on newegg that made me wonder.

"Cons: my would be, in the specs it doesnt say it has to have a power supply 450watt or higher and 30 Amps, and 12 volt rail. I did have a 300watt, got the video card and i was excited, then read on the back of the box, that it supports 450watt power supplies and higher, so i had to buy one."

I was sure I saw the same requirement somewhere else. I can't find it now though.

I did find out that my 9800XT uses 60watts at full use and the X1650XT uses 5watts. So 5 less, but I'm not sure how the amp reading fits in or would compare.

What do you think?

X1650XT Power Consumption
http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/video/radeon-x1650xt/1650xt_power_full.gif&1=1

9800XT Power Consumption
http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/video/ati-powercons/t3.gif&1=1
Click to expand...

Well, just found this XT review and the guy mentions that one of the pluses for this card is it's power requirements, stating that 400w should be plenty ...

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=602

However this Anandtech Review has the power requirements within a hair of the X1950 Pro, which I know quite a bit about. The recommended power supply for the X1950 Pro is 450w PSU with +12v rail @ 30a. So that would jive with what you saw on Tigerdirect, rather than what's on ATI's site. :confused: The 7600GT appears on the bottom of the power consumption list by the way.

Round and Round we go ......

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2864&p=12
 
Hmm, I would think the X1950 is the most power hungry card of the X1--- Series.

I wonder which Watt readings are right.
The one you added seems high, 100+ watts for a video card? *shrugs*

I did post on this card before, asking if my PSU would be sufficient.

This is the thread-

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1265197

I honestly think the power cable (4 pin floppy connector) needed would be for the heatsink/fan combo the manufacturer has on it, since it's pretty big.

Read some of those replies and let me know what you think.

I am really starting to think I should just order it and find out myself.
 
My wife has a X1950GT 256m AGP and a 450w psu, and has been having some pretty serious stability issues. I can't say that the PSU is to blame, but the thought has crossed my mind more than once... It's a Sapphire version and we have had to rma the card twice (or was it three?) so I'm starting to think it's a Sapphire problem.

I have a X1950pro 256m AGP and a "questionable" 500w PSU... (it's an Ultra XConnect... yeah, one of the "exploding" ones) and I have had no problem with it, at all. I fold on the card 24/7 and it's been 100% stable.

I would really suggest a 500w or better PSU if your going to go with the 1950 series.... but that's just me...

EDIT... shit, I think I may have misread the above post... if so, sorry...
 
digital_exhaust said:
My wife has a X1950GT 256m AGP and a 450w psu, and has been having some pretty serious stability issues. I can't say that the PSU is to blame, but the thought has crossed my mind more than once... It's a Sapphire version and we have had to rma the card twice (or was it three?) so I'm starting to think it's a Sapphire problem.

I have a X1950pro 256m AGP and a "questionable" 500w PSU... (it's an Ultra XConnect... yeah, one of the "exploding" ones) and I have had no problem with it, at all. I fold on the card 24/7 and it's been 100% stable.

I would really suggest a 500w or better PSU if your going to go with the 1950 series.... but that's just me...
Click to expand...

Not going with a X1950 for this computer ever. Too expensive.
Atm I don't use anything extra on my computer besides the standard:
DFI Lanparty 875B
P4 3.0GHz
2048 Corsair DDR400 PC3200
Thermaltake 430watt Psu (18A on 12+)
Western Digital 7200rpm 60gb
Ati 9800XT

When I plug that into http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
it says I need about 240watts to run it all.
Replies on the other thread I started make me think I could run this card easily.
Especially when other people run better cards and more things on a similar PSU.
 
digital_exhaust said:
My wife has a X1950GT 256m AGP and a 450w psu, and has been having some pretty serious stability issues. I can't say that the PSU is to blame, but the thought has crossed my mind more than once... It's a Sapphire version and we have had to rma the card twice (or was it three?) so I'm starting to think it's a Sapphire problem.

I have a X1950pro 256m AGP and a "questionable" 500w PSU... (it's an Ultra XConnect... yeah, one of the "exploding" ones) and I have had no problem with it, at all. I fold on the card 24/7 and it's been 100% stable.

I would really suggest a 500w or better PSU if your going to go with the 1950 series.... but that's just me...

EDIT... shit, I think I may have misread the above post... if so, sorry...
Click to expand...

Yeah, we were trying to determine what the X1650GT would need regarding power. The X1650XT is pretty close to the X1950 Pro according to that Anandtech Review.
 
Zake202 said:
Hmm, I would think the X1950 is the most power hungry card of the X1--- Series.

I wonder which Watt readings are right.
The one you added seems high, 100+ watts for a video card? *shrugs*

I did post on this card before, asking if my PSU would be sufficient.

This is the thread-

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1265197

I honestly think the power cable (4 pin floppy connector) needed would be for the heatsink/fan combo the manufacturer has on it, since it's pretty big.

Read some of those replies and let me know what you think.

I am really starting to think I should just order it and find out myself.
Click to expand...

The X1950XT card is even more demanding than the Pro as it's using a 90nm GPU's rather than the 80nm GPU's the x1950 Pro's do.

What's the specific model number on the Thermaltake you're using? Is it the TR2?
 
honestjohn said:
The X1950XT and XTX cards are even more demanding than the Pro as they're using 90nm GPU's rather than the 80nm GPU's the Pro's do.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if the X1650GT is the same GPU as Pro or XT.

My PSU link -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023

I was reading reviews about my PSU and I stumbled upon this.

"Pros: This sucker is a heavyweight for a 430w'er. Powering my new dual core cpu, 2 optical drives, x2 120mm and 2x 80mm case fans, my X1950 pro I had to turn it around to make sure the fan was spinning it's so quiet!


ONE MORE!

"Pros: All watts accounted for! Am running a E6400 at 2400mhz, a 1950XT, an 320GB drive, 2GB DDR2800 and 2 optical drives, and gaming @ 1920x1080 with high detail, power supply keeps chugging along.

Cons: 2 x 80mm fans not as good as 1 x 120mm

Other Thoughts: Way to go Thermaltake, and Newegg!"

Also This!

"Pros: Great power supply, it powers my pentium 4 3.0, 2 gigs ram, 2 WD Raptors, Samsung CD RW drive, and 1950 Pro just fine.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Wish it came with a 120 mm fan."

Cons: Wayyyy alot of connectors on this thing

Other Thoughts: I was nervous about the 12v putting out enough umph on the 18 amps and up to power my video card but it hasn't let me down yet running vista 64 and hours of gaming we'll see tho"

Last one I'm posting because I keep finding more with people using X1950Pro etc.


Pros: Ok, this thing has 18 amps on the 12 volt rail, but im running a Radeon X1950 Pro which says it requires 30A on the 12 volt rail, and im also running 2 hdd, 3 80mm fans, and 3 HDD. tons of molex connectors so dont worry about not having enough. Very quiet.

Cons: No modular cable support, 18 amps on the 12 volt rail rule out SLI or Crossfire.

Other Thoughts: Machine: Asus A8V-Deluxe 2x512MB OCX DDR400 @ 300mhz (due to limited dividers on mobo) Opteron 165 @ 9x300mhz @ 1.600v Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB AGP 8X This power supply runs all that plus 2 DVD and 3 HDD drives + 3 fans. IF you had any doubts if this will run the X1950 Pro/X1950 GT, it will.
 
Yea. Seems like the X1650GT should work, but now I'm wondering if there is a better ATI/Nvidia card for $100 or less. What do you think?
 
Zake202 said:
Yea. Seems like the X1650GT should work, but now I'm wondering if there is a better ATI/Nvidia card for $100 or less. What do you think?
Click to expand...

No I don't. I think all the ones you've been looking at are all within the same performance bracket. What's seperating them are features and power requirements with the 7600GT being the least demanding as far as PSU's go.
 
Yea.

The only other card I can think of that I'd want is a X1950 Pro or anything about the X1650, but I'm not seeing any of those around $100.

What about an X1800 though, maybe there is one for that price?

Edit: After looking for about 15minutes, there are NO cards after the X1650 that are even near $100.

Unless someone else can find one let me know.
 
I have this exact same card (the one I referred to in my previous post) might want to pm the seller and see if he's willing to make a deal...
 
I'm sure it is.... but he's got all positive heat. Like I said, mine has been rock solid running F@H 24/7 no problems, I don't really think it being used should be a big deal. I'm pretty sure he's selling it to upgrade..
 
I sent him a message.

I was checking Ebay for more of the X1950 cards, I'm not sure if I'd want one off ebay or used.
 
I personally have more faith in a long term member here at [H] with all positive heat than I do in eBay...... but that's just me.

Either way, I think if you can find a way to go with the X1950pro you'll be happy in the end. And just as a note, I had a brand new, just out of the box X1600pro crap out on me in less than six months.... I don't know what actual differences there are between that and the X1650, but I hope there are many improvements in the X1650....
 
Zake202 said:
I sent him a message.

I was checking Ebay for more of the X1950 cards, I'm not sure if I'd want one off ebay or used.
Click to expand...

OK this is different, reagrdless of what those NewEgg users said, I wouldn't use a X1950 Pro with tha 18a single rail power supply of yours. You can try it, but be prepapred and don't be shocked if you need to upgrade your power supply if it doesn't work. I've owne 3 different X1950 Pro's by the way. The cheapest quality power supply I know of is a Corsair Unit which is 450w and +12v rail @ 33a. It goes for about $61 at Buy.com after rebate.

Edit:

It's now down to $59 after rebate ....

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-vx-450w-power-supply/q/loc/101/205466485.html
 
So you don't recommend buying a X1950Pro?

A lot of people on newegg said they used that with their PSU and it worked. But Idk, it would be scary if it didn't and I couldn't send it back.
 
Zake202 said:
So you don't recommend buying a X1950Pro?

A lot of people on newegg said they used that with their PSU and it worked. But Idk, it would be scary if it didn't and I couldn't send it back.
Click to expand...

The X1950 Pro is an excelent card providing you've got the power and 18a single rail is beyond pushing it. If you are not prepared to upgrade your power supply if need be I wouldn't do it if I were you. Also if you have a particular model in mind, let me know. There are few gotchas with some of the models.
 
The Visiontek was my first Pro I bought. Decent card, but they left the temp-diode off this model so no adjusting the fan speed or measuring temps on the card. Fan also runs at 100% all the time because of this. It also comes with 256MB of VRAM where almost all the other Pro's have 512MB.On the positive side, they used a different design for the voltage regulators than the other X1950 Pro's except for the Gecube which uses an identical PCB, and the Visiontek seemed less prone to overheating because of this.

If you want to roll the dice with a X1950 Pro it's up to you. As I said before it's going to be a crapshoot whether or not your power supply will work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top