ATI Radeon x1900 PRO vs nVidia 7900 GS OC

[SuperZ]

I've gone through several websites reviewing these two products, but none of them seem to be consistent, so I figured I would ask you guys what you think.

Most benchmarks compare the sapphire x1950 pro to the stock 7900 gs, but not to the overclocked models such as from XFX or gigabyte (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125045).

While the radeon x1950 pro easily beats out a stock geforce 7900 GS (at most games except some opengl), would it also have this advantage over the OC 7900 gs models which have core clock raised from 450mhz to 525 or 550mhz?

 

[nvidiaOCmaster]

X1900pro for sure.

 

[SuperZ]

http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=141529

Check out this site when you get a chance. The overclocked geforce 7900 gs they are showing is beating the 7900 gt and the x1950 pro in most games. They have the core at 580, which i guess should be doable on that gigabyte 7900 gs w/ zalman cooler.

How should one interpret the results on that page?

For example:

 

[Shell]

Or... you can OC the X19xx core with stock cooling and get much more performance...
An X1950PRO is a good overclocker and can make up for the lack of pipes with more Hz against un-cut R580's.

The better thing to do, rather then get a regular PRO or an OC'd 7900GS is to get an open-Box 48 shader unit X1900PRO, add a large and effective aftermarket heatsink, and OC the crap out of it, it should be able to hit 700MHz+ with a Zalman VF900, far more powerful then the GS or GT could ever be unless you put them under liquid cooling.

Stock-OC'd Video cards are a waste of money.

 

[SuperZ]

Well the thing is that the two video cards are both the same cost (around $150 after rebate). Except that the 7900 gs comes with a zalman cooler on it already.

According to what i've read the x1950 pro can not really be overclocked significantly, so even if i put an after-market cooler on it, it probably still wouldn't allow for a decent overclock.

 

[Shell]

According to what i've read the x1950 pro can not really be overclocked significantly, so even if i put an after-market cooler on it, it probably still wouldn't allow for a decent overclock.

I've seen them hit the same clocks as most X1900XT's, and thermal output is much lower due to there being less pipes.

At 621/790(The current Overdrive cap on the PRO) I never see temps go over 50c with the big red, copper heatsink. I don't own an X1950PRO myself, but I've worked with them several times and have yet to have a bad OC'ing experience with one... unless they're DOA.

And dont' forget about the whole higher IQ thing...

 

[nvidiaOCmaster]

Volt modded X1900GT does 750/800. Needs ALOT of sinks for the hot stuff on the board though.

 

[SuperZ]

So is a stock x1950 pro not as good as 7900 GS that comes factory overclocked to 550 mhz core?

If I do get an x1950 pro i dont think i'll have enough left in my budget to get a special heatsink/fan, so i'm doubtful about how much i will be able to OC. Also the x1950 pro can't be voltmodded like the rev.1 x1900 gt i think.

So what do u guys think, should I go with the sapphire x1950 pro or the gigabyte 7900 GS that is overclocked and has a zalman?

 

[Valk]

What i would be curious to see is how the two cards compare clocked 1-1. Most gs cards can clock to 700+ core without issue with decent air cooling, like the vf900 you mentioned
of course, if your not wanting to overclock the thing, i think the ati will give you a little more value.
Core due and i both have 720/9xx GS cards and a thread going on that if your interested in how those things work.