Graphics Card Upgrade Help

Scram

Im looking to upgrade my Graphics card from a ATI 1950 xt to a DX 10 card. Something thats a bit futureproof for games like Flight Sim x and Crysis etc. Im looking for something thats gonna Make Flight Sim x Run at least twice as well as it currently does. ATI is preferred.

Been looking on komplett.ie and i was gonna go for a ATI card but they seem to have crazy requirements powerwise i.e a 650 watt PSU ive got a 450 watt PSU and dont really wanna get a new one unless totaly necessary. Also some of the cards (ATI) seem to need 2x PCIE connectors so its not as straightforward as i had thought. So any help you have would be great.

Im looking for a
Nvidia 8800 GTS PCIE
or
ATI Radon 2900 XT PCIE

With a 450 watt PSU requirement and a good brand name. I think both the above cards are more or less the same and pricewise abou 300-350 euro.

So any help
http://komplett.ie/k/kl.aspx?bn=10488

christophicus

Your current card is very good, I dont really see the point in upgrading now. why snot just save the cash away and then upgrade when you notice your preformance going down?

uberpixie

Scram wrote:

Im looking to upgrade my Graphics card from a ATI 1950 xt to a DX 10 card. Something thats a bit futureproof for games like Flight Sim x and Crysis etc. Im looking for something thats gonna Make Flight Sim x Run at least twice as well as it currently does. ATI is preferred.

Wait 4 years :-)

You won't notice much of a jump going from a X1950XT to a "DX10" card at the moment.

DX10 is pointless at the moment and the first gen of cards wont do it very well and it will take a long time before games are properly coded to take advantage of it.

Scram

uberpixie wrote:

Wait 4 years :-)

You won't notice much of a jump going from a X1950XT to a "DX10" card at the moment.

DX10 is pointless at the moment and the first gen of cards wont do it very well and it will take a long time before games are properly coded to take advantage of it.

Hmm are you sure? Flight Sim x and a few other games run a bit laggy on PC atm (Mainly shader 3.0 games).

Flight sim x run okish but i want more eye candy and theres room for improvement i think im still looking for some good benchmark websites on the different cards.

8T8

As the others have mentioned there isn't too much point is witching just yet.

The performance with flight simulator is a weird one alright the program is demanding in odds ways but from what I know it's practically unplayable at maximum settings and the developers made it that way so the game would age better or something like that.

The 2900XT is very power hungry and unless your PSU was certified for SLI (dual graphics cards) there is no way it will power it as it does indeed use two PCI-e power connectors.

The 8800GTS is more forgiving and you would probably get buy with that on your current PSU so if you just want more performance than the 8800GTS is the one to go for.

ATI are prepping a 2900pro which should work out cheaper but seeing as the 2900XT is about on par with the 8800GTS then the pro will be slower.

It's not really the shader model that makes the difference it's the unified shading architecture that gives the big boosts and it just happens that coincided with DX10 cards being released, they could have for instance made just DX9 cards with unified shading architecture.

Scram

Hmm yeah it seems theres really not much extra performance to get according to the benchmarks ive been looking at:

According to this page:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=724&model2=707&chart=291

theres a 3 fps increase in Flight Sim x between my current card and the Radeon 2900 xt which is very very bad. And a 6 fps increase in comparison to the Geforce 8800 GTS 680 which is crazy.

Of course this is just one game and i expect the drivers are nowhere near the optimum performance levels yet but even so its not good.

Even BF2142 gives a +10 fps increase so it seems you guys are right.

Im kinda shocked at how bad the upgrade looks i hope this is because of bad drivers or some other reason or games not using the cards features right etc

papu

Scram wrote:

Hmm yeah it seems theres really not much extra performance to get according to the benchmarks ive been looking at:

According to this page:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=724&model2=707&chart=291

theres a 3 fps increase in Flight Sim x between my current card and the Radeon 2900 xt which is very very bad. And a 6 fps increase in comparison to the Geforce 8800 GTS 680 which is crazy.

Of course this is just one game and i expect the drivers are nowhere near the optimum performance levels yet but even so its not good.

Even BF2142 gives a +10 fps increase so it seems you guys are right.

Im kinda shocked at how bad the upgrade looks i hope this is because of bad drivers or some other reason or games not using the cards features right etc

;/ ive a 2900 and im loving every second of it , its cheap , you get free games with it , its a beast of a card, still on early drivers and a mad overclocker 850/1000

its the bomb:D

edit : lol 19fps is just as bad a framerate as 23.

its silly

Scram

papu wrote:

;/ ive a 2900 and im loving every second of it , its cheap , you get free games with it , its a beast of a card, still on early drivers and a mad overclocker 850/1000

its the bomb:D

edit : lol 19fps is just as bad a framerate as 23.

its silly

what sort of power supply have you got for it? and what games are you playing with it?

papu

mushkin 650w psu , its in the sig..

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/8VNpeEtRHuVWGP/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=9963&agid=240
for a hundred quid its hax , modular and really pretty
i play everything

css
ut
Dirt
transformers
stalker
oblivion
coh
c&c3

Scram

Can anyone recommend an upgrade? im kinda itching to upgrade tbh.
I was thinking about the 8800 GTX instead of the GTS as it seems bigger improvement. Even though its pricy it would seem to be twice as powerfull or is the ATI 2900 worth it? Seem similar performance but the ATI is cheaper.

My current card while good struggles with Stalker and Splinter Cell 4,colin mc Rae Dirt, Rainbow six Vegas the games are playable but laggy.

Would a new CPU improve things a bit?I Dont want to got he whole hog with a new mobo and CPU ive seen a AMD socket 939 4000 x2 with dual core would this be a worthwhile upgrade or again a waste? Is Dual core better, dont games and apps have to support it?

Most opinion seems to be to wait a while or its not worth the upgrade just yet:(

Overheal

if your going to upgrade a processor it seems a crime not to upgrade the MoBo as well...

As for that power supply... yowza. I'll pen that in for my dream-machine.

dont upgrade your graphics OP. Not yet. Wait until Starcraft 2.

@ Papu: Just ONE operating system??? You should be ashamed.

8T8

Scram wrote:

Can anyone recommend an upgrade? im kinda itching to upgrade tbh.
I was thinking about the 8800 GTX instead of the GTS as it seems bigger improvement. Even though its pricy it would seem to be twice as powerfull or is the ATI 2900 worth it? Seem similar performance but the ATI is cheaper.

My current card while good struggles with Stalker and Splinter Cell 4,colin mc Rae Dirt, Rainbow six Vegas the games are playable but laggy.

Would a new CPU improve things a bit?I Dont want to got he whole hog with a new mobo and CPU ive seen a AMD socket 939 4000 x2 with dual core would this be a worthwhile upgrade or again a waste? Is Dual core better, dont games and apps have to support it?

Most opinion seems to be to wait a while or its not worth the upgrade just yet:(

My recommendations;
no AA or 2xAA & have a preference for ATI - 2900XT get a new PSU with it.

no AA or 2xAA/4xAA in select games - 8800GTS 640.

4xAA & high resolutions - 8800GTX.

papu

Overheal wrote:

if your going to upgrade a processor it seems a crime not to upgrade the MoBo as well...

As for that power supply... yowza. I'll pen that in for my dream-machine.

dont upgrade your graphics OP. Not yet. Wait until Starcraft 2.

@ Papu: Just ONE operating system??? You should be ashamed.

whadda hadda one is all i needz!!

My recommendations;
no AA or 2xAA & have a preference for ATI - 2900XT get a new PSU with it.

no AA or 2xAA/4xAA in select games - 8800GTS 640.

4xAA & high resolutions - 8800GTX.

if your running 1680 x 1050 you really only need 2 aa tbh ive seen games run with 2 4 and 8 and i cant tel the difference except for when u take a screenshot and zoom in :P

whatever you get you wont be disappointed

the 2900 DOES come with free games tho and is cheaper :P

and il just throw this in asswell to stir it up
http://www.overclock3d.net/news.php?type=3&id=836&desc=radeon_hd2900xt_benchmarks

edit just downloading ccc 7.8 beta its ment to reduce the hit on aa so its less than the gts 0/! will be back soon!