he, the worst age is yet to come, 15-16, because that's when you have to pay adult price for everything but can not legally drink or drive (never both at once, that's never legal or sensible!). I would moan about not being able to have a credit card until 18 but I don't think people should ever have them - too many bottomless pits!
I am very good at saving/managing money!! I think you can tell...lol...rendering a pc useless for 2 months..now, the solution! (Old PCI Gfx card for the period of time that I don't have a good card)
Would anyone care to give advice on some buying choices I am contemplating? I have been an avid nVidia user since the GeForce 2, but am leaning towards trying out ATi this time around, especially after reading this article at AnandTech (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2812&p=1). I think I have it narrowed down to the following cards: 1. SAPPHIRE 100149L Radeon X1900XT 512MB 256-bit for $320 U.S. at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102025) 2. SAPPHIRE 100150L Radeon X1900XTX 512MB 256-bit for $360 U.S. at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102037) 3. GIGABYTE GV-NX79T256DP-RH Geforce 7900GT 256MB 256-bit for $271 U.S. at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814125223) 4. eVGA 256-P2-N567 Geforce 7900GT KO Superclocked 256MB 256-bit for $290 U.S. at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130016) I am leaning towards the Radeon X1900XT as it seems to be best bang for buck. As for the Sapphire cards, my understanding is the 256 bit interface will only allow marginal improvement for the 512 MB ram over 256 MB ram. Is this correct? The eVGA comes factory OC'd at 580MHz/1580MHz. Are there stability risks associated with factory OC'd cards? I am not interested in doing any overclocking myself. I just want a card I can plug in and go with. Which brings me to my next question. I have read about issues with ATi drivers. One of the things I have loved about nVidia in the past is their fantastic driver support. They are amazingly simple to install and I have only once run into a problem with them. I looked on ATi's site at the driver download installation section and it talks about having to install .Net 2.0. Is this really necessary? That could be a deal breaker for me. Now a general question about nVidia vs ATi. In terms of image quality, color correctness, and brightness (all on a LCD flat panel), how to the two compare? Also, one of the things important for me is the card be relatively quiet (which is why I have the Gigabyte with the Zalman cooler in the list). I am still doing research into which one is quietest and if I find it is indeed the Gigabyte, I might very well purchase that one. But what would I be trading in performance and quality? Any advice would be appreciated.
Your lean is right, the X1900XT offers the best value, performing almost the same as the X1900XT-X. It's actualy $290 post-rebate, you know, so even less than you think. Pre-overclocked cards are usually stable, but of course you then can't overclock them yourself. Numerous problems have, however arisen with 7900GTS, particularly the overclocked ones, as in a bid to show off nVidia used the same 7600 cooler on the 7900 which means it can get very hot indeed. ATI's drivers are continuously improving, and while in the past they may have been in such a state to put you off an ATI card, at present they're actually very good and easy to work your way around, whoever keeps telling people they're still rubbish is just BSing his fanboyism for nVidia. In terms of image quality, ATI win hands down and always have done. Support for FSAA and HDR simultaneously (something nVidia still can't do) and High quality AF modes mean as far as quality goes they're in a league of their own. Performance per pound often pointed in nVidia's favour but now ATI's prices have come right down, they win in that league too! You'd be trading quite a lot of performance for quietness by buying the Gigabyte, the X1900XT is quite considerably faster than the 7900GT. People have moaned time and time again that the X1900 series cooler is loud. At full speed, it's very loud, but if you have a well-ventilated case like mine (and mine can easily be topped by others) it never goes anywhere near full speed, and is indeed relatively quiet. You can also use ATITool to force the fan speeds down if you watch the temperature, or even better you can buy this for $326 post-rebate. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161014 That's an X1900XT with the HIS ICEQ3 cooler which ATI are making the stock cooler for the X1950, that's a very quiet cooler, and if you want silence, I thoroughly recommend it.
No, it's a LOT faster. You're thinking of the 7900GTX. The X1900XT is about a match for the 7900GTX, there's little in it, but they're both a lot faster than a 7900GT. Honest!
I'm not a Gamer!!But I do a lot of recording on my Computer,any suggestions on a Video card W/Vivo.Right now I've got an ATI ALL in Wonder 9000PRO.I'm looking for something a little closer to HD
Well, pretty much the best card you can get for that is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102685 but if that's overboard on performance then go for this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?Item=N82E16814102661 I wouldn't take any of the bad reviews too seriously, macrovision can be removed using ATITool (which is free).
Intel invents 5GHz stock cooler http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/03/08/intel_liquid_cooler/ The unit will fit ATX and BTX boards. Intel is currently looking to work with a technology partner to developer commercial coolers around this design. Because Intel designed it to be assembled from commonly made parts, final retail coolers are expected to cost less than $50!
That's no reason to go dumping that in a thread where it is quite clearly unsuitable. Conversations do drift, but it is everyone's duty to try and keep a topic on line. I'd also expect a moderator would frown upon the use of that word in a public forum. By all means in the PC building thread but not here. Conversations may wander at times, but that's just interjecting.
