Upgrade advice 7900 GT 256 mb vs. x1800xt 512mb

[ironchefboyardee]

So I was all set to buy a 7900 GT and come back to the nVidia fold from my x800 pro days... but then tooling around on newegg, I see THIS x1800 with 512 megs of video ram on it. Any reason why I should pick the 7900 GT over it?

[hongsc]

This thread should help you decide. http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthre...highlight=poll

[ironchefboyardee]

x1800 it is!

[monroeski]

Ah, the eternal question. There are so many threads around the internet debating this, it's not even funny.

Personally, though the X1800XT is generally the winner in a strict performance comparison, the heat, power consumption, and case space argument makes me lean towards the 7900GT. Plus, the performance difference isn't REALLY that huge; it's only a big difference to real enthusiasts (though, to be honest, that's the kind of person that most of us are). Also, and this skews my personal view a bit, I've never used AA or AF, I just like to crank all the other settings, so NVidia not being able to use HDR + AA holds basically no water for me.

If they just came out with a 512mb version of the 7900GT, all our prayers would be answered. I would love to have that extra RAM for higher res textures in upcoming games.

[Soul Assassin]

x1800xt FTW.

[kpxgq]

depends on the games... but id pick the radeon as well due to the better shader performance (future titles)

[Manc]

Also, and this skews my personal view a bit, I've never used AA or AF

No disrespect, but you obviously don't know what you're missing.

[kpxgq]

No disrespect, but you obviously don't know what you're missing.

seriously.. whats the point of getting a powerful card and not even using AF??? maight as well play CS1

[Manc]

seriously.. whats the point of getting a powerful card and not even using AF??? maight as well play CS1

Exactly.

Plus, the performance difference isn't REALLY that huge

This is not meant to flame you, but it becomes more significant once you enable AA and AF.

If they just came out with a 512mb version of the 7900GT, all our prayers would be answered. I would love to have that extra RAM for higher res textures in upcoming games.

I can see your point here, higher res textures mean sweeter looking games. But even then, when offered a trade off, i.e. 1280 res with full AA and AF, or 1600 res without either, I would probably still go for the former.


Either way, I see no point whatsoever in comparing how graphics cards fare against one another without these features switched on.


I used to say I wasn't bothered about using AA and AF.


Then I got a card good enough to switch them on. Now, when considering which card to buy, which I'll be doing in the next 6 months or so, I'll be looking at how the cards stack up against one another with all these features enabled.

Because once you've been able to have them, you just can't go back.

[monroeski]

seriously.. whats the point of getting a powerful card and not even using AF??? maight as well play CS1

Good point, I suppose, but I've never gotten particularly powerful cards in the past, I usually go middle of the road. With middle of the road, there are tradeoffs to be made, and I've always preferred having more effects (like lighting, particle effects and bigger explosions on magic spells or something) to using AA and AF.