Which Card 7800GTX 512 or X1800XT 512

[Kenetixx]

Well just sold my 2 x 7800GTXs and looking at a new card, looking for a single card as im over sli.
WHat would you all recommend? I dont want you to say something like "Get the nvidia because nvidia are better " or vica versa, just want the facts from owners them selves , anyone who has owned both or has both i would love to hear from you :)

[Tanktanium]

Good luck finding a GTX512, they're nonexistant in the market, and nvidia's ending the line in February...

Might as well try the X1800XT, no? Or wait a few weeks for X1900XTX.

[perkam]

In about 3 weeks, the X1900 will take all single card crowns. If you're done with SLI, that is what you'll need. Expect to be cheaper than the GTX 512MB btw.

Perkam

[Kenetixx]

3 weeks for the x1900 hmmmm sounds good any specs on this yet or is it all still rumors?

[HousERaT]

There's much info on the topic.... you can start here.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=84940

[Kenetixx]

Cheers for the link, looking now

[shuRe]

In about 3 weeks, the X1900 will take all single card crowns. If you're done with SLI, that is what you'll need. Expect to be cheaper than the GTX 512MB btw.

Perkam

for gods sake the x1800 has only just come out!

How much money are we gona have to spend to keep up with the times? Its getting out of hand, i can see everything spiraling out of control.

[Victorshen]

for gods sake the x1800 has only just come out!

How much money are we gona have to spend to keep up with the times? Its getting out of hand, i can see everything spiraling out of control.
lol
why surprise

for another few weeks
the G71 will be out with only half the die size of x1900xt
now whos the phantom edition this time we will see:D

[Kenetixx]

Well after some reaidng i think i will wait a few weeks to see what both parties have to offer, loooks interesting on both sides i reckon, the next step is cost :|

[eva2000]

lol Kenetixx caught the bug huh ? love your avatar :D

[Tanktanium]

lol
why surprise

for another few weeks
the G71 will be out with only half the die size of x1900xt
now whos the phantom edition this time we will see:D

Judging from the GTX512's price point, do you really think nvidia's going to come back down below $649 MSRP? I seriously doubt they would. As long as they're up in the sky with their prices, ATI will have a serious price advantage if they keep their MSRP at $549, and considering the time they've had to tape out and produce R580, they most likely will. I predict a GTX256 quality hard launch...

[Dynasty]

I just picked up an Sapphire X1800XT (OEM box) from my supplier, the
price was way too good to pass on. :slobber:
This will join my 165CD opteron on my desktop pc, no overclocking on this stuff :p: .
My first X1800XT did very good with stock hsf, I think I managed 780/900
with 100% fan spd. :)

[eva2000]

I just picked up an Sapphire X1800XT (OEM box) from my supplier, the
price was way too good to pass on. :slobber:
This will join my 165CD opteron on my desktop pc, no overclocking on this stuff :p: .
My first X1800XT did very good with stock hsf, I think I managed 780/900
with 100% fan spd. :)
how much was the card ?

[Dynasty]

550.00 CAD out the door, which is truly cheap cause its oem, but
retail and oem mean nothing really except maybe few extra goodie or two. :)

[eva2000]

woah that is bloody cheap!!! congrats :)

[eyepiz]

I got my Retail ATI X1800XT at compusa for $499.00.. Im thinking about taking it back and waiting for X1900XTX.

[Piotrsama]

If you can find a GTX512, get it.


In about 3 weeks, the X1900 will take all single card crowns.
Real availability on 3 weeks???
I don't think so, but we'll see.

[Tanktanium]

If you can find a GTX512, get it.


Real availability on 3 weeks???
I don't think so, but we'll see.

Word on the down low is January 25th launch. We'll see soon enough.

[ZX7891]

2x6800GS FTW

[Kenetixx]

Yeah looks like the wait is worth it , just no gaming for me for a few weeks

[IvanAndreevich]

2x6800GS FTW
Uh.. how about 7800GT SLI instead? ;)

[dnottis]

Uh.. how about 7800GT SLI instead? ;)


p00p0wer here on XS had 2x7800GTs in SLI and sold them for an X1800XT - flashed to a PE and he's much happier - but it's your call.

Better IQ, better AA, better COD2 performance (the reason for his move)....

[Kenetixx]

Im over SLi hence why i sold my 2 GTXs :)

[eva2000]

well ya can always buy my awesome clocking HIS X1800XT once i go X1900XTX hehe

[Kenetixx]

Thought abotu the x1800xt eva but looks like it will be replaced with the x1900 in 2 weeks or so, man its a hard desicion i know that , i hate having this much cash on me it wont last 2 weeks LOL

[eva2000]

get the X1900XTX and we can swap cards later LOL

[Kenetixx]

WHo said the 7800GTX 512 was hard to get :D
Picked up one today in Australia :D
Gigabyte one

[Victorshen]

WHo said the 7800GTX 512 was hard to get :D
Picked up one today in Australia :D
Gigabyte one
:toast:
damn
im jealous
in syd?

[Kenetixx]

Yeah in Syd :D

[eva2000]

congrats mate.. waiting on your adventures :D

[Kunaak]

of the X1800 XT and 512 GTX, I would say definatly go for the X1800.

the 512 GTX is a phantom hardware product, thats prone to extreme price gouging, even when a fellow overclocker is selling one, they will sell it for $300 more then MSRP...
you just can't find these at a reasonable price, and considering that the X1800XT can be had on Newegg for $490 easily... it's a no brainer.

Nvidia failed with the 512 GTX.
they got the performance crown, and after that, they let it go.
no videocards anywhere to be found, unless you suck it up and pay a few hundred extra...

even if the X1900's come out in 3 weeks, the chances of finding one at less then $800 or so, is probably gonna be next to impossible till atleast march...

thats IF ATI can actually launch that card in that time frame... and with how long I kept hearing about the X1800's... till the time it was actually released, I wouldn't hold my breath for a second waiting for a X1900 any time before this summer... if that.

but then again, the entire videocard market is just making me a cynic, so don't take too much of what I say serious hahaha... ;)

[Rayman]

ummm care to tell us y u dont want SLI anymore lol

[eva2000]

IIRC, kenetixx's sli cards no longer worked properly in SLI so maybe he had enough heh

[Dynasty]

lol, both SLI and finding 512mb gtx were as easy as 1,2,3 for me. :)

[Capt_Caveman]

of the X1800 XT and 512 GTX, I would say definatly go for the X1800.

the 512 GTX is a phantom hardware product, thats prone to extreme price gouging, even when a fellow overclocker is selling one, they will sell it for $300 more then MSRP...
you just can't find these at a reasonable price, and considering that the X1800XT can be had on Newegg for $490 easily... it's a no brainer.

Nvidia failed with the 512 GTX.
they got the performance crown, and after that, they let it go.
no videocards anywhere to be found, unless you suck it up and pay a few hundred extra...

even if the X1900's come out in 3 weeks, the chances of finding one at less then $800 or so, is probably gonna be next to impossible till atleast march...

thats IF ATI can actually launch that card in that time frame... and with how long I kept hearing about the X1800's... till the time it was actually released, I wouldn't hold my breath for a second waiting for a X1900 any time before this summer... if that.

but then again, the entire videocard market is just making me a cynic, so don't take too much of what I say serious hahaha... ;)

Actually, I got my GTX 512 a couple of weeks ago. Tiger Direct, three times in a two week span had both eVGA and BFG GTX 512's. But obviously, they sold out very quickly.

If you can get your hands on an eVGA 700GTX 512, you can use their step-up program to upgrade to the G71 when it comes out in Feb/March.

[Ator]

If money is no object, and you can wait a while for a shipment, get the GTX 512.

If you are looking to save ~$200 elsewhere, and can't wait, get the X1800XT. It's nearly as good IMO, and overclocks great.

[Gnome]

If money is no object, and you can wait a while for a shipment, get the GTX 512.

If you are looking to save ~$200 elsewhere, and can't wait, get the X1800XT. It's nearly as good IMO, and overclocks great.

and if the next available shipment comes in 2 weeks ? :slap:

[Kenetixx]

Was over sli because im always pulling my rig apart and adding and taking stuff from it and really i dont need sli, but that just sounds stupid, basically i wanted a new toy to play with and waste money on so i did, and in real gaming performance slit didnt do alot for the games i played so one card is enough for me, and yes i have had alot of trouble with Sli as eva pointed out. :)

[eva2000]

ATI cards have always been more fun to play and oc ever since 9800Pro series, X800XT PE and X1800XT :D

[Gnome]

ATI cards have always been more fun to play and oc ever since 9800Pro series, X800XT PE and X1800XT :D

totally agree. I had 1 9700, 3 9800pros, 1 x800xt pe, and now, the only word that describes my passing too 2 7800GTs in sli is regret.

[TheVaLVe]

After silently observing this forum ,so i decided to bought x1800xt one week ago.With the stock cooler out of the box,the temp was reaching 100C with stock clock,then i decided to mod it.I took out the puny red stock fan and armed it with 92mm papst blow direct to the hs,and 1 80mm blow the hot air out.And now i can play 24/7 with 1.45 729/880 max temps is below 65C while playing Farcry with HDR and AA or fear,while playing css temps about 56C with my room temp is about 30C-35C ,colder than it would makes my aim in css go wrong because of shivering :P.
Anyone else has tried the Farcry with hdr and AA,its extremly playable with my unextrem intel :banana::banana::banana::banana:ty processor,and it looks really beautiful

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/9525/farcry01196jb.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2941/farcry01551wy.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And BTW hi all ,im new on the forum,i hope i can learn alot from you guys :D

[Hicks]

Welcome to the forums.

Im playing through Far Cry again, forgot about HDR, doh. Nice shots.

Need some pics of your mod, sounds quality.

[Gnome]

sorry to say but the second shot looks... wrong... maybe it's because the screenshot doesnt give it justice... but it looks like you just took some *mushroom based hallucinogen* (masca...)...

[Calderbrae]

Tell ya what guys, you are all making me think twice about running SLI. I game and bench....so if SLI indeed gets more points in 3DMark, then SLI is worth it to me regardless of gaming performance.

Wouldnt 2-7800GTs in SLI be better than a single GTX (256 Model)?



Sounds like you have made your call Kenetixx. If you are happy, then its the right call. The overclocking scene is all about changing hardware and what not. In a few weeks sell the card and try the X1900 cards...and so on and so forth.

[IvanAndreevich]

IMO 2x7800GT equal a 512MB GTX at stock. Their overclocking margins are HIGHER and the two of them are about $200 cheaper than a single 512MB GTX.

That's why I sold my 512MB GTX and bought 2 7800GTs. Second arriving tomorrow :)

[Kenetixx]

SLi 7800 GTXs get more 3dmarks but over all the 512 is a better gamers card from what i have read all over the net , i will find out for myself 2moro if this is true or not :)

Edit : TheValve whats up with them screenies they look wacked man HDR looks wrong ???

[TheVaLVe]

Hmm dunno ,in game it looks different,maybe because its converted into jpeg so the quality is not as good as it should be,then i checked site with both cards nvidia or ati and it looks the same,so i think its right.And hdr on the first pic was not set right yet,because i was so hyped ,omg omg hdr+aa dude! lets try this on farcry!!! :P

[Daveb2012]

totally agree. I had 1 9700, 3 9800pros, 1 x800xt pe, and now, the only word that describes my passing too 2 7800GTs in sli is regret.

why is this? I have 1 7800gt and was going to buy another one for SLI. this whole thread is making me think twice. I thought 2 7800gts had killer performance with 3d05 and in all games im confused..

[IvanAndreevich]

Kenetixx

but over all the 512 is a better gamers card from what i have read all over the net

Can you show me a review where it is shown that a single 512MB GTX is overall noticeably (>10%) faster than 2x7800GT SLI in games? An EVGA 7800GT OC costs $300.


Edit: I just looked again @ benches of Far Cry, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Half-Life 2, Doom III, Chronicles of Riddick, F.E.A.R, COD2, and 3DMark2005 in 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF
In ALL of those cases 7800GT 400/1000 SLI beats 7800GTX 512 580/1760 by around 10%. eVGA cards I am getting are 445/1100 stock so the margins should be greater @ stock.

In terms of overclocking, I think the %age overclocking potential of a 7800GT is > than that of the 7800GTX 512MB.

[Daveb2012]

Kenetixx


Can you show me a review where it is shown that a single 512MB GTX is overall noticeably (>10%) faster than 2x7800GT SLI in games? An EVGA 7800GT OC costs $300.


Edit: I just looked again @ benches of Far Cry, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Half-Life 2, Doom III, Chronicles of Riddick, F.E.A.R, COD2, and 3DMark2005 in 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF
In ALL of those cases 7800GT 400/1000 SLI beats 7800GTX 512 580/1760 by around 10%. eVGA cards I am getting are 445/1100 stock so the margins should be greater @ stock.

In terms of overclocking, I think the %age overclocking potential of a 7800GT is > than that of the 7800GTX 512MB.

can you show me these results because I have been thinking twice on getting a 2nd 7800gt in SLI because of all the negitive talk on the forums about sli 7800gts.

[IvanAndreevich]

I looked here:
http://www.ixbt.com/video2/itogi-video.shtml

scroll down till you see "Far Cry, Research". Then just click on 1600x1200, AA+AF PCI-E links under each game.

That's a really good, reliable site in Russian. They do huge roundups and retest all cards once every couple of months with updated drivers :)

I am not sure what is so negative about 7800GT's in SLI. To me, they are the best bang for the buck in the high end.

[Kenetixx]

Sorry for taking so long , but i went out for a bit, just done some quick test so far to see what it is like, all done on a very dirty windows install with 81.98 drivers, this card is a monster, temps are around 64 load with stock air cooler.


Stock Run
http://teknetixx.com/images2/7800GTX512Stock.png

Auto Overclock
http://teknetixx.com/images2/7800GTX512Auto.png

Here so far
http://teknetixx.com/images2/7800GTX512600core.png

MOre to come with real Game benchies which is where i think this card will shine

OMFG!!!!
F.E.A.R Ingame test

http://teknetixx.com/images2/fearOMG.png

That is crazy My 2 x 256 meg cards had a minumum of 41 with a max of 190 and this card just blu that away
1280 x1024 Res Max everything Soft shadows on :D
I am Impressed

[IvanAndreevich]

What are your F.E.A.R AA/AF settings? On my system, turning on soft shadows drops the frames in half.

If you run 1600x1200 w/o AA and soft shadows but with AF, do you get similar result to http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2607&p=7 ?

[Hicks]

1600x1200 is a big jump from 1280x1024.

[kiwi]

lol my LCD does not even support 1600x1200

Anyway, I'd probably wait a few weeks till X1900

[dnottis]

My 7800 GTX 512 did 600 / 1780 but I still wasnt happy in games. For COD2 online just to get decent framerate I had to drop to 1024x768 for aa/af, 1280x1024 with aa/af was just terribly laggy. Needless to say I sold the GTX 512 and bought the X1800XT where I now play happily at 1280x1024 with aa/af on and get much higher framerate.

I talked a buddy of mine into selling his 7800 GT SLI for the X1800XT he's happier too. The GT Sli and my GTX 512 were faster in benchmarks like 3dmark but in real world gaming there is no contest the X1800XT is sooo much smoother.

Also, the shimmering of the NV card was driving me nuts. They have improved HQ mode but havent even begun to address the shimmering in quality mode and thats how all reviews are done - with the 7800s in shimmer mode - err I mean Quality mode. The only people that could play anything in quality mode would be using a braile keyboard.... ;)

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/ontap/MSI%207800GTX%20512MB/IMG_2352.jpg

I was able to push higher but just to prove it was mine here are a few shots...
http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/ontap/MSI%207800GTX%20512MB/OC/7800GTXOC.jpg
http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/ontap/MSI%207800GTX%20512MB/OC/3dmark2003.jpg
http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/ontap/MSI%207800GTX%20512MB/OC/3dmark2005.jpg

[p00 p0wer]

That buddie would be me! it was the best thing i have done in a while. At first i didn't want to sell my sli setup that gave me almost 13000 in 3dmark05. Then dnottis said the famous phrase. "Do you ever play 3dmark?" With the constant tearing, poor perforance with aa and af was driving me mad. Then my eyes were opened upon the gaming beast of the x1800xt. i can honestly say i will never go back to nvidia.

[Hicks]

Im the same, my 256MB GTX Gainward, scored well in 3dmark, and did well in games without AA/AF, but once i turned it on, the framerates took a nose dive. Thought it was the card, but i sold it, and it's fine with the next user, so i guess it's just pants.

Reviews are misleading most of the time in games, because they use timedomoe's, waste of time they are.

[IvanAndreevich]

p00 p0wer
With AA & AF 7800GT SLI only increases the gap vs the X1800XT in pretty much all the new games. In a few spots, the X1800XT equals the SLI setup, but in the majority it loses. Look on any site, for example Anandtech. Have different information? Please back it up with an independent review where I can see that, because I have a hard time believing.

I don't know what "shimmering" is either

dnottis
COD2 uses a :banana::banana::banana::banana: graphics engine. It's performance is pathetic, especially on nVidia hardware. I guess it's less pathetic on ATI (40%) but it's still pathetic considering it's not that pretty either.

Hicks
Turning on Soft Shadows in F.E.A.R drops the performance in half literally. Going from 1280 to 1600 hopefully is around 25%

[TheVaLVe]

Shimmering is pretty much like these http://www.thetechlounge.com/articles.php?id=232&page=11
download the video between 7800 and x1800,you can see the difference.For some ,like me the shimmering is unbearable,fps is sure high,but it feels like playing on low fps.That is one of my research before i decided which to buy the 7800 or x1800.
And as far as i know COD2 is optimized for Nvidia,as it shows on the intro of the game.

[Kenetixx]

Hmmmmm my post dissapeard or didnt post?
ANyway I only have a LCD 19" so its max is 1280 x 1024 so i cant up the res sorry to try anything, In fear i had Max evertything with soft shadows on. I will take the card to work and run it on a 21" CRT next week and up the res to give it a go to see what difference it makes at high res. Seems fine to me in COD2 no slow FPS here , so i dunno maybe config wrong /different?

[irev210]

im pretty interested in the X1900XTX

seems like buying a 7800gtx back in june last year was a good bargin, technology didnt change for 6 months. Now, the R580, G71.. plus the G80 coming...

i dunno what to do.

[p00 p0wer]

p00 p0wer
With AA & AF 7800GT SLI only increases the gap vs the X1800XT in pretty much all the new games. In a few spots, the X1800XT equals the SLI setup, but in the majority it loses. Look on any site, for example Anandtech. Have different information? Please back it up with an independent review where I can see that, because I have a hard time believing.

I don't know what "shimmering" is either

dnottis
COD2 uses a :banana::banana::banana::banana: graphics engine. It's performance is pathetic, especially on nVidia hardware. I guess it's less pathetic on ATI (40%) but it's still pathetic considering it's not that pretty either.

Hicks
Turning on Soft Shadows in F.E.A.R drops the performance in half literally. Going from 1280 to 1600 hopefully is around 25%

i think you misunderstand me. The 7800gt sli setup does score (fps) better in almost any game yes. But try playing it in wides screen 1366x768. You will see hands down the x1800xt is better for GAME PLAY than the 7800gt's in SLI. i tired numerous drivers vsync on ect and i could not get rid of the horrible tear/shimmering that the nvidia card produced. i could careless about my fps. I want Quality gameplay and ati gives me that over nvidia.

[Piotrsama]

im pretty interested in the X1900XTX

seems like buying a 7800gtx back in june last year was a good bargin, technology didnt change for 6 months. Now, the R580, G71.. plus the G80 coming...

i dunno what to do.
Wait 1 month, X1900 should be here.
Wait 1 month more, and G71 should be here.
:p:

IIRC, G80 is expected only for mid 2006.

[IvanAndreevich]

p00 p0wer
Gotcha. I will look into that "shimmering".

Kenetixx
What kind of a performance drop do you get from enabling Soft Shadows?

[dnottis]

p00 p0wer
With AA & AF 7800GT SLI only increases the gap vs the X1800XT in pretty much all the new games. In a few spots, the X1800XT equals the SLI setup, but in the majority it loses. Look on any site, for example Anandtech. Have different information? Please back it up with an independent review where I can see that, because I have a hard time believing.

I don't know what "shimmering" is either

dnottis
COD2 uses a :banana::banana::banana::banana: graphics engine. It's performance is pathetic, especially on nVidia hardware. I guess it's less pathetic on ATI (40%) but it's still pathetic considering it's not that pretty either.

Hicks
Turning on Soft Shadows in F.E.A.R drops the performance in half literally. Going from 1280 to 1600 hopefully is around 25%


IvanAndreevich
I respect what you are saying - but those are alot of excuses on behalf of Nvidia - have you tried an X1800XT yet? I think if you had one you would not be so quick to defend Nvidia. Both P00 P0wer and I have done ATI and Nvidia (7800 GTX, 7800 GTX 512 and 7800 GT Sli) and I think that first hand experience with the cards, while difficult to convince someone else, is what has convince us both that the ATI X1800XT is the best for real world gameplay right now.

[Kenetixx]

I lose around 20FPS with soft shadows enabled

[IvanAndreevich]

dnottis

have you tried an X1800XT yet
No, but I will since my friend has one.


ATI X1800XT is the best for real world gameplay right now.
In terms of quality.. performance?

[Tanktanium]

dnottis

No, but I will since my friend has one.


In terms of quality.. performance?

In quality, performance....and....





















Availability :stick:

Not to mention US$300 cheaper

[IvanAndreevich]

Tanktanium

Availability
The argument at this point is 7800GT SLI vs X1800XT. 7800GT SLI is $600 and readily available. Русский?

[IvanAndreevich]

dnottis
Did you try unchecking all the optimizations on nVidia? Seems to take care of the effect the video shows.

[[cTx]Philosophy]

hmm Ima wait for 1900 xtx then :P
I was also thinking 7800gt sli but now thinking again
im getting a lappie with a go 7800 gtx so maybe then I can see a little diff with lap and pent M with 7800 VZ X2 x1900

[afireinside]

I have GT SLI and it's FAST! I do 1280x1024 4aa/in game AF and get 200-300 FPS constant in cod2. DX7 mode. I can't get 125+ constant in DX9 mode no matter what since the game sucks so I play DX7. As far as quake4 goes I get constant 60 and same with everything else I get great FPS. Turn AA/AF up and frame rate dies. Can one of you guys talking about how much better X1800XT is for games do this:

1280x1024
4aa in game
high detail
VSYNC OFF
all other options ON

Load up a death match server and tell me what happens when you get 3+ people on screen in a 12+ player server all shooting on a large map. If you can keep a constant 50+ fps I'm sold. My SLI dips to 30ish when I get into big fights with aa/af.

[IvanAndreevich]

afireinside
We have pretty similar config. How are you cooling the vid cards on the Ultra-D? (narrow spacing)

[afireinside]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/zero-IGN/IMG_0198.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/zero-IGN/IMG_0208.jpg

Zalman fatal1ty on top, cu on bottom, 129CFM delta over cards. Running 1.525v for daily use, to lazy to crank it up to 1.65v and find a daily max.

[IvanAndreevich]

afireinside
Are the Zalman fans on? What temps are you getting?

[afireinside]

Yes they are on. Without the delta I got a stagering 72c at full load and OC with stock volts after adding the second card. After vgpu modding the cards I put a delta over them and the temp section of the drivers just went poof :( They can bench 594mhz core @ 1.8v so it has to work well :D

[Tanktanium]

Tanktanium

The argument at this point is 7800GT SLI vs X1800XT. 7800GT SLI is $600 and readily available. Русский?

I do not know why you added "Russian?" to the end of that, but last I checked, a single X1800XT runs at about $479-489 on newegg.

[5-Clicks]

ATI cards have always been more fun to play and oc ever since 9800Pro series, X800XT PE and X1800XT :D
I agree too. I just sold my 7800GT...I wasn't very impressed with it. Whenever I got a new ATI card, I could always notice a difference. With the 7800GT, I could barely tell the difference...if any. Not to mention that the 7800GT uses the boring Infineon RAM and it couldn't overclock very much. Putting a VF700-Cu on the card didn't help squat either. I'm excited for my X1800XL to arrive! :woot:

[dnottis]

dnottis
Did you try unchecking all the optimizations on nVidia? Seems to take care of the effect the video shows.


Yea, it didnt matter.

[p00 p0wer]

tho i cannot give you exact numbersin COD2. I dx9 mode the ati handly plays smoother with 4x aa and af on. i can not run that resolution to give you a actually fps seeing as i am running on a wide screen monitor. Also most of my problems stemmed from the fact that nvidia has a serious driver issue with wide screen/sli. you get like a wavey effect, tearing is increased.

[[cTx]Philosophy]

So one X1800XT is better gamer that 2 7800gt's sli'd?
I know benchwise no but gameplay smoothness and fps ingame is better?

[p00 p0wer]

So one X1800XT is better gamer that 2 7800gt's sli'd?
I know benchwise no but gameplay smoothness and fps ingame is better?

For me yes the x1800xt provides much better game play than the 7800gt sli'd

[dnottis]

The X1800 XT is much better than my overclocked GTX 512 as well.

[IvanAndreevich]

dnottis
Strange. I will reinstall BF2 today and check if I get that. I've always been very picky about quality and haven't noticed that back in the days of owning a GTX 256 when I played the game fairly often.

5-Clicks
I just sold my 7800GT...I wasn't very impressed with it.
What did you upgrade from?

Tanktanium
a single X1800XT runs at about $479-489 on newegg
7800GT SLI is quite a bit faster to make up for the diff in cost. Although here are some IQ issues brought up so I better check

p00 p0wer
most of my problems stemmed from the fact that nvidia has a serious driver issue with wide screen/sli
Is there a link to that issue as well?

[p00 p0wer]

just google it you will find multi threads. they say its fixed but i still have all the problems listed. heres a thread

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=4244

[IvanAndreevich]

p00 p0wer
Wow those are some hardcore issues. I don't seem to be experiencing them, thankfully.

[afireinside]

Odd... I didn't have any issues with my 2005FPW + SLI.

Like I said, if you think a single X1800XT is better for gaming, load some multiplayer games up and prove it. I don't care about IQ or anything, hell I set my drivers to high performance always. I just want the highest stable FPS I can get. Prove to me that the x1800xt is actually better for that and I'm sold.

[p00 p0wer]

Odd... I didn't have any issues with my 2005FPW + SLI.

Like I said, if you think a single X1800XT is better for gaming, load some multiplayer games up and prove it. I don't care about IQ or anything, hell I set my drivers to high performance always. I just want the highest stable FPS I can get. Prove to me that the x1800xt is actually better for that and I'm sold.


then my friend you are missing the entire point of this thread. if you want fps and want it to look like crap by nvidia. I on the other hand like IQ so i am going with ATI. i think that pretty much sums it up.

[Gnome]

Odd... I didn't have any issues with my 2005FPW + SLI.

Like I said, if you think a single X1800XT is better for gaming, load some multiplayer games up and prove it. I don't care about IQ or anything, hell I set my drivers to high performance always. I just want the highest stable FPS I can get. Prove to me that the x1800xt is actually better for that and I'm sold.

how can you play with that, the texture shimmering is just sooo bad in high performance ... (i have 2 7800GTs SLIed)


then my friend you are missing the entire point of this thread. if you want fps and want it to look like crap by nvidia. I on the other hand like IQ so i am going with ATI. i think that pretty much sums it up.


one point is that it's rather useless to have 150fps... if you want a stable fps you can cap it... at 60 if you have an LCD or 100 on a CRT...

now the image just looks generally sharper with an ATI card. it's funny because it doesnt show up on screenshots that much, but when you're looking at 2 screens, one with an ati card, and the other with an nvidia card, you can just see it... i tried a blind test with some friends and it was positive. the thing is that i played WoW about a week ago with an x700pro, and now i find that the rendering done by the 7800GTs really looks like crap... It's probably a story of taste, but the rendering isn't at all the same, it actually does look different, and i like the ati rendering better.

[afireinside]

I never even noticed texture shimmering until I watched those videos and I can still hardly tell...

[Hicks]

:rolleyes:
Odd... I didn't have any issues with my 2005FPW + SLI.

Like I said, if you think a single X1800XT is better for gaming, load some multiplayer games up and prove it. I don't care about IQ or anything, hell I set my drivers to high performance always. I just want the highest stable FPS I can get. Prove to me that the x1800xt is actually better for that and I'm sold.

Thats probably the daftest thing ive ever heard.

You one of these guys, who has like a 512mb GTX SLI setup on a 15" LCD?

[afireinside]

Nope I ran a 2005FPW then ditched that for an ultrascan P991 CRT.

[IvanAndreevich]

Can we get something straight here - which issues are purely ATI vs nVidia and which are the SLI issues?

ATI vs NV I can't tell any difference in quality (6800GT -> X800XT -> X850XT -> 7800GTX 256 -> 7800GTX 512 -> 7800GT SLI).

[afireinside]

From what I gather they are complaining about "texture shimmering" with all nvidia cards and widescreen issues with SLI. Funny I haven't had an issue with either.

[dnottis]

Wow - nVidia even confirmed issues with Shimmering. You MUST be running an ATI card if you don't have either of those issues!! :rolleyes:

[IvanAndreevich]

Just played F.E.A.R for 15 minutes or so. Didn't notice any artifacts (I looked as hard as I could)

[sky]

try gun then. god. i've been running it on a 6800gt and it just shimmers as hell @1280x960, lowering iq ingame didnt really help either.. crapcrapcrap. have to admit though that i returned the x1800xt as well :/

[dnottis]

Guys - seriously if you are using NV and cannot see the shimmering - Google it, there are videos all over showing it.

This isn't new, it's been an issue for awhile. Using HQ setting in the drivers NV addressed it and has made it better - but it's not fixed and quality is just ridden with rolling / swimming / shimmering. Check out BF2, HL2 in particular it's worst there but I can see it in just about every game.

To get ya started:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=7800+shimmering+video&fr=FP-tab-web-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8

[dnottis]

try gun then. god. i've been running it on a 6800gt and it just shimmers as hell @1280x960, lowering iq ingame didnt really help either.. crapcrapcrap. have to admit though that i returned the x1800xt as well :/


Gun is just poor programming that made it to retail. That game shimmers with any hardware.

[afireinside]

I played BF2 like mad and never noticed shimmering.

[Kenetixx]

Guys if you wanna talk Shimmering or whatever make another thread this thread is for Nvidia 7800GTX 512 or x1800xt 512 cards not about shimmering or if atis or nvidias picture looks more pretty ? :|

[Gnome]

Guys if you wanna talk Shimmering or whatever make another thread this thread is for Nvidia 7800GTX 512 or x1800xt 512 cards not about shimmering or if atis or nvidias picture looks more pretty ? :|

it is on topic since one does it and the other not...

[5-Clicks]

5-Clicks
I just sold my 7800GT...I wasn't very impressed with it.
What did you upgrade from?
Connect3D X800GTO @ X800XT. I played FEAR, Quake4, NFS:MW, and Doom3 on it. I didn't notice shimmering par se because at the time I didn't know what shimmering looked like. I did notice that the picture would sometimes fold over itself, so to speak, then jump back into place (half the screen would move, but the othe half would delay then snap back in sync). Is that "tearing" or is there a way to fix that?

[p00 p0wer]

Can we get something straight here - which issues are purely ATI vs nVidia and which are the SLI issues?

ATI vs NV I can't tell any difference in quality (6800GT -> X800XT -> X850XT -> 7800GTX 256 -> 7800GTX 512 -> 7800GT SLI).

Shimmering and tear effect both sli and single card operation of NV. You can fix the tearing with a single card by turning on vsnyc. When i turned vsync on when using SLI it made no difference i still had massive tearing.

Now this is all from my exp. with my setup ect. if you don't see it maybe you don't have a problem.

[5-Clicks]

doesn't vsync kill performance in some apps though?

[Kenetixx]

Shimmering seems really bad in 05 i found but dont notice much in other games, the most noted is in BF2 other games seem ok

[perkam]

Please provide evidence of shimmering before claiming such things...

Perkam

[dnottis]

Please provide evidence of shimmering before claiming such things...

Perkam


I had a 7800 GTX and a 7800 GTX 512 for months I dealt with shimmering. It's real. Google it and you'll find everything from screenshots to videos. Sorry, but I dont feel the need to fight this any longer. Nvidia at one point attempted to address it, it's even mentioned in the Release Notes for Forceware. They "reduced" it in High Quality mode, but since all reviewers and the default installation uses Quality and quality has terrible shimmering they may as well have not even bothered.

I'm done arguing about the shimmering on NV hardware, I've since went to ATI and I dont have to deal with it anymore. I almost cannot believe there are people that have never heard of this...

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=53834&highlight=shimmer
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=59450&highlight=shimmer
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=1728417&enterthread=y

[afireinside]

Maybe we've never heard of it because we're not anal and look for every possible flaw we can and instead enjoy our hardware?

[dnottis]

Maybe we've never heard of it because we're not anal and look for every possible flaw we can and instead enjoy our hardware?

:slap:

You dont read the NV release notes either then :nono:

[dnottis]

Here -

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=55812

videos and all.

[perkam]

AFR, I had my doubts about the shimmering issue, as many used it as an excuse to bash Nvidia...and its the kind of attitude that you showed that takes threads the wrong path, which was my biggest concern here. Dnottis has the evidence I was looking for, and it is definitely real and the thread starter has deemed it a suitable topic, so there is little you can do to belittle or deny the issue.

My apologies dnottis, and thanks very much for scouring nv news for the info. Very informative links there :)

Perkam

[dnottis]

AFR, I had my doubts about the shimmering issue, as many used it as an excuse to bash Nvidia...and its the kind of attitude that you showed that takes threads the wrong path, which was my biggest concern here. Dnottis has the evidence I was looking for, and it is definitely real and the thread starter has deemed it a suitable topic, so there is little you can do to belittle or deny the issue.

My apologies dnottis, and thanks very much for scouring nv news for the info. Very informative links there :)

Perkam


I agree about that - people start getting defensive and things usually spiral out of control from there. Glad I could point out a few links to prove that is a real issue :) We aren't just trying to bash NV, some of us had just gotten tired of waiting for a real fix.

[lowdog]

Yeah Nvidia cards do exhibit shimmering......but, so do bloody ATI cards. Don't give me this crap that nvidia has shimmering but ATI doesn't. My old 9800XT used to shimmer like a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: in mohaa and cod mp, that plus lame driver support and card running so hot it could fry eggs turned me off ATI for the time being.

I have no complaints with my 7800GTX 512mb atm....play all games with max detail + AA and AF with vsync and triple buffering on and gameing is great, smooth and most pleasurable. :fact:

Nvidia has their flaws but don't be a fool and believe the hype when people say ATI has none and is as good as the second coming of Christ.

[Capt_Caveman]

As an owner of a 7800GTX 512, I can't stand the shimmering. My x800xl never had the shimmering issues that my 512 does.

[p00 p0wer]

Yeah Nvidia cards do exhibit shimmering......but, so do bloody ATI cards. Don't give me this crap that nvidia has shimmering but ATI doesn't. My old 9800XT used to shimmer like a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: in mohaa and cod mp, that plus lame driver support and card running so hot it could fry eggs turned me off ATI for the time being.

I have no complaints with my 7800GTX 512mb atm....play all games with max detail + AA and AF with vsync and triple buffering on and gameing is great, smooth and most pleasurable. :fact:

Nvidia has their flaws but don't be a fool and believe the hype when people say ATI has none and is as good as the second coming of Christ.

Got any proof that ati cards shimmer? just curious dnottis supplied proof that nvidia does can you?