New Graphics Card

[YegaDoyai]

K so it's time to do an upgrade (Vista has been pushed back, current gen cards are likely to be around for a while till DX10 gets sorted). So, what to get.

X1900GT 256MB - £150
7900GT 256MB - £180
X1900XT 512 MB - £210

Remembering I have a sempron system, I think the XT may be taking it too far.

Anyone got any suggestions?

[Sid]

7900GT 256MB - £180

[DAve]

Get something you can flash upwards - I've managed to get a 6800LE to work at 6800 speeds. I'm not entirely sure what current graphics cards can do this.

[YegaDoyai]

the flash up is good if you are on a budget and don't mind your component dying. The current crop of GTs are all open for unlocking but frankly the horror stories scare me off. That is not an option, neither is volt modding. However, simple OC is ok and the 7900GT is a beast, but then the XT is a beast ANYWAY, and it OC quite well.

[Strings]

7900GT from the feedback I've heard from others. You could probably even pick up a GTX for around the same price second hand :)

[YegaDoyai]

From all accounts the 7900GT is the worst card Nvidia have ever produced. There have been more RMAs of that card then any of thier previous. Thier factory OC'd cards are frequently found to be unstable and generally it does not sound so good.

From looking at several sites and forums

X1900GT < 7900GT << X1900XT

However as the overlap between the X1900GT and 7900GT is very small (most games there is little more than 5% in it and sometimes the ATI is better) then the X1900GT wins out in price/performance.

From what I've read the 7900GT is one of the best cards for overclocking but requires a volt mod to get the best out of it. The X1900GT is a rebadged XT or XT-X so sometimes has unlockable pipes but more often than not you'll kill your card in the flash process. It clocks quite well (new 90nm process) but not as far as the 7900GT with voltmod. The X1900XT is the 90nm process, does not OC that far (about 5-8% average from stock). But outperforms SLI'd 7800GTs @ stock speeds.

The X1900XT is now available for just £200 and completely pisses all over them both so looks like the only option. It also means I get 512MB rather than 256MB which is all the other two have. Last two cards have been ATI because I couldn't get/afford the Nvidia I wanted. This will be the first time I buy an ATI and actually want it. Thinking about it, I've actually tried to get Nvidia since the TNT2 but that didn't work on my MOBO so I went for the Matrox G400 instead. Then I got the Radeon rather than waiting for the GeForce 2 (stupid, stupid mistake). Then I got the X700Pro because noone had the 6600GT in stock or be able to get it to me for the Lan weekend last year. This year I have an option of Nvidia but all the numbers tell me it is a waste. Hmmmmm..............

[Bluepixie]

ATi seems like the way to go then. Maybe better to stay with them as well, their physics solution does sounds much better than the Nvidia proposal. Mind you, ATi generally looks better on paper (and is) but is then not supported to the same degree as it's competitor.