First build - good for slight Overclocking?

[Bundy714]

Thanks for the info! I went ahead and purchased the the items in my first post as there were rebates expiring on 7/31. I got the X1950XT with a $20 rebate and a $30 rebate on the RAM.

 

I understand that there's no way to chase technology such as video cards. I plan on buying the winner of the ATI vs Nvidia 2nd Gen. DX10 cards & living with that decision until I can't play new games anymore. (Pretty much what I did with my old system - buy it & don't look back)

 

I agree with your decision to wait for the next generation of DX10 cards. For an eye opening evaluation of DX10 performance with todays cards, look here.

 

It's an evaluation of the first DX10 game to market, and you will see that even the most expensive DX10 card, the Geforce 8800 Ultra, is not enough to properly utilize the features of DX10. If it won't handle all the DX10 features, what chance do these mid range DX10 cards have?

 

Buy a fast DX9 card and wait until usable DX10 cards/drivers are available. It seems we are a long way from it now.

 

It's a great read, comparing DX9 and DX10 performance in the same game for an apples to apples comparison with the following cards: GeForce 8800 Ultra, GeForce 8800 GTX, GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB and 320MB, and the Radeon HD 2900 XT.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Bundy714

[Verran]

The sapphire card is 165.00

an xfx 8600GTS XXX which is a DX10 Card and performs just as well as the 1950 you are looking at is 224.00

with the 35 dollars you'll save on the hs and ram it'll only be an extra 25 dollars to get you in to a DX10 card.

I'm sorry, but I have to strongly disagree with this. Why pay more money for less performance just to get DX10 which he's already said he's not overly worried about? According to the handy VGU Comparison Engine, he'd be paying 36% more just to lose 25% performance. I know the XXX is clocked higher, but any card can be overclocked with minimal effort, and I still think that would be a far cry from closing the performance gap.

 

I understand that there's no way to chase technology such as video cards. I plan on buying the winner of the ATI vs Nvidia 2nd Gen. DX10 cards & living with that decision until I can't play new games anymore. (Pretty much what I did with my old system - buy it & don't look back)

I think that's a smart move. I think when DX10 games come out we're going to find that it's not quite the shining beacon of light that it's been made up to be. Personally, I'm not impressed with the DX10 performance from even the GTX, so to me it's not really a big issue. I'll be waiting for DX10 to show its face in full form, THEN I'll decide if it's worth the extra money.