Getting new card(s)...helppp

[Synth3tikMessiah]

Alright... Firstly, i have to decide between the x1900xt and the 7900gtx
Secondly, i have the money (wow have i been saving for this day) to get 2 of whichever one i choose.

Can somone pelase help me out and give some intelligent opinions? pros cons?

Whether using sli or crossfire is worth it? Whats the difference between running sli/crossfire and simply running the two cards separately?

Thanks a lot!!

[public_eyesore]

they are almost too close to call. But if i was to choose, i would choose the 7900gtx because im told its a bit quieter

[DaveW]

one of each...hehe...

obviously, i'm not serious.

-Dave

[bartvandenberg]

id go nvidia. much better drivers, and they are up to par with each other for performance. but.. def make sure you go with a 512 card. not a 256 card. and.. honestly. dont waste your money on 2. sli benchmark results only show an average of 2 - 10 fps boost, and in some cases.... lower framerates. if you think its worth it to spend another 700 CAD to get that boost, by all means.

and to have 2, not connecting them through SLI, you will only benefit of having dual monitor capabilties. it would be amazing to have that setup, but.. highly not worth it. there are very few, if any games that allow for dual monitor support anyway (as far as i know... and with that said, if there are any.... veryvery few).

but.. thats just my opinion. bottom line

1... and only 1 (leave room for later upgrading to SLI when it becomes more beneficial) geforce 7900 gtx 512mb card.

like this one...

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1931172&CatId=0

[sega01]

i would definately go for the 7900, its a very powerfull card - and it has better drivers. if i were you, i would get one 7900, and then get a gig more of ram or possibly upgrade the cpu and cooling. even after all of that, you would probally of not spent all of your money. from what i have seen, sli isn't much more powerfull - it can even put a drop im performance at times.

good luck!

[Synth3tikMessiah]

Thanks everyone, i've decided to go with one 7900GTX...

I just don't understand...how could framerate only go up so little with two...TWO cards hooked up?

Are you guys absolutely sure i should not get 2?

(i mostly play games like oblivion...WoW....Guid Wars... Not too many FPS games like CS..)

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2746&p=8

"At the high end, there's no better solution than ATI's Radeon X1900 series. While NVIDIA can offer similar performance with the GeForce 7900 GTX, its minimum frame rates aren't anywhere near as high as what ATI can deliver, meaning that the X1900 series will give you a much better overall experience. Oblivion is quite possibly the first game we've ever benchmarked where having multiple GPUs is almost necessary to get good frame rates at relatively common resolutions with most of the impressive visual effects turned on. The performance offered by a pair of X1900 XTs simply can't be matched by any single card, but as good of a game as Oblivion is you'd have to have a pretty serious computer budget to accommodate the $1200 that a pair of X1900 CrossFire GPUs will set you back."

Also....aside from basing this on single games...would'nt a dual setup be better in the long run?

[bartvandenberg]

well.. go ahead. spend the money. in fact.. spend an extra 700 CAD to run oblivion one game. why not just try it out with one card first. then, if you arent satisfied, get another. and trust me. you can buy ati, but.. if you know nvidia, you wont beat there drivers.

also, i find it really wierd that you seem to want to base your opinion on ONE review.. but.. thats just my opinion. good luck with whatever you choose...

[Synth3tikMessiah]

It was one of many....i read around 4, maybe 5...they all said ATI had a more stable framerate...althought nvidia had higher peaks. And ati has fewer pipelines but they use them more efficiently than the nvidia card..

[bartvandenberg]

oh yah. i should also say....a 7900 gtx/x1900 will probably run oblivion at frame rates higher than you monitor can support anyway. so.. if you are getttin this phenominal performance boost through sli/crossfire, your monitor will end up being your bottleneck, not even allowing you to use your gpus to there potential. so.. really.. benchmark results that show over 100 fps, arent realistic, cause you will never see that kind of frame rate anyway...

[DaveW]

Yeah, your monitor will probably be about 75 max.

-Dave

[busandave]

Well I am having the same probelm as the guy who started this thread. which way to go sli or crossfire. but I would add this I have the asus 7800gt 512 and that card has now been phased out and is really hard to get or impossible to get at least without paying an arm and a leg for it. so if you but only one card to start and have to wait even 5 months before you buy the next one there is a chance that you wont be able to get it. at least with ati you can always get the pair when you want.