7800gtx 256mb to x1900xt upgrade worth it?

G

Gmeister

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
114
I'm so tempted to get an x1900xt. I have a dell 2005fpw and want to run games like FEAR and NFS:MW at the native resolution. Not to mention that the COD2 does not run well on a single 7800gtx 256mb. My current system is:

x2 4400+
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
2GB TwinX Corsair RAM
EVGA 7800GTX 256MB
X-Fi Fatality
Dell 2005fpw
yada yada....

I have a bad upgrade itch. Common sense tells me to wait until the Nvidia G71 cards come out and then make my decision. Just upsets me that my rig can't run COD2, Fear, etc... at 1680x1050 without sacrificing framerate and image quality. Any opinions from other people who have made a similar jump?
 
You have a good card. I would wait until a better driver gets released.......you might even be able to pick one up cheaper later on. On top of it you dont know how soon NV will come out with the next card now that ATI actually has a good product that was released on time. I would wait.
 
i wouldnt personally..w8 until the new drivers come out and if the performance increase is execptional then i would consider it...however of your not satisfied right now and cant wait a few months then buy the x1900xt
 
one thing to consider is the value of your 7800

It will be worth more now than when the new Nvidia cards come out.
 
Gotta love these threads! Your card is bloody nice, so unless you have money burnin' a hole in your pocket I'd wait. X1900 will speed you up and give you better image quality, but the featureset you have now is pretty much the same. Maybe wait maybe not. X1900 is an awesome card tho.............................
 
of course, and while you are at it, upgrade to an FX-60, DFI Expert MB, 4 gigs of RAM, X-Fi Elite Pro, and a dell 3007 LCD...oh yeah, at resolution, you will need X1900's in Crossfire, so might as well go ahead and get another one...
 
looking @ the x1900 [H] review the 1900 on most games performs the same as the x1800 or a 7800 GTX - like WTF is that crap..
 
MrGuvernment said:
looking @ the x1900 [H] review the 1900 on most games performs the same as the x1800 or a 7800 GTX - like WTF is that crap..
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drivers havent had time to mature yet.
 
I understand how you feel, heck I was sorta thinking about the X1900 myself, but I'd have to get two and a new mobo (refer to sig) and its simply not worth it.

If you're really itching for performance NOW, why not get another GTX? Two of those will better than a single X1900 in most cases and its a little cheaper anyway.

The X1900 is a great card, but its a very incremental upgrade from what you have, though there are expections like F.E.A.R. (my fav game right now) where the boost would be significant. But another 7800 GTX would give you the same, maybe even a little better boost.

Lots comming out this year, so wait if you can, but if you can't, go SLI!
 
It kills me when people buy $500 videocards then ask 6 months later if they should upgrade it....
 
Sell your GTX for around $380-$400 like I did and then put in the difference for the X1900XT - that's what I did.
 
Sell the 7800GTX for 300-350 and get a X1900XT, you won't be disappointed. Hell I went from a 7800GTX to a X1800XT and was happy and more so when I went from a X1800XT to the X1900XTX.


UPGRADE!
 
heatlesssun said:
I understand how you feel, heck I was sorta thinking about the X1900 myself, but I'd have to get two and a new mobo (refer to sig) and its simply not worth it.

If you're really itching for performance NOW, why not get another GTX? Two of those will better than a single X1900 in most cases and its a little cheaper anyway.

The X1900 is a great card, but its a very incremental upgrade from what you have, though there are expections like F.E.A.R. (my fav game right now) where the boost would be significant. But another 7800 GTX would give you the same, maybe even a little better boost.

Lots comming out this year, so wait if you can, but if you can't, go SLI!
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i agree with this, upgrade with another gtx and wait for g80 or r600 with sli gtx's...just my 2 cents, can find a gtx256 for about 450 now maybe less if u look hard
 
-=JacKaL=- said:
i agree with this, upgrade with another gtx and wait for g80 or r600 with sli gtx's...just my 2 cents
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Yea, but what about the G71. the G71 could beat a 7800GTX 256MB in SLI mode.
 
Gmeister said:
Yea, but what about the G71. the G71 could beat a 7800GTX 256MB in SLI mode.
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yeah it maybe could, idk that card could be 700-750, i would save a couple hundred and wait til the end of this year with the gtx's i would be pleased
 
-=JacKaL=- said:
yeah it maybe could, idk i that card could be 700-750, i would save a couple hundred and wait til the end of this year with the gtx's i would be pleased
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$700-750 for a product line that supposed to compete with the X1900 is like NVidia shooting itself in the foot.
 
I just made a such a move. There are noticeble improvement in gaming performance... if you have good enough cpu :p
However, my primary reason was due to turbocad's problem with nvidia card in general... :p
 
I also want to know about this. Lots of opinions here and quite disjointed. I got the 7800GTX in December and thinking if I should go ahead and get the X1900 XT instead. Is it worth the extra 200 bucks I will have to put in getting the X1900 XT?
 
KickAssCop said:
I also want to know about this. Lots of opinions here and quite disjointed. I got the 7800GTX in December and thinking if I should go ahead and get the X1900 XT instead. Is it worth the extra 200 bucks I will have to put in getting the X1900 XT?
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i would get a another gig of ram or a 2gb kit for the 200 in your case
 
If you have a 7800GTX, 7800GT, 7800GTX512, X1800XL, or X1800XT and you are not satisfied with its performance in current applications of any variety then go ahead and sell it now as you will get the most money selling it while its still somewhat good. If you are satisfied then keep it. Simple question tough to answer I realize. I see the X1900XT as a good future investment until DX10 comes out.
 
KickAssCop said:
I also want to know about this. Lots of opinions here and quite disjointed. I got the 7800GTX in December and thinking if I should go ahead and get the X1900 XT instead. Is it worth the extra 200 bucks I will have to put in getting the X1900 XT?
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Your money is better spent on a faster CPU. You need 2.6-3.0ghz of dual core X2 to really see the power of the 7800GTX and better yet a X1900XT
 
R1ckCa1n said:
Your money is better spent on a faster CPU. You need 2.6-3.0ghz of dual core X2 to really see the power of the 7800GTX and better yet a X1900XT
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He's already got a 4400+, a faster CPU isn't going to help him that much. Sure the faster the better, but at high resolutions and detail, most modern games are far more GPU limited.

Acording to your recomendation an X2 4800+ @ stock 2.4 isn't fast enough, and that's simply not the case. I just oc'd my 4800+ to 2.6, and while my 3DMark score went up about 400 points, I couldn't tell the difference in F.E.A.R. or any game for that matter.

While you'll always want a fast CPU, you're going to get a lot more out of a GPU upgrade with a 4400+.
 
R1ckCa1n said:
Your money is better spent on a faster CPU. You need 2.6-3.0ghz of dual core X2 to really see the power of the 7800GTX and better yet a X1900XT
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Hi Rickcain, I am on a budget and the max I can get possibly is an X2 3800+. If I do get that, I will still not be able to get 2 gigs of ram. My 7800GTX is doing ok. I get 8466 3dmark05 and 4144 3dmark06 if that accounts for anything.

My 3500+ is a clawhammer so it only does 2.6 GHz maximum. I doubt a 2.6 dual core will provide with much gains since most games are not using dual core anyways (atleast not now or in next 2-3 months I reckon).

I really want an X1900 XT, but I am contemplating if ram is worth my while or not. I cannot find a decent pair of 2*1GB sticks in my country and my clawhammer overclock can possibly hurt with 4*512 MB sticks (I do wonder, how much performance impact would be going back to 2.2 GHz, since uptil now, I never ran the processor at stock). lol.

P.S. Heatlesssun, Rick was talking about me, not the OP.
 
KickAssCop said:
Hi Rickcain, I am on a budget and the max I can get possibly is an X2 3800+. If I do get that, I will still not be able to get 2 gigs of ram. My 7800GTX is doing ok. I get 8466 3dmark05 and 4144 3dmark06 if that accounts for anything.

My 3500+ is a clawhammer so it only does 2.6 GHz maximum. I doubt a 2.6 dual core will provide with much gains since most games are not using dual core anyways (atleast not now or in next 2-3 months I reckon).

I really want an X1900 XT, but I am contemplating if ram is worth my while or not. I cannot find a decent pair of 2*1GB sticks in my country and my clawhammer overclock can possibly hurt with 4*512 MB sticks (I do wonder, how much performance impact would be going back to 2.2 GHz, since uptil now, I never ran the processor at stock). lol.

P.S. Heatlesssun, Rick was talking about me, not the OP.
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I would Get a Venice (3200+ or 3500+) or a Opty (144, 146, 148) and over clock it, you will probably have the same limit 2.6-2.8 but you can use 4 sticks with out setting the memory to 333, the mem controller is better so more speed there, and finally you also add support for SSE3. Then get two more 512s and you should be set.

Alot of games right now run 10x better with more then a gig of ram, and F.E.A.R. Is about the only game that would run noticebly better with the X1900 over the GTX. I would say for anyone with a GTX if you can sell it for $400 or $450 it might be a good Idea, but outside HDR+AA I really don't see the performance increase worth and extra $200-$250.
 
Actually x1900xt runs noticebly better in EVERY GAME over the 7800GTX 256MB version. Nv did a great marketing job with the 7800gtx 512mb version using the same name while being clocked about 25%-35% higher/preformance. Really confuses the issue when everyone compares the x1900xt to an unavialible and more expensive card.
 
The way I see it is that 1900XT brings a 35-45% increase in performance in DX9 based new titles over a 7800GTX 256, in OGL ATI still can't clearly cut it though, If you can sell yr card fo $450.00 then why not enjoy the perfromance gain NOW and also enjoy a higher selling price for yr card before G71...
 
I'm probably going to unload my GTX 256 too. It's a monster true, but it could use some pop in FEAR and CoD2 for instance. The ATi philosophy of more shader power struck a chord with me. Like it made sense. Why does FEAR make my mighty card it's bitch? Oh, it's very shader heavy. I'm not certain the ratio is perfect. Like hell what if NV's strike is being planned 24 texture units with 2 shader units a piece? Certainly a better balance, but NV will end up with a core even bigger then the x1900! I wouldn't be surprised. Nvidia broke the ROP 1:1:1 relationship as well. I'm sure NV knows what FEAR needs. But this is all you standard second guessing crap that I don't let get in my way. :D

Ati did a good job. I was worried about games like FEAR. The whole just add pipelines trick didn't look like it would be enough for high res FEAR gaming. If the GTX just had two quads added it would still likely lose in FEAR. Well, NV was king for a long time. I'm interested in what's up there sleeve.

It all comes down to the kind of money you got and what you can get for your original card. How can we tell someone on a tight budget to spend $150+ to upgrade? But at the same time I realize we don't all need to worry about that. Unlike some I see no issue going swapping out high ends for more high ends. Fact of the matter is I can't play FEAR the way I want. I even DON'T play it because I know a new card might be in my future and I have other games I need to finish anyways. So I may likely do that which makes me happy... upgrade. The guys more careful with there money probably don't have 24" monitors either. I can bring my GTX to it's knees very easily right now. Be one thing if it was tossing game around but there are a few gotchas. Exactly the games the XT really excel in. So the peanut gallery comments don't matter. :D
 
texuspete00 said:
I'm probably going to unload my GTX 256 too. It's a monster true, but it could use some pop in FEAR and CoD2 for instance. The ATi philosophy of more shader power struck a chord with me. Like it made sense. Why does FEAR make my mighty card it's bitch? Oh, it's very shader heavy. I'm not certain the ratio is perfect. Like hell what if NV's strike is being planned 24 texture units with 2 shader units a piece? Certainly a better balance, but NV will end up with a core even bigger then the x1900! I wouldn't be surprised. Nvidia broke the ROP 1:1:1 relationship as well. I'm sure NV knows what FEAR needs. But this is all you standard second guessing crap that I don't let get in my way. :D

Ati did a good job. I was worried about games like FEAR. The whole just add pipelines trick didn't look like it would be enough for high res FEAR gaming. If the GTX just had two quads added it would still likely lose in FEAR. Well, NV was king for a long time. I'm interested in what's up there sleeve.

It all comes down to the kind of money you got and what you can get for your original card. How can we tell someone on a tight budget to spend $150+ to upgrade? But at the same time I realize we don't all need to worry about that. Unlike some I see no issue going swapping out high ends for more high ends. Fact of the matter is I can't play FEAR the way I want. I even DON'T play it because I know a new card might be in my future and I have other games I need to finish anyways. So I may likely do that which makes me happy... upgrade. The guys more careful with there money probably don't have 24" monitors either. I can bring my GTX to it's knees very easily right now. Be one thing if it was tossing game around but there are a few gotchas. Exactly the games the XT really excel in. So the peanut gallery comments don't matter. :D
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Exactly. The 7800GTX is a very good card, but games such as Fear and COD2 run slow on it. I think alot of it is attributed to lazy developers who don't take pride in optimizing their game engines. Also, I don't think another 7800GTX is a solution because it's not that much cheaper than a x1900xt and the overall performance will still be less than the x1900xt in alot of newer games. I'd rather just sell the 7800GTX and get a new single slot solution. I know the G71 should be good, but the x1900 cards are available now. I know it seems impatient, but it's easy to get impatient when you have games such as FEAR and COD2 because they don't run well at 1680x1050.
 
I just sold my 7800 GTX (which is being stepped up to a 512 through evga) for a X1900XTX cuz of the amount I will be able to get for the new card. I will give my input aobut hte update tomorrow when i get the X1900 XTX.

Cooter
 
i would just wait until G80 and r600 or whatever ATI brings to the table. 200 bucks for a slight gain and y jump to the 1900xtx or whatnot when for all we know G71 will kick the crap out of the 1900xtx(not saying it will or it might) then there will be rants about Gee, should i upgrade again to the 7900GTX??
 
Dark_fire said:
i would just wait until G80 and r600 or whatever ATI brings to the table. 200 bucks for a slight gain and y jump to the 1900xtx or whatnot when for all we know G71 will kick the crap out of the 1900xtx(not saying it will or it might) then there will be rants about Gee, should i upgrade again to the 7900GTX??
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I can see waiting until the G71 comes out, but waiting until the G80 or R600 is not a good solution IMO. I want to use my x2 4400+ to its max potential.
 
In 2 months when the G71 is released everyone who purchased a 1900xt/x is going to ask if its worth the upgrade to the 7900... sick cycle :rolleyes:
 
so you say that a 7800gt 256 does not run cod2 with its full potential?\
i have a 6600gt and am waiting till dirX10 arrives to buy a new card..and i have had no problems with running cod2. my card has 128 mb of ram and 8 pixel piplines.
do you know this from experience at all? or are you just saying that.
 
omg_wtf_haxz said:
so you say that a 7800gt 256 does not run cod2 with its full potential?\
i have a 6600gt and am waiting till dirX10 arrives to buy a new card..and i have had no problems with running cod2. my card has 128 mb of ram and 8 pixel piplines.
do you know this from experience at all? or are you just saying that.
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please undestand the issue when u have a 1920x1080 resolution monitor or higher
 
well i would hafta say do NOT upgrade, i have a 6800gt not a 7800gtx but still: im waiting for dx10 before i upgrade, it just doesn't seem worth it there isn't a game i have that i can't play at on my 2405 at native resolutions. granted there could be here soon but honestly im not excited over any of the games coming out in the near future. anyway, goodluck
 
If only the x1900xt were $499. Oh well, I paid $549 for mine and I don't regret it. I stepped up from a 850XT and I can finally play EVERY game at 1600x1200 or 1920x1200 for the few games I own that support that rez. This is with 16AF and at least 2xAA and all other in game settings set to the max. This is the way gaming is supposed to be. It's so smooth. I have to try out overclocking on the card and see what gains in performance I can get.
 
omg_wtf_haxz said:
so you say that a 7800gt 256 does not run cod2 with its full potential?\
i have a 6600gt and am waiting till dirX10 arrives to buy a new card..and i have had no problems with running cod2. my card has 128 mb of ram and 8 pixel piplines.
do you know this from experience at all? or are you just saying that.
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Yes, I own COD2 on the PC. I know from first hand experience. I've tested with FRAPs and with my own eyes. It gets choppy. COD2 on the PC is an example of piss poor optimization.
 
I'd be willing to bet in a blind taste test you wouldnt notice the diffrence between these two cards.... The X1900XTX, the GTX 512mb or the unrelease Nvidia 7900 will only get you better benchmarking numbers. Save your money!!!
 
Just remember, graphic cards come out all the time. Stayin up to date will probably cost you more for less of a performanec increase, but from what I"ve seen, X1900XTX has been killing Nvidia cards =) so, if you've got the money to burn, do it =D
 
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