pick a card...any card....

[ATIonion]

I am getting ready to upgrade soon....i have most everything figured out....but what I'm not sure of is what card to use....i have 3 that i am down to....and i really really want to keep it around those prices....

x1800gto
x1900gt
x1950pro


i know the x1800gto will clock high, but can it keep up with the other two...also i am going with a pair...idk if the x19xx can go xfire without masters (tho I'm sure they can)....

pick one and let me know why you think i should go with that one...

thanks in advance:rockout:
onion

[Tatty_One]

I am getting ready to upgrade soon....i have most everything figured out....but what I'm not sure of is what card to use....i have 3 that i am down to....and i really really want to keep it around those prices....

x1800gto
x1900gt
x1950pro


i know the x1800gto will clock high, but can it keep up with the other two...also i am going with a pair...idk if the x19xx can go xfire without masters (tho I'm sure they can)....

pick one and let me know why you think i should go with that one...

thanks in advance:rockout:
onion
No generally a clocked 1800GTO wont match the 1950Pro, many 1900GT's will but I would go for the new tech and get the 1950Pro, I think the overall package is prob better however, if you really do some careful shopping, you may be able to find yourself a 256MB 1950XT that are really reasonable at the moment and Very quick. Ohhhh and for crossfire its got to be the 1950pro....as you said, no master required.

[technicks]

I say go for the X1900GT. I have the card myself and it's a very good card.
The prices are great now. You can get one for $150. My X1900GT card scores better then my X1950Pro. I nearly get 10000 points in 3dmark05.

But if you are planning to go for crossfire later on the go for the X1950Pro.
The X1900GT will give you to much loss in crossfire.

I am sure that there are multiple going to say buy the X1950 because it's better. Trust me it's not. You can't control the voltage on them, many are overheating.

Slap on a good cooler and you will have yourself a great card. Oh yeah be sure to get the first
X1900GT series they released. ATI or so. They still have the voltage control.

[hat]

x1800gto

[tkpenalty]

I say go for the X1900GT. I have the card myself and it's a very good card.
The prices are great now. You can get one for $150. My X1900GT card scores better then my X1950Pro. I nearly get 10000 points in 3dmark05.

But if you are planning to go for crossfire later on the go for the X1950Pro.
The X1900GT will give you to much loss in crossfire.

I am sure that there are multiple going to say buy the X1950 because it's better. Trust me it's not. You can't control the voltage on them, many are overheating.

Slap on a good cooler and you will have yourself a great card. Oh yeah be sure to get the first
X1900GT series they released. ATI or so. They still have the voltage control.

Wtf? X1900GTs overheat, what are you on about? X1950PROs dont overheat unless you purchase one from sapphire.

I'd recommend the X1950PRO Extreme from powercolor.

[pt]

x1950pro or a unlockable gto

[Tatty_One]

I say go for the X1900GT. I have the card myself and it's a very good card.
The prices are great now. You can get one for $150. My X1900GT card scores better then my X1950Pro. I nearly get 10000 points in 3dmark05.

But if you are planning to go for crossfire later on the go for the X1950Pro.
The X1900GT will give you to much loss in crossfire.

I am sure that there are multiple going to say buy the X1950 because it's better. Trust me it's not. You can't control the voltage on them, many are overheating.

Slap on a good cooler and you will have yourself a great card. Oh yeah be sure to get the first
X1900GT series they released. ATI or so. They still have the voltage control.

I said the pro because he wants crossfire.....simple.

[ATIonion]

x1950pro or a unlockable gto

about every other week newegg has openbox:HiSx1800gto...usually 2 of them...and for $150 or less each....$300 for xfire sounds good to me....the last one i had clocked up to 706/710 with 16pipes....

[prime95]

x1950xt is going for like 249, and thats a good card.

[Pinchy]

Yeah, but u need a master for an X1800GTO. The only card that doesnt need a master is the X1950 PRO. Plus, no1 knows of its 'real' OC'ing potential, cus there are no stable programs yet :p

[ATIonion]

Yeah, but u need a master for an X1800GTO.


really??? i didn't think it needed a master card...i have never seen a x1800gto master card....i thought it was the second card to come out that didn't need a master or a dongle...but wtf do i know..:laugh:

[ARTOSOFT]

I am getting ready to upgrade soon....i have most everything figured out....but what I'm not sure of is what card to use....i have 3 that i am down to....and i really really want to keep it around those prices....

x1800gto
x1900gt
x1950pro


i know the x1800gto will clock high, but can it keep up with the other two...also i am going with a pair...idk if the x19xx can go xfire without masters (tho I'm sure they can)....

pick one and let me know why you think i should go with that one...

thanks in advance:rockout:
onion
If I were you, I wait and see, as the DX10 card will launch soon :ohwell: .

Regards,
Arto.

[niko084]

Ya if you are going to spend that much just hold out a little bit yet....

[ATIonion]

If I were you, I wait and see, as the DX10 card will launch soon :ohwell: .

Regards,
Arto.

i should say that i won't be into Dx10 for a while...at least till the second gen cards are released...and the price drops a bit...i usually don't buy the newest stuff, I'd rather save the cash and wait a little while....

but in this case, the system i have now is agp and the new one i am getting is going to be pci-e....so i have to get some kind of card....really any of those cards will be alot better then my x850PRO i have now...i was just wondering what others think of those 3 cards...

[Pinchy]

wow, u dont need a master for the X1800GTO :eek:

news to me :p

(searched it on google :D)

Well, now that i know that, id say get the X1800GTO for its price ;). Unless you really want 80nm technology :p (and i think the X1950 PRO's have better stock coolers too)

[technicks]

Wtf? X1900GTs overheat, what are you on about? X1950PROs dont overheat unless you purchase one from sapphire.

I'd recommend the X1950PRO Extreme from powercolor.

Why do you see so many different aftermarket coolers on the X1950 pro's? Because the most have overheating problems. The ones who are complaining are the ones with single slot stock coolers. I had one to yeah. Slapped on a different cooler. Voila.

Same story with the X1900GT single slot stock coolers are crap. So we know.;)

That doesn't mean that the X1900 GT isn't a great card. Better then the 1800GTO imo.

But just like i said. If he goes for crossfire go for a X1950 pro. If it's a Powercolor or a Sapphire(Ultimate);) one he should be fine with either.

[ATIonion]

FtR....either way i go, i am still going to use H2O to cool those cards....

[tkpenalty]

X1950PRO then... The Powercolor Extreme model is the same price as the Sapphire.
Btw, reasearch shows that:

Core cooling: VF900>Accelero X2/IceQ III
Memory Cooling AcceleroX2/IceQ III>>>VF900

For the X1950 PRO, choose one that suits the color scheme of your water cooling :D.
Cheapest would be Powercolor's standard X1950 PRO, as it uses the reference cooler.

[Grings]

really??? i didn't think it needed a master card...i have never seen a x1800gto master card....i thought it was the second card to come out that didn't need a master or a dongle...but wtf do i know..:laugh:

it can be done but youll need an ati3200/580 (2x16x) mobo, it wont work on a 2x8x board.
some guy posted on here about a week ago who had done it here http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=19746

[Grings]

doh, silly me, YOU posted in that thread lol

[Pinchy]

doh, silly me, YOU posted in that thread lol

lmao dont ya hate when that happens :rolleyes:

[Zubasa]

really??? i didn't think it needed a master card...i have never seen a x1800gto master card....i thought it was the second card to come out that didn't need a master or a dongle...but wtf do i know..:laugh:
Because the master card is X1800 Crossfire Edition (a XT):p

[Teh Gimp]

No. X1800 GTO & X1900 GT have been able to perform software CrossFire for a long time now, with minimal performance loss vs using a true X1x00 XT CFE card.

Edit: To make myself more clear, X1800 GTO CF is either X1800 GTO + GTO or GTO + CFE, but the former makes much more sense... Same goes for the X1900 GT. You can pair it with an XT-based CFE card, but it has had support for GT + GT software CrossFire for a long time (few months at least).

[tkpenalty]

Hah... thats why nvidia isn't that good... there's no such thing as software SLI

[ATIonion]

To make myself more clear, X1800 GTO CF is either X1800 GTO + GTO or GTO + CFE, but the former makes much more sense... Same goes for the X1900 GT. You can pair it with an XT-based CFE card, but it has had support for GT + GT software CrossFire for a long time (few months at least).



Because the master card is X1800 Crossfire Edition (a XT):p



how is that possible? the xt is 512 and higher clocks....then gto is only 256 with lower clocks...and don't they have different cores?

[Teh Gimp]

how is that possible? the xt is 512 and higher clocks....then gto is only 256 with lower clocks...and don't they have different cores?

The whole higher clocks/more pipes/more memory thing is the whole reason why X1800 GTO software CrossFire was implemented, same for the X1900 GT. It doesn't make sense to run a CFE card that is 30% faster with a GTO card just for the sake of getting CrossFire, the CFE will cripple itself to GTO spec to run in-sync. That's why ATI made the X1800 GTO and X1900 GT the first high-end ATI cards ever to feature software Crossfire (now it's technically available on all of them since they mentionned it in a recent Catalyst release, but it doesn't seem to work yet) -- it's the only logically solution.

Cores are the same, the GTO's just feature crippled R520 cores. The CFE cards can pair up with any card in the same series I do believe, the only exception might be X1950 CFE + X1950 Pro because they implement different generations of CrossFire (2nd gen = X1x00 master cards + 2nd gen y-dongle, 3rd gen = X1950 Pro/X1650 XT + 2 internal bridges) and different cores, R580 vs RV570.

That was ATI's whole marketing advantage to multi-GPU. Any cards in the same family (meaning any two X1800 cards, any two X1300s.. etc), while with nV it must be the same Model aswell (Example: ATI = X850 Pro + X850 CFE, or X850 XT or X850 XT PE. With nV it must be GT + GT, GS + GS, LE + LE etc.) This is technically not true however, as you can't pair an X1800 XT with a GTO... because the XT requires a master card specifically.

Anyways long story short = this:

X1900 GT CrossFire = 2 x X1900 GTs + CF Mobo //or// 1 X1900 GT + 1 X1900 CFE + y-dongle + CF Mobo
X1800 GTO CrossFire = 2 x X1800 GTO + CF Mobo //or// 1 X1800 GTO + 1 X1800 CFE + y-dongle + CF Mobo
X1950 Pro CrossFire = 2 x X1950 Pro + 2 CF bridge + CF Mobo

[DaMulta]

x1950pro with a Zalman

[DaMulta]

x1950pro with a Zalman

:rolleyes:

[ATIonion]

x1950pro with a Zalman

:rolleyes:

you quoted yourself?


then so will i...

FtR....either way i go, i am still going to use H2O to cool those cards....


you just want my zalman when i remove it is all....;)

[DaMulta]

:D I already have one unless its the 7900

[Pinchy]

I agree with TK. Get an X1950 PRO with the refrence cooler, so its cheaper (cus u are gonna use your H2O) :)

All this X1800/X1900 crossfire is silly...2 X1950 PRO's and ur set :D

[ATIonion]

sounds like the x1950pro is the way to go then.....thanks for the opinions guys....:rockout:

[Namslas90]

I would say get a X1900XTX and match it with a X1950 pro. That pairing will exceed all your expectations, and realy supprise ya!! Better yet, save yer money and wait for the next genneration of ATI cards/ R600 + DDR4 is gonna be awsome!!

[ATIonion]

I would say get a X1900XTX and match it with a X1950 pro. That pairing will exceed all your expectations, and realy supprise ya!! Better yet, save yer money and wait for the next genneration of ATI cards/ R600 + DDR4 is gonna be awsome!!



i would wait but i am upgrading soon to AM2 and i will need at least one pcie card...and i'm not going with those damn x16xx's.....so i have no choice but to buy a pcie card....but i may just get at least the x1950pro and hope it will do physics someday on a dx10 set up....

[Namslas90]

Check this review, http://xtreview.com/review141.htm. The X1900XTX is better than you think. Pair it with a X1950 series card and your good for a while.

[Pinchy]

Wouldnt the X1950PRO make the X1900XTX run with less shaders though? (48 vs 36)

[ATIonion]

I found this chart at ATI....gives you a list of what cards to pair together for CrossFire....this helps i think...

http://img.techpowerup.org/070112/CrossFire BreakDown.jpg


as you can see i was right that the x1800gto, 1900gt and the 1950 do not need master cards...and the x1800gto and the x1900gt do not need anything but a 32x crossfire mobo...no dongle or internal connection needed...

[HookeyStreet]

Go for the X1950Pro, they look great :)