7800GS Vs 7950GT Vs 3850 AGP on Dual Opts 275

[AmiJIm]

Hi there,
i have an Iwill ZMAXDP with dual opterons 275 oc at 2,5ghz along with a Nvidia 7800GS.
Recenlty i upgraded my old HD ready samsung lcd tv with a real HD Philips tv and both games and video playback slowed down.
I am planning a final agp vga upgrade.
what would you suggest?
Ati 3850 512mb AGP or
Nvidia 7950GT 512mb?
thank you
ps:the 7800GS works at 77celsius yet the Ati 3850 seems to have the fan placed well above the pci blocking the airflow card.

[madmaxx]

I have a 3850 AGP in my back-up box (Old p4 setup) and it has served me extremely well since i've run it, it used to be my main rig untill i upgraded last year I couldn't tell you the temp's with stock cooler as i've always had it underwater so it has run cool as a cucumber

You may have a bit of breathing trouble there with that add in card in the way but maybe a well placed fan could negate that? That is if you are having cooling trouble with the current card seeing as the HSF's are similar? That look's like a cramped box but i like! Good job

Check here for GPU review's/comparo's http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php

[zanzabar]

defiantly the 3850, it has shaders so u arnt dependent on the built in decoder. but if u want it for playback, especially over HDMI then i would go for a 4650/4670 as the audio over hdmi will work in 3d mode also if u decide to game and they are under $100

[Artas1984]

Wow, people try to get the max they can get into a can!!! LOL! Talk about no space to breathe.. 7950GT was never a good card, not even better than X1950 PRO.

With that said, HD3850 is the supreme choise --->

http://www.thexblog.org/wp-content/p...HD3850-AGP.png

This model (the most sexy model i have even seen) has a fan located at the end.. I wonder if it will be ok..

Forget HD4670, those cards are short and lack the raw power the HD3850 have, despite having some other superior things (those are not so important in my opinion)

[AmiJIm]

Hi there,
the sapphire 3850 agp just dies,the vga was a vistim of the poor ventilation.The HIS agp 3850 is the proper but it is a very rare card.I will try another sapphire bought locally with an agp height riser and a pci riser for the soubd card to turn it up side down for more space.I will report back with photo when all parts come in.the zmaxdp is a very stylish media center and i will not give up.
cheers

[AmiJIm]

Here are the final mods made to the ZmaxDP .Heatsinks on the memory modules,Ati His 3850 agp with the fan in the back side of the pcb,sound card on a pci riser for some extra clearance for the agp to help on fresh cool air.enjoy.

[AlleyViper]

Now that's one of the coolest AGP systems I've ever seen! What brackets do those TRUEs use for fixation?

Recently I've replaced a XP-90C for a TRUE on my 754, but unfortunately it seems like the CPU to IHS contact is (or became) quite bad on these older CPUS and it becomes apparent with better cooling. I've had a significant drop on socket temp (~-8ºC), but core temp is almost the same under load (~-1ºC).
Btw, I've also swapped my older 6800GT for a Sapphire HD3850 like the one on the first post, and I don't agree that it fries. But this varies a lot with bios version (there are many), this one has the very first with PowerPlay for lower stock clocks wich most brands don't use, and id 9515 (agp 3850). The fan is actually quite nosy at low speed, and it's kept at only at 15% until 60ºC where it starts to ramp in steps. It idles at ~41ºC, and runs about ~65ºC while gaming. The problematic bios that fried Sapphires HD3850 where the ones originally provided by AMD (I believe only on PCI-E models) which kept the fan off until 80ºC.

[AmiJIm]

ZmaxDP 8 USB ports alternative way!

Hello there,
Without any doubt the ZmaxDP is a beloved machine,it is made by Iwill,the mobo designer for the enthusiasts ,since the Iwill MPX2 days for myself , and it's design and color is super compatible with any home theater set up.Now to the point.
Two years ago ,one of the 4 USB ports in front went down,and a year before all 4 USB ports went all down.I found out that the 4 USB ports was based on a USB hub which is unthinkable to fix it.I tried the oven trick but i burnt the whole PCB.
On the Zmaxdp manual there are no repots for the extra 9 pins headers found on the mobo.But on the ZMAXD2 manual you can find the two 9pin green headers.On the Zmaxdp mobo ,there is one 9 pin black header which is for a serial 9 pin connector,and there are two 9 pin green connectors.The one close to the battery coin type is for a Firewire connector.You can test is with a voltometer to see that there are +12 volts signas suitable for a firewire external connection.The other green header next to the 60 pins Front side panel connector is a two USB fully Working header.Yet the front side of the case has 4 holes for usbs.The other two can be found in the oposide side of the green header.In the zmaxd2 manual you can see that there is one set of USB-UP-D- and USB-UP-D+ ,and on the oposite side there are unused pins.But YES we are lucky enough and the unused pins are for a second USB port.Beware that the header is in a mirror layout comparing to the green usb headerand that you will have to cut out the 5th pin for the ground shield.And Voila!!!In tha many caes outhere that the 4 port usb hub went down,you can make an alternative 4 usb ports.You just have to buy two USB brackets.Look at the fotos ofr the rest of the story.
Long Live the ZmaxDP and the Amiga!!!!
Running on
2x dual core 875HE
2x 2gb ECC
HIS 3850 AGP
Asus xonar D1
http://mbclub.gr/forum/uploads/13344..._619_16064.jpg
http://www.flextronics.com/iwill/pro...anual_1011.pdf
http://www.flextronics.com/iwill/pro...p_Manual_E.pdf
http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml

[akshayt]

All 3 cards belong to different tiers

[AmiJIm]

[AmiJIm]

Update.In a couple of days i will be recieving an Ati Club3d 4670 DDR3 vga.I will report back the performance tests 4670 VS 3850 in DXVA UVD+ of the 3580 VS UVD 2.2 of the 4670 and in 3d performance.