The fish Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 I'm getting a new PC and i'm wandering which graphics card set up I should get. Any ideas? The options are: 256MB RADEON X850 CROSSFIRE Master+256MB RADEON X800XL PCI Express as slave. Or: 256MB RADEON X1800XL PCI Express The Crossfire card set up is more powerful and efficient, as all graphics processing jobs are more split between the 2 cards' GPUs, but will go out of date slightly sooner and will not support DirectX 10(I have no plans of getting Vista, by the way). The single X1800XL, however, can do higher quality images. The other performance related specs are: CPU AMD® ATHLON® 64BIT 3700 (San Diego) 1MB RAM 1024 MB DDR400 PC3200 Motherboard ASUS® A8R-MVP: DUAL DDR, S-ATA, 2 x x16 VGA, 3 PCI Any ideas? Oh, and no one is to say "Get an Nvidia card instead! They are teh r0XX0r!!!1", because you will be shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 If your getting a crossfire motherboard, I would just go with the 1800 and get it a friend when I need the extra power later. While we're here, I'm planning on giving my computer a nice juicy upgarde soon. Do you think I should just go ahead and get that 7900 I've been dreamaing of, or wait until those new DX10 cards turn up? When are they comming anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The fish Posted May 1, 2006 Author Share Posted May 1, 2006 I mean "Powerful" when talking about performance, as in framerates etc. As for you, gaggle, I say wait if you want one-they are coming in June with vista, apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 You never know when you'll come across something that needs that extra bit of oomph, and a single 1800 should do the job until that happens. By then you'll have a little extra cash to get it a workmate. Never hurts to keep that extra slot aside for when you really want it. Vista isn't out 'till next year though. Curse you Microsoft and you ineficant work practices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jordan Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Hang a on sec, why is the X1800 the slave and not the X850? Also, these days for the money (although i'd never thought i'd say this) i'd go for the GeForce 7800GT or GTX and if you want that little bit more the 7900GT/GTX. If anything, your best bet would be just to get an X850 for the mean time and then buy a direct X 10 card when they come out around Vista's launch (Jan, Feb/March) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 DX10 cards are due out this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Are you sure? I've been hearing mumrings here and there about these new G80 units, but I'll find WMDs in Iraq before I find an expected release date. Do you have a link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The fish Posted May 1, 2006 Author Share Posted May 1, 2006 Hang a on sec, why is the X1800 the slave and not the X850? Read it again, it says X800 as slave, there is no 1. Oh, and it's between these two setups because they are part of a special deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jordan Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Going blind... sorry. DX10 cards are due out this summer. No seriously you're not gunna see a DX10 card before Vista ships. Vista was delayed till Jan 2007 for consumers so you're not gunna see a DX10 card before then. After all, DX10 is Vista only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintendofan64 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 I Agree With Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The fish Posted May 1, 2006 Author Share Posted May 1, 2006 So, which of the 2 setups do you think I should get? Remeber, I'm not planning on getting Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintendofan64 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 256MB RADEON X850 CROSSFIRE Master+256MB RADEON X800XL PCI Will BE Your Better Option As It is Made To Run XP I Wouldnt go for the other one as i have heard of lots of faults what it has. 256MB RADEON X850 CROSSFIRE Master+256MB RADEON X800XL PCI: Wil Be Your Best Bet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The fish Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 Hmm...thanks for your help. I could alternativly get an X1900XTX which can run DirectX 10 games that are still on XP. The Crossfire card set up is expensive though-about the same as the X1900XTX would cost. The X1800XL is the cheapest of the 3 options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 I've been thinking about getting an X1900XT actually, after reading some good things about them. You've got it sorted Fish, I've decided to join you and graze contentidly in DX9 pastures green. Is it worth the extra £50 for those slightly higher speeds on the X1900XTX? Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadKill Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 No. The X1900XTX is only clocked very marginally higher. You could probably overclock the difference and pocket the price difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christophicus Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I was glancing through the latest issue of Custom pc and they said that due to the 7900 series that there is only a £10 difference between x1900xt and xtx's, so go for the XTX as it will overclock further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I'm fairly certain that the XTXs are already overclocked XTs. I'm not a big fan of overclocking things myself, what with it voiding your warranty and all, and I can't afford a replacement if it goes pair shaped. I'm happy with pocketing the extra £30 for the minor compromise though. Get BF2 or something with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 The chance of something going wrong with overclocking is quite remote if you do it properly, especially only a 30mhz upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christophicus Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 I'm fairly certain that the XTXs are already overclocked XTs. I'm not a big fan of overclocking things myself, what with it voiding your warranty and all, and I can't afford a replacement if it goes pair shaped. I'm happy with pocketing the extra £30 for the minor compromise though. Get BF2 or something with that. If you overclock an XT and an XTX the XTX should overclock further ,even if it is only a marginal difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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