Another video card

[Handruin]

Last week I RMA'ed my sapphire ATI 1900XTX back to newegg under warranty. I had this card for roughly 6-8 months before I had some serious issues with it. I got an e-mail from an RMA agent this afternoon stating they no longer offer this card or a comparable replacement to it so they are willing to issue me a full refund of money to my credit card (not store credit).

I have up to $350 to spend on a new card (which is being refunded). What cards are out there right now that would be at least comparable to a 1900XTX if not better for less (or the same) money? Has anyone bought a recent graphics card for moderate to high end gaming in that past several months? I don't need to spend all $350 on a replacement, I'm just looking for some opinions. The sapphire was a PCIe 16x with 512MB ram.

 

[ddrueding]

I think the most obvious answer is an 8800GTS 320MB. Unless you still want ATI, in which case an X1950Pro is probably your best bet.

 

[Handruin]

That's a strange amount of RAM (320MB). I'll have to read up on that card. The x1950Pro is an AGP, so I can't go that route (unless if they have a PCIe in the same model, which I'll have to go look).

How are the newer ATI's in the 2000 series? Are they something to be avoided? I guess the better question to ask is which card manufacturer is the best these days, and I don't mean ATI vs nvidia, but something like HIS vs XFX for example?

 

[Chewy509]

That's a strange amount of RAM (320MB). I'll have to read up on that card. The x1950Pro is an AGP, so I can't go that route (unless if they have a PCIe in the same model, which I'll have to go look).

How are the newer ATI's in the 2000 series? Are they something to be avoided? I guess the better question to ask is which card manufacturer is the best these days, and I don't mean ATI vs nvidia, but something like HIS vs XFX for example?

I think he means this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161093 .

Can't really tell you about manufacturers, since these days I normally just use the integrated gfx. However I've always liked Asus and Gigabyte boards, and the Powercolor boards I've been using recently (only about 4-5) have been pretty good as well. But haven't heard any major compaints about XFX, eVGA, BFG, etc, either. I've used a few HIS cards in the past, and they weren't the best (but this is back in the R7000 era). But that's over 4yrs ago, and things have probably changed since then.

 

[Mercutio]

I have had to RMA a BFG 768MB 8800GTX twice (my ex gave it to me...). The cooling solution on those cards is woefully inadequate in my opinion, even in non-overclocked and well-ventilated systems. I have one in my gaming system and I'm utterly afraid to use that PC to play games now.

Also I half-suspect that the last time my 8800 died, it took my PSU with it, since that PC occasionally fails to start on a warm reboot now.

These problems are not outside my expectation for an nVidia card, though I might've hoped that a top-end card from a premium manufacturer would work better than that.

The 8800s IIRC use a 96/192-bit data path (or somesuch) rather than 128 or 256 or whatever, to take advantage of much lower costs of certain older memory modules rather than the premium price of high density ones. That's what I read, anyway.

Generally, I look at Gigabyte and Sapphire cards. I'd never voluntarily purchase an nVidia card. I will say BFG's RMA process was quick and painless, but since their offices are within driving distance for me, maybe that's not always the case.

There's certainly nothing wrong with 2x00 ATI cards, other than the fact that they're a little overpriced or underpowered for what they're expected to do. At this point you might as well wait for a new generation of chips; the current generation will fall in price or perhaps there will be another major leap in performance.

 

[ddrueding]

There's certainly nothing wrong with 2x00 ATI cards, other than the fact that they're a little overpriced or underpowered for what they're expected to do.

This is my impression as well, thence the recommendation of nVidia. But I suspect the performance difference is small enough to not make much difference if you have a preference/bias.

PUI

 

[Fushigi]

I think he means this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161093 .

Or maybe this one to stay with Sapphire (X1950Pro, 512MB, PCI-e). This is the one I purchased in May and it works great. While I'm not a gamer I have stressed it by running the GPU Folding client.

 

[LiamC]

The 8x00 series cards (NVIDIA) have have their shader units connected to a number of Raster Operator Partitions (ROP) units. Each ROP has a 64-bit path to memory. The 8800GTX has 6 of these, giving it a total memory bus width of 384 bits. The 8800GTS has 5 ROPs, giving it a a 320 bit path to memory. This is why these cards come with:
8800GTX 384 (well it could) or 768MB RAM
8800GTS 320 or 640MB RAM.

8600 only has 2 ROPs—128-bit path to memory, with common RAM sizes of 128MB and 256MB.

FWIW, I think the X1950Pro is the value card of choice for gaming unless you must have DX10 functionality.

 

[cjstaples]

Did someone say nVidia?

Starting to pick up a LOT of buzz over the new 8800GT series cards hitting the street now. The reviews are, to say the least, mildly positive...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=1

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce_8800_gt/

 

[Mercutio]

A cool-running nVidia card remains an oxymoron.

 

[LiamC]

Starting to pick up a LOT of buzz over the new 8800GT series cards hitting the street now. The reviews are, to say the least, mildly positive...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=1

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce_8800_gt/

I'll add this link
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/13479

and it does look good. But I keep hearing great things about ATi's next HD 38xx, and that's something I didn't hear about the 2900. New it was going to be less than impressive before it launched. Should know in a couple of weeks...

 

[ddrueding]

The only things I'm hearing about the 38xx are at the end of 8800GT reviews, and they all start with "ATI called us, and says their next card is going to be great".

 

[Handruin]

Well, it has been a while but I did find a replacement for my failed ATI 1900XTX. I bought an EVGA 8800GT super clocked edition after finding it back in stock at newegg.

When compared to the 1900XTX, it kills it in everything that I've tried so far. My desktop video quality seems great, movie video quality seems great, fan noise is absent from this card even when gaming (something the ATI was not good at). The only time I mildly hear the fan is during system boot, but then it goes back to a slow and virtually silent spin.

I'm actually worried; it can't be this good can it? There has to be something wrong with it, it's an nvidia of course? Well, I tried all my normal games and all I can say is oblivion on max quality settings at 1600x1200 is buttery smooth without a peep from the fan on the graphics card (that wasn't the same from the 1900XTX).

Time will tell if this card cast lasts any length of time unlike the previous card I bought. This card was also just under $100 less than the ATI I bought about a year ago and it comes with a game.

 

[ddrueding]

The 8800GT is supposed to be one awesome card, the best on the market by far. I don't know why I don't have one yet, even though my games are fine @ 1920x1080. Perhaps the expansion for Supreme Commander will encourage the replacement...

 

[Mercutio]

The cooling system on the bigger 8800s is very nice, until the point when it breaks.

 

[MaxBurn]

I know the fan on the x1950xtx is way better than the x1900xtx, think those were dubbed dust buster along with some of the early nvidia's.

 

[Clocker]

Doug-
I assume you got a 512MB version that's based on the G92 core? Those are supposed to be very efficient. I think most people use a 3rd party app to run the fan at 50% all of the time to keep the card very cool. The default settings tend to keep the fan almost off until it gets a little on the warm side. That's what I've read anyway...

C

 

[Handruin]

Yes, I got the 512MB version. I believe you are right, the fan seems to be almost off right now. The GPU temp is about 60 degrees C while doing nothing. Do you know what tool people use to control the fan?

 

[ddrueding]

Speedfan should do the trick?

 

[Clocker]

rivatuner is what I used when I did that kind of thing.