7900GT the sweetspot?

C

Chris583

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
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I'm looking for the sweet spot of performance and value GPU for under 300$. The eVGA 7900GT KO or CO seem to be it. I'm building a rig with nzxt lexa case, ultra *X-2* 550W PSU, Conroe C2D-E6600-2.4GHz proc., XFI Sound Card, undecided about mobo and ram likely asus or gigabyte and for ram corsair. I'm thinking of getting the GIGABYTE GA-965P I hear good things about it.

PC usage will be a mix of dvd watching, game playing like BF2, CSS and Oblivion, and some adobe suite work plus the chance of some video editting. But mostly I want a card that is good for next-gen FPS games and DVDs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130033
is that my best bet?

Thanks!!
 
ahh...that definitely looks like a sweet ATI card. I am just concerned with the cooling/and noise of this card versus the other. And as far as power consumption a 550W Ultra X-2 Modular should handle it fine right?
 
Chris583 said:
ahh...that definitely looks like a sweet ATI card. I am just concerned with the cooling/and noise of this card versus the other. And as far as power consumption a 550W Ultra X-2 Modular should handle it fine right?
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Yeah and performance wise the x1800xt and the 7900GT are about the same, except in Oblivion where the x1800xt is noticably faster. Plus the x1800XT does HDR+AA and HQ AF.
 
xt a little more pricey and you can get the 7900gt for $220-230 after rebates but its your choice. Remember do you want to conisder a sli or crossfire rig later? take that in your consideration
 
radeon x1800xt

it uses the same cooler as the x1900XT an isnt really loud at all unless under heavy load an a really hot room! i never hear mine , even when gaming
 
CrAzYsPyDeR said:
radeon x1800xt

it uses the same cooler as the x1900XT an isnt really loud at all unless under heavy load an a really hot room! i never hear mine , even when gaming
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I ran one in an air conditioned room with the side of the case open and it was definitely loud to the point of annoyance. If you're at all interested in silence, do NOT get one of those coolers.
 
Now that Nvidia has fixed the problem with the ram I would say yes...the 7900GT is the sweet spot for price/performance. With a little bit of overclocking you can actually have a card that runs cooler, quieter and draws less power than the X1800XT and even wins in some of the benchmarks....this is remarkable considering the 7900GT is mid range and the X1800XT was ATI's top dog not long ago.
 
joemama said:
Now that Nvidia has fixed the problem with the ram I would say yes...the 7900GT is the sweet spot for price/performance. With a little bit of overclocking you can actually have a card that runs cooler, quieter and draws less power than the X1800XT and even wins in some of the benchmarks....this is remarkable considering the 7900GT is mid range and the X1800XT was ATI's top dog not long ago.
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even overclocked, the 7900gt still cant do hdr + aa :) x1800xt for the win
 
joemama said:
this is remarkable considering the 7900GT is mid range and the X1800XT was ATI's top dog not long ago.
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If a 7900GT is a mid range then what range is a 7600 series in?
 
waltherone said:
Man, I've still not figured out wtf "qft" means. What is it??
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Quoted For Truth.

Well, does ATI drivers have the control panel similar to Nvidia's or something? I went through ATI's site and saw those Catalyst things, but i'm still clueless to it.

Gah. I hate Oblivion.
 
Now that the new "fixed" cards are available from eVGA, I'm ready to finally pull the trigger. Only thing I'm still undecided about is whether to get the 7900GT or the GTX.

To be totally honest, I have yet to even play a single video game. And I went the total n00b route; buying a barebones Dell XPS 600 case, mobo and PSU off eBay. I'm currently waiting for the Intel price drop and the release of the pentium-D 945, due on July 23. But as soon as that chip is available I want to order one and when it gets delivered, I'd like to have all the other parts ready to install as well.

I can't wait to start gaming with my new rig. So, for a really new person to gaming, what would you guys think? Will a GT serve my needs, or should I take the plunge with the GTX which cost almost twice as much as a GT? Oh, and I have an SLI capable mobo, which means i can always add another GT later on. Of course, I could also do SLi with two GTX cards as well. Just kind of thinking that would be overkill.

Would like to here some comments from anyone, especially those of you who are currently running either a 7900Gt or GTX in single configuration or SLI.
 
Gravestone Doji said:
Now that the new "fixed" cards are available from eVGA, I'm ready to finally pull the trigger. Only thing I'm still undecided about is whether to get the 7900GT or the GTX.

To be totally honest, I have yet to even play a single video game. And I went the total n00b route; buying a barebones Dell XPS 600 case, mobo and PSU off eBay. I'm currently waiting for the Intel price drop and the release of the pentium-D 945, due on July 23. But as soon as that chip is available I want to order one and when it gets delivered, I'd like to have all the other parts ready to install as well.

I can't wait to start gaming with my new rig. So, for a really new person to gaming, what would you guys think? Will a GT serve my needs, or should I take the plunge with the GTX which cost almost twice as much as a GT? Oh, and I have an SLI capable mobo, which means i can always add another GT later on. Of course, I could also do SLi with two GTX cards as well. Just kind of thinking that would be overkill.

Would like to here some comments from anyone, especially those of you who are currently running either a 7900Gt or GTX in single configuration or SLI.
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Can you even put generic parts(mobos) into a dell case? I remember long ago they used to have proprietary screw hole positioning on certain cases, but I cant remember the manufacturer. Essentially they were just trapping you into them or no one. My information is probably long out of date though.
 
I have verified that I can install any PCIe x16 video card (except the 7950 GX2, bios issues). The cards that originally came in the system have these brackets mounted on them which help guide them properly into the PCIe slot on the mobo. But I have asked and read in Dell forums that these brackets are not necessary. Everything else is pretty much standard as well. Uses 240 pin memory sticks, LGA 775 compatible mobo, and I just bought a WD 150Gb Raptor.

Still undecided about the whether to get a 7900GT or the GTX. From what I've read, the GTX is geared more towards the mega-power-user/hardcore gamer, which I am not, yet. If I do get all insane about gaming tho, I was thinking like down the road, I will probably build my next system from scratch when the DX10 cards and Vista have been out for a while. So like this system needs to at least last me a year or so. I just don't know. 7900GT then perhaps add another in SLi in a couple months if I want, or a GTX now?
 
Gravestone Doji said:
I have verified that I can install any PCIe x16 video card (except the 7950 GX2, bios issues). The cards that originally came in the system have these brackets mounted on them which help guide them properly into the PCIe slot on the mobo. But I have asked and read in Dell forums that these brackets are not necessary. Everything else is pretty much standard as well. Uses 240 pin memory sticks, LGA 775 compatible mobo, and I just bought a WD 150Gb Raptor.

Still undecided about the whether to get a 7900GT or the GTX. From what I've read, the GTX is geared more towards the mega-power-user/hardcore gamer, which I am not, yet. If I do get all insane about gaming tho, I was thinking like down the road, I will probably build my next system from scratch when the DX10 cards and Vista have been out for a while. So like this system needs to at least last me a year or so. I just don't know. 7900GT then perhaps add another in SLi in a couple months if I want, or a GTX now?
Click to expand...
If I were you I would save some money and get a 7900GT Superclock...near GTX performance at a better price. You can still go SLI later if that's not enough power for you. I play all the latest games and a single GT KO SC meets my needs just fine.
 
Gravestone Doji said:
I have verified that I can install any PCIe x16 video card (except the 7950 GX2, bios issues). The cards that originally came in the system have these brackets mounted on them which help guide them properly into the PCIe slot on the mobo. But I have asked and read in Dell forums that these brackets are not necessary. Everything else is pretty much standard as well. Uses 240 pin memory sticks, LGA 775 compatible mobo, and I just bought a WD 150Gb Raptor.

Still undecided about the whether to get a 7900GT or the GTX. From what I've read, the GTX is geared more towards the mega-power-user/hardcore gamer, which I am not, yet. If I do get all insane about gaming tho, I was thinking like down the road, I will probably build my next system from scratch when the DX10 cards and Vista have been out for a while. So like this system needs to at least last me a year or so. I just don't know. 7900GT then perhaps add another in SLi in a couple months if I want, or a GTX now?
Click to expand...

ah, I thought you were talking about installing a new mobo as well. I am still interested in the answer to that particular question if anyone knows.
 
I really don't know if I could install a standard ATX mobo into the Dell XPS 600 case. To be honest, I doubt I'd ever really want to. But as I stated, in a year or so I'm going to build a system from scratch and get a mobo and custom case to build around.

The reasons I bought this Dell bare-bones case off eBay was because it came with the nVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 MCP Motherboard, a 650w PSU, all the case fans and cables and also came with the Dell re-install disk for the Win XP OS with COA on the case. I thought for the price, ($249) this was a inexpensive way to go to build a gaming rig. And I like that I can configure it the way I want, with all after-market 3rd party parts. Although the case and psu are all still under warranty, if I have problems with any other parts I purchased, like from newegg, I won't have to deal with Dell for warranty service or support. Hence, my questions about the GT or GTX 7900.

Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. I'm going to go with an eVGA 7900GT Reload. Even comes with a pretty cool game!
 
So can someone link to the best eVGA 7900GT KO? SC? on newegg right now?

Whats the hottest card that I should get for my build?
I guess although the ATI x1800XT is similar performance to the 7900 if not better in oblivion, the GT is on par and if not accelling more in a broader sense plus it is quieter, correct? So which GT is for me? :)
Is this it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130033 ? :D
 
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