Video Card, Buy or Wait?

[the Black Prince]

Hey guys

I currently have a (pre)overclocked GeForce 6600GT PCIe from Gigabyte, which is probably the weakest link in my system right now. I'm guessing i'm going to be needing a new card for M2TW (havn't tried the demo yet, will do so over the weekend)

my question is, should i be buying a GeForce 7900GT for about £160 from scan.co.uk, or be waiting around for the 8 series when its released in november? (if its november!)

Also, i've heard that the original release will be an 8800 card, which will probably be expensive, is it known how long people would be waiting before they released a lower end version of the card (say, an 8600 if they follow current conventions)

[Shaun]

Hey guys

I currently have a (pre)overclocked GeForce 6600GT PCIe from Gigabyte, which is probably the weakest link in my system right now. I'm guessing i'm going to be needing a new card for M2TW (havn't tried the demo yet, will do so over the weekend)

my question is, should i be buying a GeForce 7900GT for about £160 from scan.co.uk, or be waiting around for the 8 series when its released in november? (if its november!)

Also, i've heard that the original release will be an 8800 card, which will probably be expensive, is it known how long people would be waiting before they released a lower end version of the card (say, an 8600 if they follow current conventions)

Well, with the 8 series cards, you also need Vista, £180, and no current games (like MTW2) use DX10 anyway, and probably wont for at least a year to come, so go with the 7900GT, is it the 256mb version or the 512?
Also, perhaps a look at the X1900 cards might change your mind, if you can get an X1900XT for less than £200 then thats a far better choice than the 7900GT.

[the Black Prince]

i love the NVidia cards... every PC i've ever owned has had an intel processor and NVidia Graphics card... lol.. i suppose its become force of habit.

didn't know 8 series was Vista only... screw that option then, no plan to buy a new o/s anytime soon.

this is the card i've been looking at, http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=470937 seems to be pretty good, though i'm no expert by any means lol.
my current card has a heat sink though, wave goodbye to my incredibly silent PC... *sighs*

[Shaun]

Well Although low end nVidia cards are better than low end ATi's, the high end ATi's are simply better than GeForces. Also, what kind of CPU do you have? How much RAM? What is your budget for a new CPU?

[Sponge]

whats better a nvidia 7900gt or an ati x1900gt?? cause iam getting a new computer and it btween these 2 cards

[Arakorn]

Just shut up already, he said he wanted a NVidia!

whats better a nvidia 7900gt or an ati x1900gt?? cause iam getting a new computer and it btween these 2 cards

The 7900 is. NVidia have GT's and GTX's best, while XT's worst. On Ati the XT'x and XTX's are best, while I think that GT is mid range.

[the Black Prince]

Intel Pentium IV 3.02 GHertz, 1024MB RAM, currently on an overclocked GeForce 6600GT PCI-e
overall machine is just over a year old, custom built, not been upgraded since the build

[Spart]

I don't think 8800-series needs Vista. Or does it? You can't use DX10 with XP, but it should still work. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Then you could just update to Vista whenever you like and you're ready to use DX10. So see how they do in tests and how much they cost, might be even worth buying. =)

[AlfonsoVIII]

Well, I would get the 7950 because of pricing around $300 and if the game lags, you will need a processor / mobo update. Try the demo and post back settings and fps.

[the Black Prince]

meh, 7950GT is a minimum of £25 up to about £80 more expensive...


hmm this one doesn't look bad
what do you think?
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=468678

[Incinerate_IV]

Get the 256mb version of the X1900XT, it beats both the Geforce 7950GT and the 7900GT while costing less (in US anyways). Since you haven't tried ATI yet, here's your perfect chance. With the X1900XT you can play with HDR and AA on at the same time, something nVIDIA cards can only dream of.

I even took the liberty to find the card for you.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=481910

[the Black Prince]

that cards not available yet, but i'll bear it in mind

as for upgrades elsewhere, i'm hoping my CPu won't need upgrading, and there's no way i'll upgrade my motherboard, lol, thats beyond me... the board (ABIT AA8 DuraMAX socket 775) can take up to 4GB DDR2 RAM in 4 sockets so thats next on my agenda

[Shaun]

You dont really need 4GB RAM, instead go with two and get a Core Duo 2, much better than your pentium.
And the Card that incinerate recommended is better than the 7900GT, although you might want to get 512mb version of the card.

[Manji]

You dont really need 4GB RAM, instead go with two and get a Core Duo 2, much better than your pentium.
And the Card that incinerate recommended is better than the 7900GT, although you might want to get 512mb version of the card.

QFT.
I used to have a Nvidia card, never game me a hint of trouble but ever since I changed to ATI i've had alot of problems but hey, it could be just bad luck.

[OTZ]

The price:performance difference is not worth it by getting the 512MB version. Most benches only show a small difference between the two cards. Since money seems to be an issue, than the 1900XT 256 is your best bet for ATI based cards. The additional RAM only seems to make a bigger difference at high resolutions.

[Speiz_Bankurt]

Here's a quick question for you guys. I am wondering if due to some colaboration between the two main cpu manufacturers and the two graphic card manufacturers, is one make of cpu more optimised for a certain graphics card? I mean, does an ATI card run better with an intel cpu or an amd? I am sure you have all heard about the imminent merger between ati and amd. I know that hasn't happened yet but can any previous colaboration be outruled?

[Spart]

Here's a quick question for you guys. I am wondering if due to some colaboration between the two main cpu manufacturers and the two graphic card manufacturers, is one make of cpu more optimised for a certain graphics card? I mean, does an ATI card run better with an intel cpu or an amd? I am sure you have all heard about the imminent merger between ati and amd. I know that hasn't happened yet but can any previous colaboration be outruled?

Yep, they merged, and maybe they'll design some weird solutions in the future. But at the moment, there's no difference between Ati+AMD or Ati+Intel combinations. The same goes with nVidia.

[Arakorn]

Nope, it's the goodness of Nvidia and crappiness of Ati!

Seriously though, I hear alot of people complaining about their ati cards saying "back in the day when I had my (good old :wink: ) NVidia card I never had any trouble." Hehe. Plus the fact that Ati can't make decent cooling systems, they're screaming like a baby, and still overheating!

[Incinerate_IV]

Nope, it's the goodness of Nvidia and crappiness of Ati!

Seriously though, I hear alot of people complaining about their ati cards saying "back in the day when I had my (good old :wink: ) NVidia card I never had any trouble." Hehe. Plus the fact that Ati can't make decent cooling systems, they're screaming like a baby, and still overheating!

nVIDIA has it's own shares of problems too you know (*cough 7900GT *cough).

Ok lets not turn this into a nVIDIA or ATI bashing thread. But at this price range ($200 - $300), a X1900XT 256mb is simply the best bang for the buck.

[OTZ]

Agreed. X1900XT for the win - at least until the X1950pro hits the shelves, which should be soon.