Another video card question...

Which features weigh more heavily than others? For instance, should I look for something with a high core/memory clock frequency over a large onboard memory? Should I stress GDDR2 over GDDR3? Would it be better to get a 256bit interface instead of a high number of pixel pipelines?

Basically I need to know which features are most important for performance. Thanks.

Sorry about the screwup on the combo pricing, but its still good deal. That card normally sells for quite a bit more. Search other sites if you like. The X1950 pro soundly beats the nvidia 7900gs (price those too) and is only $15 more than what was recently suggested and gets you a faster processor and a better video card. If I had a PCIe mb I'd be all over this.


Heres what Tomshardware has to say about it:
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Best PCI-E Card For ~$180
Radeon X1950 PRO

Codename: RV570, 90-nanometer technology
36 Pixel shaders, Eight Vertex shaders, 12 Texture units, 12 Raster Operator Units
256 bit external memory bus (512-bit internal ring bus)
575 MHz core, 690-MHz DDR (1280 MHz effective) Memory

The X1950 PRO is similar to the X1900 GT, the main difference being that it is not based on the X1900 XT, but a whole new and less power-hungry core.

The card'* main competition is the 7900 GS, which it soundly beats in almost every benchmark.

I have already seen brand-new X1950 PROs for as little as $165 on Newegg. At that price this card is an absolutely incredible deal.
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Lastly, I've never like ECS motherbds, the few I had were nothing but problems and I have't used them since but to put it in perspective, it was about 7 years ago.
Anyone else have an ECS MoBo?

ECS has a horrible reputation for going bad. In my experience, it lives up to this reputation. ECS have never out performed a comparable motherboard, and have the shortest lifetime of anything I've used. The money you save will only be spent later on a new motherboard, and you may ruin the components connected to it if it goes bad.

If you guys aren't hot on ECS, can you suggest something else? Looking for a good combination of value and functionality. I don't want to buy random crap, especially if some of the stuff is poor quality. BTW... somebody commented on NewEgg that ECS has recently received a facelift, and quality is getting better. Is this accurate?

Alright... I'm trying to do a little of my own research and figure out which parts are a good price/performance compromise. I came up with a mobo, processor, RAM, and GPU, and I'd like some opinions on them.

Motherboard - chosen because it gives me the option of an Athlon 64 X2 in the future

Graphics Card - seems like it has good clock frequencies, and has GDDR3. I realize it may not be as good as some of the deluxe X800 or X850 models, so let me know if there are better choices.

Processor - appears to be a good starting point, and will perform reasonably well

RAM - reliable brand name, excellent timing numbers, and reasonable price


Give me some feedback, and link me to different parts if you think I've made a bad choice. I'm learning about this stuff as I browse around.

The X800 performs better than the x1600,
the nvidia 7900gs perfoms better than the x800
the x1950 out perfoms the 7900gs.

perhaps this video card comparison will help you decide; but yes any of these will run FlightSim X

Motherbd: comments like this: "See the Sapphire user'* forums for a long list of problems on this mobo." kept me from pointing out this one in my first recommendation.
For about twnty dollars more, the MSi I recommended has good reviews.

I would at least check out Sapphires support forum for this board before buying and at least see if issues are resolved, they are standing behind their warranty, or if its been orphaned...its a buyer beware world.

Dude, thank you so much for that comparison link. That'* what I've needed this whole time!

It seems there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the manufacturers' numbering systems, as some lower model numbers have much better performance than higher model numbers. What are the most important features I need to consider when weighing a GPU? I feel like I have no way to know which cards are good and which ones aren't, aside from this chart. Was this chart compiled using overclocked cards, or are they all straight out of the box?

EDIT: I'm also seeing some AGP cards pretty high on that list. Would it still be a mistake to throw a faster processor and PC2700 RAM into my old board, and snag an AGP card?

Try this processor, DEFINATELY worth the small price increase.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103539

That'* a rather temporary fix. You'll notice the difference with the build you had with the new mobo and processor, and PCI-E.

Chromius... you had mentioned putting together a couple lists of different setups that I might want to try. Would you mind doing that if you have a minute? No problem if you can't. I would like a voice of experiencing when it comes to matching different parts, so I know they all work together properly