X1900 Crossfire or HD2900XT?

[Matt2]

My PC gaming situation is pretty dire.

I have a 24" LCD and my X1900XTX gets absolutely killed at 1920x1200. It's so bad that I prefer not to play PC games at all, opting to play Xbox360 instead.

I'm ready to purchase a new video card, but my budget is somewhat limited. I only want to spend around $200 net either way.

So I can either:

A) Pick up a X1900 Crossfire card off of fleabay for around $150-$200 and wait till there are actual DX10 games to buy a DX10 video card. The only thing that worries me is my PSU if I go this route. It's only 560w, but it's SLI certified, so I think it might be ok. Heat is also an issue.

B) Get a HD2900XT and cross my fingers that the drivers get better. I really dont like R600 because it's much less than I expected, but for the price, it's hard to argue against it. The problem with this option is that I'd have to sell my X1900XTX and I dont have the original box or accessories, just the card. I'm not sure if I can get someone to bite on this unless I sold it for less than I could if I had the box.

What do you guys think?

Current specs:
Opteron 170 @ 2.8GHZ
2GB OCZ Gamer Extreme PC4000
DFI LanParty CFX3200 Crossfire mobo
Powercolor X1900XTX 690/800
SB Audigy2
120GB SATA HD
NEC 3520 DVD burner
560w Silverstone PSU w/ 36a on 12v
Watercooling system

 

[Kromis]

I voted HD 2900XT because its more.... "future-proof"

 

[Acanthus]

I wouldnt do either at this point.

 

[Matt2]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
I wouldnt do either at this point.

Suggestions?

I'd love to get a GTX, but it's about $100 more than I want to spend.

I know this is what I get for having a 24" LCD, but I bought it mostly cause my GF banned me from playing Xbox360 on our 50" DLP HDTV and the 360 sux on a 1680x1050 monitor cause the xbox makes you use 1360x768 as the resolution. Yeah, I know, she pwned me.

 

[aka1nas]

Snag an EVGA GTS 640 on rebate and hope the 8900 comes out in the next 90 days?

 

[Kromis]

Originally posted by: Matt2

Originally posted by: Acanthus
I wouldnt do either at this point.

Suggestions?

I'd love to get a GTX, but it's about $100 more than I want to spend.

I know this is what I get for having a 24" LCD, but I bought it mostly cause my GF banned me from playing Xbox360 on our 50" DLP HDTV and the 360 sux on a 1680x1050 monitor cause the xbox makes you use 1360x768 as the resolution. Yeah, I know, she pwned me.

8800GTS?

 

[Zenoth]

I was in the same boat than you.

Imagine, I've been an ATi consumer since the past four years, and now I'm going to change.

My GTS 640MB arrived today, at the store, I'll go grab it tomorrow, and I cannot wait to get it. Do that man, don't get the current revision of HD 2900XT at least. If you really, absolutely want to stay with ATi for God knows why, then do yourself a huge favor and at least wait for the refresh, more precisely the 65nm revision.

 

[fern420]

i think i might be able to offer the best insight. i have just upgraded from 2 x1900's in crossfire to 2 2900's and i tested just one card before i slapped the other in. the one 2900xt did beat out my x1900 crossfire setup but just slightly in 3dmark 05 and by almost 1k in 06 hitting 12k.

i used moderate over clocking on my cpu, a e6700 at 3.4 and the video card i got to hit 845 on the engine clock and 980 on the memory clock and i ran it under load for about an hour, it was stable. id say probably price to performance the one 2900 would be the better choice unless you can find a good deal on the x1900 crossfire.. let me just say the difference isnt that huge but you gain all the other goodies on the 2900. althouh since you already have an xtx. the best choice value wise for you is to get a crossfire x1900, all i ran in was 1920x1200 and it was just fine.

 

[cmdrdredd]

The 2900xt is DX10 compliant though...so if you are interested in any DX10 titles that will be the better of the 2 options.

 

[Cookie Monster]

DO NOT base performance on 3dmark because 2900XT can reach 8800ultra performance on 3dmark after some OC. Yet in real life games, it doesnt do very well, and can't even beat its competitor the 8800GTS convincingly let alone the ultra itself.

Id say save the money and dont go either route. If its a must, 2900XT or maybe a EVGA 8800GTS and OC it GTX level. GTX would be perfect, but its out of your budget.

edit - have one more option for "neither"

 

[xSkyDrAx]

OC'ed GTS 640 would be better budget/perf wise
GTX is the thing to go for though

thing w/ R600 is it's either not powerful enough or not cheap enough so you lose one way or the other cause basically you can get pretty similar, sometimes better, sometimes slightly worse but a good amount cheaper w/ the GTS and a good amount better but at a higher price w/ the GTX

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: Matt2
What do you guys think?

Current specs:
Opteron 170 @ 2.8GHZ
2GB OCZ Gamer Extreme PC4000
DFI LanParty CFX3200 Crossfire mobo
Powercolor X1900XTX 690/800
SB Audigy2
120GB SATA HD
NEC 3520 DVD burner
560w Silverstone PSU w/ 36a on 12v
Watercooling system

Will your current GPU block fit on the HD-2900XT?

apoppin said the 2900 overclocks *very* well at low temps (i.e. watercooling). Personally, this is the route I would go.

 

[cmdrdredd]

You guys tell him to but an Nvidia card which is ok and reasonable. However, his poll did not include that option. That's why I posted how I did above.

 

[apoppin]

NEITHER

both are CRAP for you AND I AM sick of hearing you BITCH about ATi
--and now you want *twice the Garbage?" twice the noise and twice the heat issues?
:Q

:roll:

SELL THAT CRAP X1900XT AND GET A REAL gpu for your 24"-er

8800GTX OC

please ... for YOUR sake , matt2
... and ours

... keep gaming with xbox360 till you get the bucks ... hook it up to your monitor ... after all, you really *love* it

sorry, i just had to let it all out .. i feel much better now ...

 

[Passingout101]

Originally posted by: apoppin
NEITHER

both are CRAP for you AND I AM sick of hearing you BITCH about ATi
--and now you want *twice the Garbage?" twice the noise and twice the heat issues?
:Q

:roll:

SELL THAT CRAP X1900XT AND GET A REAL gpu for your 24"-er

8800GTX OC

please ... for YOUR sake , matt2
... and ours

... keep gaming with xbox360 till you get the bucks ... hook it up to your monitor ... after all, you really *love* it

sorry, i just had to let it all out .. i feel much better now ...

im with this guy, save your money until you can get something worth it!! why spend 200 plus on a non dx10 card now if you plan on buying one later!!

play the box as it is now and just wait it out dude, yeah it can be tough but well worth it in the end!!

 

[LittleNemoNES]

I'll sell you my crossfire card for $200

 

[Matt2]

Originally posted by: apoppin
NEITHER

both are CRAP for you AND I AM sick of hearing you BITCH about ATi
--and now you want *twice the Garbage?" twice the noise and twice the heat issues?
:Q

:roll:

SELL THAT CRAP X1900XT AND GET A REAL gpu for your 24"-er

8800GTX OC

please ... for YOUR sake , matt2
... and ours

... keep gaming with xbox360 till you get the bucks ... hook it up to your monitor ... after all, you really *love* it

sorry, i just had to let it all out .. i feel much better now ...

Sheesh.

I wasnt bitching about ATI. Not sure why this thread upset you so much.

Originally posted by: nullpointerus
[Will your current GPU block fit on the HD-2900XT?

apoppin said the 2900 overclocks *very* well at low temps (i.e. watercooling). Personally, this is the route I would go.

Sorry, I should have been more clear about the watercooler. It's only cooling the CPU, not the GPU. I put it into the specs to give people a feel for how much load was on my PSU.

Option for neither added.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Matt2

Originally posted by: apoppin
NEITHER

both are CRAP for you AND I AM sick of hearing you BITCH about ATi
--and now you want *twice the Garbage?" twice the noise and twice the heat issues?
:Q

:roll:

SELL THAT CRAP X1900XT AND GET A REAL gpu for your 24"-er

8800GTX OC

please ... for YOUR sake , matt2
... and ours

... keep gaming with xbox360 till you get the bucks ... hook it up to your monitor ... after all, you really *love* it

sorry, i just had to let it all out .. i feel much better now ...

Sheesh.

I wasnt bitching about ATI. Not sure why this thread upset you so much.

i AM *NOT* THE SLIGHTEST BIT UPSET


my caps just 'stick' occasionally

... seriously, i just have strong opinions about one of my cyber-buddies getting a 2nd inferior card ... and you have been complaining about your x1900xtx

really ... don't settle for 2nd best and "stop gap" - or a "maybe" with the HD2900xt - for what you really need ... 8800GTX is the obvious choice - for you
:thumbsup:

save up for a sale

 

[yacoub]

I'D GET QUAD 8800 GTX'S BUT THATS JUST ME

 

[apoppin]

if you just want to *settle*

EVGA 8800GTS 640MB $329.99 (Deal is Back)

Sapphire ATI Radeon X2900XT 512MB $379

of the two, i'd pick the dark horse XT since we don't know it's final potential
[could also be crappy]
-and i would not recommend x1900xt xfire to you

so ... the GTX looks like it .... by 'elimination' ... isn't it only $150 more than the HD-XT ? ... and you'd be HAPPY ... and your rig would run 'right' to match your LCD
--unless you are going to just "settle" for a "maybe" that you will probably end up upgrading ... all over again

good luck with your decision
--i don't think a poll is all that useful

edited

 

[RussianSensation]

Does playing in non-native res seriously degrade image quality?

 

[apoppin]

yes ... otoh if he wants it 'perfect', he gets the 'black bars' and a smaller screen size at lower resolutions with 1:1 pixel scaling

however, he didn't buy a $700 LCD for 14x9

 

[yacoub]

yeah non-native res on an LCD is like poking urself in the eyes while u look at it. it's fuzzy/blurry because pixels are being represented by several pixels.... weird stuff.
1:1 mapping is a must for those times you just can't use the full res.

 

[Elfear]

Out of those two options I'd go for the 2900XT. The Crossfire will likely be a little faster but the ease of dealing with one card is nice. Every time I've switched from two cards back to one when the next generation came out I haven't regretted it, even if the new gen was a little slower. Two cards can just be a hassle sometimes. Seems like you had an SLI setup at one point so you know how it is.

 

[dug777]

2900XT.

At this stage i'm reasonably impressed at the price point, and it would appear that there's pretty reasonable OC'ing headroom...

One has to hope there's a reasonable amount of room to improve in the driver area too...?