What GPU is better at $300 Nvidia or ATI?

[lancer]

Just as the title, says if i were to spend $300 on a GPU, who should i go with. I've always been a fan of nvidia, but (and don't laugh) since i downsized to a 9800 pro, i was so taken aback by the performance... i started to think about ATI again, but i've also heard mixed reviews about the x800 line as well.

But perhaps the new line is better.

Either way could someone give me some advice on this..? thanks

 

[zeke_mo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150165

Comes with tomb raider legend as well Great game and a great card, probably about 300 shipped



edit:
Forgot to ask, do you have AGP or PCI-e?

 

[lancer]

it'll be pci-e its for a new system

 

[lancer]

i found this, seems a lot faster

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130016

xfx
core clock: 470
mem clock: 1370

evga
core clock: 580MHz
mem clock: 1580MHz

its about $20 more.

 

[LordOfLA]

Investigate the X1950XTX (i think it was xtx) I'ts listed up around £370 ove rher in the uk, I'm not sure where it would stand with your budget (I'm guessing your budget is over here and the ati cards is waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy over here ->)

 

[madmatt]

ATI X1950 XTX - $549.00 - Available second week of September

 

[zeke_mo]

i found this, seems a lot faster

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130016

xfx
core clock: 470
mem clock: 1370

evga
core clock: 580MHz
mem clock: 1580MHz

its about $20 more.

But you dont get tomb raider....

 

[ShepsCrook]

The 7900GT is going to be the best bang for your buck.

 

[iceman7311]

ati for sure. they have better iq and in my openion better bang for the buck. i believe once the x1850xtx come out i read the msrp for the 1900xt goes down to 299.(im not for sure on that) either that or get a 1800xt 512 mb.

btw. i have a nvidia right now and it works great for anyone who thinks i am bias

 

[LeeJend]

Nvidia, 7900GT at your price. ATI's run much hotter and performance per dollar is lower.

The X800 line is not worth stepping up from a 9800 PRO except for the 850XT, but that is a hot, noisy power pig. The X800 line is essentially dead now, replaced by the 1800 line (hot power pigs) which was replaced with the 1900 line (better heat control but not significantly faster). Both the 1800 and 1900 lines are overpriced and power pigs compared to nvidia product.

Nvidia has the technology edge with smaller geometry chips that mean cheaper and cooler.

 

[Sazar]

The new cards from ati will bring down the price points. Wait till then and nvidia's refresh.

The 7950GT might just fall into that range.

 

[lancer]

again the $300 dollar was just a figure to work from, i don't want to spend any more than $400 as thats just a waste.... but i want to get the newest or second newest card out... the pc i'm going to build is one that i want to last at least 2 yrs. But dual gpu support is not something i am interested in though.

Ok let work from $400 and personal experiences with the cards are more important than the price.

 

[LeeJend]

I know you said dual card was of no interest, but if you have an SLI MB the best bet will be:

Wait until the 7950GT launches at $299 and then get 2 surplus 7900GT's for under $200 each (they can already be had for $229 with rebate). You could get one and wait but the risk of matching a card for SLI 6-12 months from now is high, especially with a model that will be going out of production.

Hmm, looking at theperformance numbers I think I just talked myself into a 7900GT this fall if the price drops as I expect.


PS Anyone else notice the number of different video cards at newegg is dropping radically. Last spring they were pushing 1000, last week it was 829 tonight it's only 711.

 

[lancer]

so do you really think two 7900gts will be much faster than the 7950 or the next gen cards?

plus the board i will get will be sli, onyl because all the ones with the features i want always seem to have sli on them.

 

[LeeJend]

Which 7950, the GT ($299) or the GX2 ($500-560?

A 7950GT is a single core, slight upgrade over the 7900GT ~5-10% faster.

The 7950GX2 is a dual core card clocked a little slower than a 7950GT about the same as a 7900GT. Since it is already dual core SLI in one slot it will run 20-50% faster than an equivalent single core video card.

2 7900GT's ($400 total) may be a little faster or about the same as a 7950GX2 depending on the game engine.

The 7950GX2 will blow away a either a 7900GT or a 7950GX2. A 7950GX2 will also allow a quad SLI system with a dual slot MB (verify a particular card/MB supports this before buying). Even though the 7950GX2 comes standard with 1 gig ram it is not really one gig, it is 512 per GPU just like other high end SLI pairs. It does represent twice the ram of a pair of 7900GT's.

Yes, SLI seems to be standard now on the "better" featured boards. Only the discount boards lack SLI.

Best bang for the buck right now would be 2 7900GT's running SLI.

 

[Aprox]

It seems as if it has been mentioned a few times now already, but I would wait for the 7950 GT later this month. They will be around $299 as Leejend stated. Although the 7900sli setup does sound temping, if you went with the 7950GT you could always buy a 2nd one of those down the road as I am sure there prices will fall when the DX10 cards come to market.

 

[Tuffgong4]

I think you will do great with a Nvidia 7950GT or the Ati x1950 Pro that is coming out soon. Both will be in the 299 range and will both have 256MB of memory.

 

[Aprox]

The 7950 GT is rumoured to be a 512MB card, also having 24 pixel pipelines.

 

[Aprox]

Just to confirm it, the 7900GS and 7950GT were officially annoucned by Nvida today. The 7950 is indeed a 512 MB card.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTE2MCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==