[jacobusmatthew]

ok

It all started about 1 year ago, i was a complete n00b about computers and i got a socket 478 board with AGP...simply because i wasnt aware of the fact if i just save my money i could get a better pc with PCI express and faster bus speed etc....

so i upgraded the crap outta the one i have its pretty much the best performance you can get out of an AGP 478 system

but i still get relatively poor performance on BF2 with a x800xt and 1.5GB RAM, a WD SATA HD (only 7200 RPM yes i realize not the best but im poor), 3.0GHZ processor...running on high settings, no AA 1024 X 768

my friend just got an x1800xt and he says he comp suddenly rules.....and im an ATI fanboy so nvidia is out of the question. Im gonna get a new CPU and motherboard and just use all my old components untill i can save for a new WD raptor, and Vid card.

so i was wanting (preferrably an unbiased one) opinion on which mobo, CPU and Vid card to get.

im interested in crossfire and the whole checkerboard style gpu splitting.....so i chose the ASUS crossfire board

I think its the best based on the fact that so many ppl complained about the DFI Lanparty one so i figured

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131584 (mobo)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103539 (cpu)

2 x1800xl

or

2 x1800xt

which one more bang for the buck obviously the xt looks better on paper...but what does it all mean......i basically want to run BF2 max with 0 lag

can it be done with the xl, or do i need the XT.....

any help would be appreciated,
Thanks,
Matt

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The x1800xt is of course faster than the xl. The x1800xt is 625 MHz core clock, 1.5 GHz memory clock with a 256-bit interface of course, and 16 pipelines. The memory transfer rate is 48 GB/s "gigabytes per second".


The x1800xl is

500 MHz

1 GHz

256-bit

16 pipelines

32 GB/s


The x1800xl are considerably cheaper and would be the best bang for the buck, but if you wanted the fastest of the ati cards the x1800xt is the fastest and you can get 512mb on them also.

If you have the money I would go for the xt. Maybe get one for now. You also need to get 2gb of ram I recommend. Dont get any lower than that.

You dont really need a raptor harddrive because the new 7200 rpm drives with 16mb cache can keep up with them just a few less mb/s slower than the raptor believe it or not and you can get your space that you really need.

My opinion you dont need 2 ati x1800xt's right now there is no use really. Just get one x1800xt with 512mb and your set.

[jrm20]

The x1800xt is of course faster than the xl. The x1800xt is 625 MHz core clock, 1.5 GHz memory clock with a 256-bit interface of course, and 16 pipelines. The memory transfer rate is 48 GB/s "gigabytes per second".


The x1800xl is

500 MHz

1 GHz

256-bit

16 pipelines

32 GB/s


The x1800xl are considerably cheaper and would be the best bang for the buck, but if you wanted the fastest of the ati cards the x1800xt is the fastest and you can get 512mb on them also.

If you have the money I would go for the xt. Maybe get one for now. You also need to get 2gb of ram I recommend. Dont get any lower than that.

You dont really need a raptor harddrive because the new 7200 rpm drives with 16mb cache can keep up with them just a few less mb/s slower than the raptor believe it or not and you can get your space that you really need.

My opinion you dont need 2 ati x1800xt's right now there is no use really. Just get one x1800xt with 512mb and your set.

[jacobusmatthew]

right but the plan is as the games get more advanced inevitably a new card will come out and better games and by that time prices for the 1800xt will go down and i can get another

also on the RAM 1.5 is what i have and i plan to upgrade in the future i just dont have enough dough right now

please elaborate on why a raptor is not worth it because from what ive heard it increases boot and loading times?

thanks,
matt

Edited by jacobusmatthew, 28 December 2005 - 11:37 AM.

[warriorscot]

Well what you can do with crossfire is get a newer card and stick it in there with your old x1800 so you get a crossfire mastercard of the R580 or one of the DX10 capable R600 GPUs and stick it in and you get your extra performance and you dont have to chuck away your old card, its crossfires biggest advatage over SLI.

Raptors are showing there age, and most of the new 7200rpm drives are offering better real performance and the extra size is desirable as well, Raptors are a gimmick, there is the cheatahs and atlas drives if you want to go super fast with no concern for cost, but you are almost always better off with a good 7200 drive in the long term.

1gig is suffient to play any game at the moment, and 2 gigs is nice so as long as what you have now is PC3200 you will be fine.

Edited by warriorscot, 28 December 2005 - 12:34 PM.