which card?

[titaniumplanck]

Ok.

I recently damaged my old system and am replacing hte gfx, cpu and mobo.

Im going to have a core 2 duo e6400 and a Asustek s755 intel 975xATX Mobo.

However i have a choice of card:-

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800XT - £164.44
EVGA Nvidia 7600GT KO - £152.69
BFG Nividia 7900 - £184.42

The reason for this question was that my pay packet was more than i thought and i can afford any of these, however im not the chief executive of BP and it would be nice to know im getting good value for money.

The rig is for games.

Thanks!

 

[Darkwave]

The X1800XT is the fastest of all three at stock and overclocked. The 7900GT can be faster if hardware volt-modded (pencil-mod) and are quieter, but it should also be noted that the Geforce 7900 series also have the highest failure rate of any graphics cards in the last few years.

If you are into volt-modding and don't mind chancing the 5% RMA statistics, then go for the 7900GT as you will get 7900GTX speeds out of it. If not, then definitely go for the X1800XT, it's the best bang for buck card out at the moment period.

 

[titaniumplanck]

cheers. im not really into overclocking and modding at the moment. However, the fact ive heard that the conroes can be overclocked a lot with simple aircooling im thinking of attempting it. i mite wait until the cost of these processors goes down a bit so replacement isnt a issue tho if it goes wrong.

Ive never looked into aftermarket air cooling for a gfx card, wheres the best place to look and what makes are reputatble, hte same as cpu coolers or are they different?

 

[ACESHIGH]

Everything in the above post is correct.

The best value for monery card as far as i am concerned is the Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800XT 256MB


There is nothing really wrong with the stock cooler.
You might want to see how it works as stock & only change the cooler if its too hot or too noisey for your liking - shouldnt be for most people.
Coolers are pretty easy to replace though.

Link to coolers ... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Arctic_Cooling_System_Coolers.html