X1950 Pro or XT?

tempeteduson · Post by **tempeteduson** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:53 pm

Hello,

I'm buying parts for a midrange build that will replace my current system (in sig). I've already bought a 3600+ Brisbane and 2GB RAM and have decided on some form of 690G mobo to keep chipset power consumption low. I want to keep it all-AMD to simplify driver installation, and since the HD 2600/2400 products seem underwhelming (at least from a performance perspective), it's down to the X1950 series. Besides, the next step up is the ~$260 GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB. I'm not prepared to spend that kind of money when concurrently sourcing hardware for this other project. I was planning to use the integrated video for a while before upgrading, but Newegg has tempted me with various rebates on Sapphire boards effective this week.

So, what is it gonna be: the 512MB X1950 Pro or the hotter 256MB X1950 XT? Either way, I'm slapping on a Zalman VF900 to cool it. Is the XT worth the extra heat?

Thanks for your input.

EDIT: The whole shebang is going in a Chenbro Gaming Bomb/Xpider because I'm swapping cases with my father. You know, because people get sick of their enclosures just like they do their cars.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:02 am

Read this thread first. Some things do apply to the VF900 you're interested in.

tempeteduson · Post by **tempeteduson** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:15 am

Matija, I think I'll go with Arctic Cooling's Accelero S1 now that it's available. That was my original intention.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:07 am

You said you were going to use the VF900

Yeah, the S1 is a good choice, but it's going to need nice airflow, probably with a fan.

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:44 am

In terms of Pro vs. XT, I would recommend the XT. If you are planning to use a S1, noise isn't a factor. I bought the Pro last Christmas, and looking back, I should have gotten the XT instead. First let me say that the Pro is a wonderful card. I have a 19in LCD, and I can max out settings in my games. (BF2 & NFS:MW) I always get playable FPS, but there are some rare occasions that I dip down into marginally playable FPS. But at no time is the game unplayable. (And remember, this is with settings maxed out). But I think I should have gotten the XT only because it is significantly faster than the Pro. It doesn't bring 8800GTS speeds, but its really fast. If you are playing on a monitor larger than 19in and you want all the eye candy, I cannot recommend the Pro because it simply lacks the horsepower. But I'm pretty sure a XT can fully power a larger monitor with the settings turned up. I also think that an XT will last longer than a Pro because of the added horsepower. Because right now, I cannot upgrade my monitor because I'll have to turn graphics settings down. But if I upgrade my X1950Pro, I must also upgrade my monitor else the new card would be a waste. (I'd just get higher FPS, when my Pro is already perfectly playable) So having some extra horsepower over the Pro, I think, is a good idea.

Just a few FPS statistics:

Code: Select all

               Min     Avg     Max
Battlefield 2  ~28     ~40     60+
NFS:MW          12      20     30+

tempeteduson · Post by **tempeteduson** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:27 am

Thanks, angelkiller. I forgot to mention that my monitor is a 24" @ 1920x1200, which is way too big for my current Radeon 9500 non-Pro to handle. I was hoping the X1950 Pro would be sufficient for some older games running at full resolution as well as newer ones at reduced res, but the XT is indeed a better, forward-looking choice. The XT does carry over the original R580 core with the high thermals. I've seen a PowerColor-branded X1950 XT with the S1 (anybody see it for sale?), so that particular heatsink should be able to cope with the extra heat.

Matija, I caught up with the news on availability of the S1 in the U.S. just after I posted the thread. I apologize.