7900GT or a x1800XT(512mb)

hey ppl

i have just finalized most of my things that i ll be keeping in my new rig next month..howeva i m yet to decide on which CPU n GPU..
i will first start with the GPU
i have been lookin forward to the 7900GT...but i may also consider a x1800xt which is almost the same price as the 7900GT....also PS that the 7900GT which i m considering is a XXX (or extreme edition) card clocked at 530/1630(factory OCed)....

so here wht i think...
x1800xt
+better IQ
+better performance in AA HDR n AF compared to 7900GT
+512MB of raw RAM
+high clock rates
+better overall design with HS on RAM
-runs hot
-big size
-dual slot
-cross fire can be exp then SLI
-not so easily upgradable
-not so good OCer
-noisy
-dual slot
-less pipes
-ATI drivers not so matured to nV's


7900GT
+better price-to-perfomance ratio
+runs cool
+very good OC
+some companies sell pre OCed card(ATI card dont have this)
+less noisy
+SLI more easily n cheaper upgradable then crossfire
+single slot
+better drivers
+good 1280 x .... perfomance
+good shaders
+more pipes
+need less wattage juice
+HD picture quality
-no HS on RAM
-slightly worse in AA HDR n AF
-slightly worse IQ
-weak HSF

n thats all


PS
1)I live in India here the daytime temp can reach a 45C mark in summers n sometime 47C....so sugg me a more cooler card
2)my room is not sooo dust proof...my case gets dusty in abut 5 days after cleanin it..so i want a easily cleanable card
3)i m planin to get a dual setup in something like 8 or 9 months...so which will be better SLI or CF
4)i will be also buying a dell 24"er...n play high resolution...


any advise sugg truly appreciated
personal advise also accepted or of any kind

BTW sorry for the extremly bad english

shado:thanks guys in advance

Why are you buying one of those cards if you are on a tight budget? :confused:

well i m mean to say that i have money to buy x1800xt/7900GT but not the x1900xtx/7900GTX......BTW those card r not sooo expensive...

Hard to go wrong with either one as far as performance goes, which is what always matters the most to me.

I hear the 7900GT runs significantly cooler and uses less power than the ATi card, so perhaps that might push you towards the 7900GT?

By the way, on the negative's list for the x1800XT, you've "dual slots" on there twice.;)

I live just a few degrees above the equator, both cards run fine over here. Though the tropical monsoon climate reaches far higher temperatures in the dry season. I think you shouldn't take heat into account.

The heatsink for ram as I mentioned in a previous post shouldn't be considered a cons either.

thx for the reply Spiff...well i wont be worried about the wattage drawn...i wont sacrifice performance for saving 2$/month on elec bills....according to VR-Zone guys the 7900GT draws something like 70watts:) n the x1800xt draws 105watts :mad:.....agrees that 7900GT runs cooler thats the main + which make me leaning towards the 7900GT...but then its only 256mb vs 512mb on the x1800xt...i currently have a 17" CRT :confused: :mad: but i m planin for a dell 24" or a dual dvi for my next upgrade when i move to ma new house...so thats the place where that 256mb diff plays the role with higher resolutions...also state that i wont be upgrading my GPU for the next 1.5 or 2 years so i would be looking for a future proof card...

BTW sorry for that "dual slot" :D :p ...


shado

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Transfurzz

I live just a few degrees above the equator, both cards run fine over here. Though the tropical monsoon climate reaches far higher temperatures in the dry season. I think you shouldn't take heat into account.

The heatsink for ram as I mentioned in a previous post shouldn't be considered a cons either.

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ya ur right...i shud not be taking that into accounts...but i still heard that the x1Kxt have noted 90C in some cooler places...anyways it sure worries me..but if its not a prob then i will not consider that..


shado

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shadow_chazzer_killer

ya ur right...i shud not be taking that into accounts...but i still heard that the x1Kxt have noted 90C in some cooler places...anyways it sure worries me..but if its not a prob then i will not consider that..


shado

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Usually hardware can take a lot more punishment than said. Whats considered quite hot for the americans and europeans here is considered normal for me. ;)

Anyway, if your so worried about heat. Why are you even considering overclocking ? ;)

ive been buying nvidia for the last cpl generations and my father always buys ati. theyu both perform great, but ive noticed my cards always are much more quiet and dont get as hot. his computer is always locking up 5 minutes into a game and it sounds like a diesel truck when hes playing lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Transfurzz

Usually hardware can take a lot more punishment than said. Whats considered quite hot for the americans and europeans here is considered normal for me. ;)

Anyway, if your so worried about heat. Why are you even considering overclocking ? ;)

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me too i have also lived in a room which was 47+C heated ;) after all im just a coupleof 1K miles away from u...anyways with the topics :D

well OCin is always a fun side for hardwares ;) ... higher OC capability shows better overall built quality...well i ll be OC one of this atleast to some extend :p ..

shado
BTW thanks for the very quick reply :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by klakalou

ive been buying nvidia for the last cpl generations and my father always buys ati. theyu both perform great, but ive noticed my cards always are much more quiet and dont get as hot. his computer is always locking up 5 minutes into a game and it sounds like a diesel truck when hes playing lol.

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locking up always happens due to crappy driver n there is no doubt that nV have better drivers then ATI..but many ppl stated that ATIs drivers have been improving greatly n have outperformed nVs in many benches in the recent years due to there drivers... but then i have never used a ATI...ATI has still got high potentials in there card for eg the x1800xt with 16pipes outperforms the 7900GT in many n even the 7900GTX in some cases tho they have 24pipes...

shado

i say whichever card you get, dont stay with the stock cooling. nvidia has the bare memory, and the fan, although quiter than ati, will still not be as silent as an accelero. that way you can oc further as well. also, where did you hear that the x1800xt doesnt oc? its a great ocer, and you can adjust voltages on it too. overall, i would say the x1800xt 512.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nails

i say whichever card you get, dont stay with the stock cooling. nvidia has the bare memory, and the fan, although quiter than ati, will still not be as silent as an accelero. that way you can oc further as well. also, where did you hear that the x1800xt doesnt oc? its a great ocer, and you can adjust voltages on it too. overall, i would say the x1800xt 512.

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when did i stated that ATI cards do not OC :confused: .....its only that they OC less then nV cards do...there have been always n issue of heat on x1800xt n then OCin it add up to that heat....
BTW i m extremely a newbie working with volts :confused: ...but i m good at learnin this things easily...
also the negative on the x1800xt says "not so good OCer"

shodo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nails

i say whichever card you get, dont stay with the stock cooling. nvidia has the bare memory, and the fan, although quiter than ati, will still not be as silent as an accelero. that way you can oc further as well. also, where did you hear that the x1800xt doesnt oc? its a great ocer, and you can adjust voltages on it too. overall, i would say the x1800xt 512.

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Bare memory poses not a problem, haven't we discussed this already ? Some of your precious HSFs don't even touch the memory. Thus trapping air between the chips and the HSF. Making them even hotter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Transfurzz

Bare memory poses not a problem, haven't we discussed this already ? Some of your precious HSFs don't even touch the memory. Thus trapping air between the chips and the HSF. Making them even hotter.

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yup agrees with u....a few cheap HS can do the job..

BTW i must state again that the 7900GT i m considering is the XXX (or xtreme) edition card which comes factory OCed upto 550/1630 Mhz ;) ....and the mem on x1800xt comes less clocked at 1500 Mhz..the core is tho clocked at 625 Mhz...
so its a higher mem clock vs higher core clock :cool: ...

shado

????????????? waiting for replies

You could always grab a used 7800GTX (256MB ones) for under $300... I think I've seen some around $250! :)

I dont understand it.the ati card is clearly the better card yet the poll shows that the nvidia is prefered. not only is the ati card better in terms of performance but the images actualy look better, isnt that the whole purpose of graphic cards ?

I'd just like to say thankyou. I am trying to decide between these same two cards. I was already leaning towards the ATI due to the 512 mb of ram, and after reading this that is definately what I am going for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bender222

I dont understand it.the ati card is clearly the better card yet the poll shows that the nvidia is prefered. not only is the ati card better in terms of performance but the images actualy look better, isnt that the whole purpose of graphic cards ?

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Thats an overclocked version. You can expect quite a bit more performance. Its actually on par with a 7900GTX. Coupled with a lower price. ;)

I did not mean to come off as rash or rude when i posted. i just honestly wanted to know why poeple obliviously flock to nvidia when ati clearly has a better product. I can understand it if you have an sli mobo and you want dual cards, but if you can afford two videocards for sli then surely you can afford a crpssfire motherboard. with the price difference on the 7900gtx alone you can afford to buy that outrageously overpriced new dfi crossfire mobo and two x1900xt's.
As a side note i actually bought that overpriced dfi r580 motherboard.... not to use crossfire, just because it is the most powerful overclocking s939 board. I dont really care that conroe was 20% faster. I will be happy with my dual core opteron @2.8+ ghz/2gb of DDR1/x1900xt system.

heh, looks like we got pretty much the same system. i also agree that the x1800xt is a better card. so what if the 7900gt is an oc, the x1800xt ocs as well... if you dont believe me, heres some info http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ht=x1800xt+air

the only major point of diff between the 7900GT OCed n x1800xt is that the later has a 512mb ...if a x1800xt(256mb)=1x7900GT in most cases then the the x1800xt(512mb) must be equal to 2x7900GT in most cases m i right ppl....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by proxops-pete

You could always grab a used 7800GTX (256MB ones) for under $300... I think I've seen some around $250! :)

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i m not really intrested in a used one....7900GT OCed is way better then the 7800GTX(256mb) n r available for around the 300$ mark....so no point in buying a used 7800GTX...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bender222

I dont understand it.the ati card is clearly the better card yet the poll shows that the nvidia is prefered. not only is the ati card better in terms of performance but the images actualy look better, isnt that the whole purpose of graphic cards ?

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That depends... imo, the image quality difference is sacrificial only to frames! If you don't play much FPS games, I'd choose ATI. But for raw power, I'd go with 7900GT.