Which 2900xt?

mandelore · Jun 6, 2007

Hi all, right, im from the UK, and my folks are goin to the USA for 2 weeks 2moro, and i think they may be buying me a hd2900xt

1) Firstly, I currently have an x1900xtx, how much of a difference will i get with an upgrade to the hd2900xt? (any1 who has plz comment)

2) Secondly, which brand of 2900xt is the best in terms of build and overclocking potential. I seriously wanna oc the crap out of it if i do get it, hell knows ive thrashed my current card somewhat.

Thanks guys, please give as much info as you are able to offer, as this will be a serious change, and want to kow if im gonna get any benefit outa it

Cheerz,

Mand :toast:

Polaris573 · Jun 7, 2007

I doubt you will see any amazing improvement in current titles, but it will get you DX10. It will work great for future titles, so you might want to wait for the price drop and the time you can actually take advantage of it. Here is W1zzard's review if you missed it.

Not many people have 2900's yet, so I can't really suggest a good one for overclocking. Maybe some people here that own one can give you some suggestions on that.

mandelore · Jun 7, 2007

thnx mate.

*gets out megaphone*

" HEAR YE! HEAR YE! Calling all 2900 owners, what are your oppinions of performance compared to say the x1900 series, and which card manufacturer would you reccomend for the best overclocks "

mandelore · Jun 7, 2007

i hear the 1gb gddr4 2900xt is out on the 14th so I may try to get that?

Wile E · Jun 7, 2007

I have the Powercolor 2900, and love it. Bought it for the warranty. Haven't overclocked extensively yet, tho. Just fooling around, I've had it at 830/950, with no voltage changes or anything.

As for performance, I came from an X1800XT 265MB, and the performance is literally double in most games. (Only tested DX9 thus far.) This on an install that needs redone pretty badly.

Mussels · Jun 7, 2007

*Cough* may i suggest an Nvidia 8800GTX instead?

Feel free to ignore me, i just really dislike the power consumption of the x2900's at load...

Wile E · Jun 7, 2007

Mussels said:
*Cough* may i suggest an Nvidia 8800GTX instead?

Not for $400 US you can't. lol

mandelore · Jun 7, 2007

yeah, the gtx is a hellovalot more pricey, for not a great deal of performance improvement, i seen a great comparison showing very close performance, sure, the gtx beats it on certain games, but not by so much id call it worth the extra cash.

BTW, the power consumption of the gtx and 2900 under load only differ by 10's of Watts, not a huge amount imo, and both run cooler than what has been hyped in the past

Edit: but yes i considered the 8800 gtx, but cant really afford it, especially when the 2900's driver support can still be improved. I remember only a couple of catalyst driver revisions ago that we got a 14% increase in games like doom4 on the x1900xtx, and that card had been out for ages!! so drivers are all important so i think we can squeeze more outa the 2900 with further driver improvements. The 8800 is v nice tho, but the 2900 tesselation looks awsome, seen some demos on youtube of it in action

Wile E · Jun 7, 2007

My 2900 hits 74-76c under full load. Just for a point of reference. I should mention that I have crazy good airflow in my case tho. 8x120mm fans.

mandelore · Jun 7, 2007

Wile E said:
My 2900 hits 74-76c under full load. Just for a point of reference. I should mention that I have crazy good airflow in my case tho. 8x120mm fans.

i have a watercooled x1900xtx (dangerden tyee block, hoping to sell as a whole unit) so ill swap out for a diff cooler when i get a 2900, maybe a stand alone gpu waterblock, but i kinda like the dangerden all-in-one style. But for now ill stick with the aircooled stock heatsink till i can sell the x1900xtx and get a proper waterblock.

I was thinking about how much i could get for my x1900xtx with tyee waterblock + voltage reg block. I could always modify the bios to make it oc'd out of the box sorta speak, coz i know without v mods, i can get it running 740 core @1.475V, and higher @ 1.6v, the ram hits 900mhz+ easy on very little voltage increase. I love this card to bits, and when i do sell hope it goes to a good home

, oh, its also plastered with mini ramsinks on the voltage reg block and other components, with a 40mm fan custom mounted on the side blowing across the voltage reg components

hat · Jun 7, 2007

Maybe get a 8800GTS 640MB instead?

Sovereign · Jun 7, 2007

LoL! Ignore these fools and stick to your guns. The 2900 will suit you just fine!

<--- This is comming from an nVIDIA user for the most part so no fanboi'sm here

anticlutch · Jun 7, 2007

I'd recommend the HD 2900XT as well. Knowing ATi, you're far more likely to get punctual, stable updates as well as near 8800GTX performance for the price of an 8800GTS. The only reason I'm staying away from the 2900XT myself is the heat output, but unless someone can definitively say that the 2900XT produces the same amount of heat that the 8800's do, I'm going to hold back on purchasing one.

petepete · Jun 8, 2007

wait for the xtx 1 gb version i would say

mandelore · Jun 8, 2007

petepete said:
wait for the xtx 1 gb version i would say

if ya read a bit up, i said i was gonna try for the 1gb xt version

Wile E · Jun 8, 2007

What brands are you considering? Have you looked at any yet?

Chewy · Jun 8, 2007

is gddr4 all that much faster(better)? I think you should go with the 512xt wait around a year or so untill they release a 2950xt/xtx 65nm or something, I dont think theres going to be a big performance improvment with the extra ram and same proccessing chip unless your playing on a big screen elc.

I thin I might get a saphire 512mb xt, its on sale here in Canada for 450$ I have to wait till nexted weeks pay though

doubt I'll do it quite yet (need to sort out my mobo bios for beter OC still and Im lazy lol).. but my noob ass tells he when in doubt go with saphire!

mandelore · Jun 8, 2007

i havent looked at particular brands yet, going to see what i can find. Tho i wouldnt mind the extra performance from the 1gb gddr4 version coz i run all my games @ 1920x1200 and everything maxed:

some comparisons here on it

http://www.extreme-pc.ca/showproduct.asp?menu1id=12&menu2id=99&menu3id=39&productid=371414

petepete · Jun 8, 2007

GDDR4 will not do anything to increase performance, people are confused. The only thing GDDR4 does is decrease voltage and heat. No speed benefits. and its the 2900 XTX not the XT thats 1 gb mandelore

regan1985 · Jun 8, 2007

but if the ram uses less voltage and is then less heat, theres a good chance it will overclock a lot better???

Makehr · Jun 8, 2007

Wile E said:
Not for $400 US you can't. lol

Then how about an 8800 GTS 320 for 250$. Only very slightly less performance.

mandelore · Jun 8, 2007

petepete said:
GDDR4 will not do anything to increase performance, people are confused. The only thing GDDR4 does is decrease voltage and heat. No speed benefits. and its the 2900 XTX not the XT thats 1 gb mandelore

did u check the link? its being sold from the 14th, xt with 1gb gddr4, lower voltage = more overclocking potential = better performance

Makehr · Jun 8, 2007

mandelore said:
did u check the link? its being sold from the 14th, xt with 1gb gddr4, lower voltage = more overclocking potential = better performance

Yes, but only slightly. And the 2900XT is not exactly lacking for memory bandwidth either. What it really needs is more TMUs.

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Which 2900xt?

mandelore

Polaris573

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mandelore

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Wile E

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