ATI X1800XT 512MB w/ Catalyst 5.13 vs. NVIDIA 7800GTX 256MB

[freakazoid]

First time poster, but long-time reader

Currently planning a new system build with the objective of building a quiet HTPC without sacrificing features / performance i.e., have a degree of future proofing and of course, on a balanced pocket book!

Here's what I'm looking at:

OPTION 1

BFG GeForce 7800 GTX OC 256MB (single card now, maybe SLI later AND not considering 512MB price!)
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Enermax Noisetaker 600W SLI

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Scythe NINJA SCNJ-1000
Corsair DDR-400 XMS-3200C2 (TWINX1024-3200C2, 2-3-3-6)
Antec P180
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA NCQ - 250GB
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
Pioneer DVR-110D
Microsoft Windows XP MCE 2005 UR2


OPTION 2

ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB (single card now, maybe CrossFire later)
ASUS A8R-MVP
Enermax Noisetaker 600W SLI (any issues here with CrossFire?)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Scythe NINJA SCNJ-1000
Corsair DDR-400 XMS-3200C2 (TWINX1024-3200C2, 2-3-3-6)
Antec P180
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA NCQ - 250GB
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
Pioneer DVR-110D
Microsoft Windows XP MCE 2005 UR2


*Analog (ATI "dual" 550 on a single card when available) & HDTV ATSC (dual on a single card when available) tuner cards to be added later. I'm limited on the number of PCI and PCIe slots on the ASUS mobos.


OPTION 2 seems more compelling with the release of Catalyst 5.13 enabling hardware-assisted support for H.264 and two dual-link DVI connectors for some serious resolutions:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2645&p=2

The battle between ATI's Avivo platform vs. NVIDIA's PureVideo will surely heat up so would be interested to hear your views / opinions of each vendor's plaform i.e., quality of analog vs. HD capture solutions, playback / transcoding of 1080i vs. 1080p content, etc.

Also, given the focus on Blu-ray and HD-DVD in 2006, it's nice to plan for HDCP in an HTPC setup and integration with a Sony PS3 (Blu-ray) and Xbox360 (HD-DVD?, Media Center Extender) in the home, as well as for Windows Vista.

While I understand ATI has lagged NVIDIA for much of 2005 in HTPC setups, 2006 may be a different story. I would be interested to hear your views and perhaps, SPCR may entertain a review of the high-performance HTPC market and components. While I would like to wait to see what each vendor has up their sleeves in Jan, Feb with all the ATI, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel announcements, I would like make the purchase decision within the next week or so.

If you notice any conflicts with setup, feel free to let me know.

Lastly regarding PSUs, I would appreciate any comments / suggestions on your experience with the following PSUs:

a) Enermax Noisetaker 600W
b) Seasonic S12-500 vs. S12-600
c) Antec NeoHE 550

for an SLI vs. CrossFire setup? cable lengths, airflow in a P180 case? warranty, build quality, quietness? Price is not an issue with this component.

Thanks for your input!

[acaurora]

Well, I paid $700 for my 512 MB GTX, of course, though, it still hasn't arrived despite being over a month of waiting.

To tell you the truth though, the 256 MB GTX cooler is actually pretty quiet, to tell you the truth. I am running off water cooling for my CPU, a S12, the 256 MB GTX, and all the case fans on low settings as well as the maglev chipset cooler on my DFI SLi-DR. The one thing I would recommend though for IDE/ATA cables would be to get long cables, especially if you are using the IDE/ATA HDDs in the lower HDD chamber. One last thing i would recommend would be to get just the XtremeMusic version, because unless you need the connectivity options of the front panel it isn't necessary. I have the XtremeMusic and BF2 sounds amazing I do however think the Scythe probably is the way to go

In terms of H.264 playback, I have used Quicktime 7 as well as x264 for playback of HDTV captures (HRHDTV, awesome for Alias and Lost), and it plays really nicely. To tell you the truth you only start to notice the need for performance when you are watching Quicktime 7 - that's when you'll really start needing high end gear. Pretty much all of my trailers that I play @ 1080i from Quicktime's website, plays smoothly all the time, except for some of the high action. (try looking up the 1080i trailer fof Serenity - the only computer I have seen that thing play good on is an X2 with 1 GB of RAM with integrated Radeon Express X200 graphics - my Athlon 64 3700 + San Diego with 2 GB of OCZ RAM / 7800 GTX 256 MB can't play it was well as that, aint that a hoot ! )

Hope all goes well

[freakazoid]

acaurora,

Did your 512MB GTX arrive for Christmas? Nice rig you have there! What kind of temps are you getting with the 256 MB GTX / watercooling setup?

Right now, I'm leaning towards the ASUS Extreme AX1800XT 512MB, however, it really depends on availability. Any users with experience on this board? Is this a louder board than ATI's board? Also, if I go with a single card, will I have ONE PCI slot available? Or TWO PCI slots on the ASUS A8R-MVP mobo?

Also, decided to go with the S12-500 instead of the Noisetaker. I like the connectivity, flexibility options via the front panel, hence the decision to go with the X-Fi Platinum.

Yes, H.264 playback via QuickTime 7 is a real killer on the system. Decided best to go with 2GB of Corsair for HD support and Vista readiness. Plan to have everything nailed down sooner than later so if the X1800XT is delayed any further, will go with the 7800GTX 256MB configuration.

Any users with experience on NVIDIA's PureVideo decoder? And how seamless is the integration with MCE 2005 vs. ATI's Catalyst 5.13?

Thanks!

[jermaink]

For the power supply, I'd definitely get the Seasonic S12 600W. It'll be quieter than the Enermax.

For the hard drive, the Samsung Spinpoint P120 250GB is much quieter than that Seagate Barracuda.

As for which motherboard/graphics card, what exactly is the price difference? Apparently the 512MB X1800XT is faster by a bit over the 7800 GTX, but that may depend on whether you get one of those pre-overclocked 7800GT's. As for HTPC features, do the ATI's have better features (or is that only their All in Wonder series). Both motherboards are passive, which is good, but isn't the Asus SLI32 overpriced? Also, you may want to get some 2GB DDR RAM as they aren't too expensive anymore. For your DVD drive, you should consider the BenQ DW 1640.

[jermaink]

Well, I paid $700 for my 512 MB GTX, of course, though, it still hasn't arrived despite being over a month of waiting.

You might want to cancel your order. ATI and nVidia about to enter their next generation of graphics cards, which would make spending $700+ on a top line graphcs card, which may just be supersceeded very quickly, not the best place to spend money.

I'd also say, putting an AC Silencer on any 1 slot card will be a significant improvement for temps and noise reduction.

[freakazoid]

For the power supply, I'd definitely get the Seasonic S12 600W. It'll be quieter than the Enermax.

For the hard drive, the Samsung Spinpoint P120 250GB is much quieter than that Seagate Barracuda.

As for which motherboard/graphics card, what exactly is the price difference? Apparently the 512MB X1800XT is faster by a bit over the 7800 GTX, but that may depend on whether you get one of those pre-overclocked 7800GT's. As for HTPC features, do the ATI's have better features (or is that only their All in Wonder series). Both motherboards are passive, which is good, but isn't the Asus SLI32 overpriced? Also, you may want to get some 2GB DDR RAM as they aren't too expensive anymore. For your DVD drive, you should consider the BenQ DW 1640.

Yes, the Seasonic S12 is what I'm going for. Still am deciding on the 500 vs. the 600. Apparently, on SPCR it seems the 430 is more than enough for a single-card setup. I'm thinking 500 should be sufficient in the event that I go with CrossFire later on.

I thought about going with the Samsung P120, but product availability is hard to come by and the warranty is not as good as the Seagate.

So I decided on the ASUS EAX1800XT 512MB instead of the BFG 7800GTX 256MB. I figure I would save some money on the mobo with the ASUS A8R-MVP pairing and put it towards to the video card. ASUS still gets more of my money with the video card purchase! The A8N32-SLI Deluxe is a better mobo, but I don't need the "slightly" faster gigabit speed or dual option or optical as I'm going with the X-Fi Platinum. I'm not a hardcore gamer so in terms of future proofing and HTPC functionality, the ATI AVIVO features supported in the X1800XT factored in my decision. For those interested in the ASUS EAX1800XT, here's a review by VR-Zone http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=3055&s=1 that discusses the "quiet" Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer and bundle including the game controller and King Kong. We'll see how quiet this beast is!

On RAM, I went with 2GB Corsair and the Pioneer optical drive as it seems to be one of the more reliable and quiet drives in the marketplace. The X1900 / R580 is reported to launch on Jan 24th and will likely blow away the 7800GTX 512MB, but we'll see how the G71, G80 fares when they launch. Of course, ATI will be working on the R600 and rather than waiting to see how the gamesmanship plays out, I would say enjoy your HTPC sooner than later!

[williebk]

GeForce 7800GTX 512 beats ASUS EAX1800XT in speed


Judging from the performance charts, ASUS EAX1800XT is still unable to capture the performance crown from the GeForce 7800 GTX 512. However, it does outperforms the 7800 GTX 256MB and the reference Radeon X1800 XT card. It seems that ATi needs to launch the Radeon X1900 (R580) soon to take back the performance crown from NVIDIA. Did we mentioned the launch date for R580 is on 24th January?

Although the EAX1800XT TOP didn't manage to grab the performance throne when it comes to gaming performance, it did manage to grab some attention nevertheless. With a large Arctic Cooling designed fan, it has effectively removed noise from the equation. We have pointed out that the reference cooling system is really noisy, ASUS's EAX1800XT TOP on the other hand is completely silent. Also it comes with an interesting bundle that includes an unusual game pad controller. The EAX1800XT TOP certainly breaks away from what we usually expect from a graphics card bundle.

[jermaink]

I don't think that the 512 GTX being fast erthan the X1800XT is really news. But the X1800XT is fast erthan the 256 GTX, which is much closer in price and is actually available.

Other thing I'd say is that to my knowledge, the BenQ DW1640 should be better (and cheaper) than the Pioneer DVDRW drive.

[Igor]

X1800XT certainly gives more bang for your money than the GTX 256MB, but it also draws more power. And that means that it will be harder to keep it cool & quiet.

I have the X1800XT 512MB, and it's hot - even without the PE bios that I have on mine. I know ppl who have put Zalman VF700-Cu on it, and with the fan running at full speed they still reach way over 70 degrees celcius. Apparently bolting an Athlon 64 boxed heatsink on the card with a quiet 92mm fan blowing on it is relatively cool & quiet. Takes a lot of space though.

The original cooler is horribly noisy. At idle (2D usage) it's bearable, atleast if you slow down the fan with Atitool. In 3D usage you can't slow down the fan; it'll fry. I use headphones while gaming, so it only bothers my wife and daughter

I hope Arctic Cooling comes up with a Silencer that'll fit the X1800XT soon...

[jackylman]

Judging from the performance charts, ASUS EAX1800XT is still unable to capture the performance crown from the GeForce 7800 GTX 512. However, it does outperforms the 7800 GTX 256MB and the reference Radeon X1800 XT card. It seems that ATi needs to launch the Radeon X1900 (R580) soon to take back the performance crown from NVIDIA. Did we mentioned the launch date for R580 is on 24th January?

No, ATI still has the performance crown in cards you can actually buy.