Building budget gaming rig. Comments?

[gurusan]

He's trying to save money...lol. And the 7900GS does the job.

he was thinking about buying 2 cards though which means he can spare the 20 dollars or something.

Newegg.com - BFG Tech BFGR7950256GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OC HDCP Video Card - Retail
149 after rebate

Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card - Retail
129 after rebate

I guarantee the 20 dollars is worth it. I can't stress enough what a difference the extra 4 pipelines makes. Not to mention the extra 65 mhz and 50mhz more memory stock.

Furthermore, that particular bfg 7950GT is easily clocked to over 600mhz core and 1580-1600+ memory which effectively makes the card QUITE fast. And don't forget that when you clock the 7950gt you are clocking 24 pixel shaders as opposed to 20 which again, makes quite a difference.

Here's a 3dmark06 bench of the cards @ stock speeds....the 7950 gets almost a 1000 pt lead over the 7900GS.

 

[b1gapl]

You're right. Theres a significant difference in benchmarks, but I'm not sure, in actual gaming. I don't think he can really tell, the difference between 10+FPS, unless he's trying to look for it, which I'm pretty sure he's not. Just play the game.

 

[gurusan]

You're right. Theres a significant difference in benchmarks, but I don't think so, in actual gaming. I don't think he can really tell, the difference between 10+FPS, unless he's trying to look for it, which I'm pretty sure he's not. Just play the game.

If that 10-15 fps means the difference between 60 and 45-50fps than IMO it's certainly worth it...I for one can't stand it when a game falls below 60

Also, aren't we talking about the best card for the money? If so, then i think the 7950gt wins.

 

[b1gapl]

Ok...that's fine by me.

 

[Nagasama]

i agree that the 7950gt is quite a bargain for that much money.
i heart my 7900gs's tho. sli rules.
also, O.P....
there's nothing wrong with that mobo. abit makes excellent motherboards, dont take the newegg reviews seriously. most of the people on there are idiots. i had (still have but dont use) an abit kn9 nf4 ultra and trust me it is a rock solid mobo.

 

[gurusan]

i agree that the 7950gt is quite a bargain for that much money.
i heart my 7900gs's tho. sli rules.
also, O.P....
there's nothing wrong with that mobo. abit makes excellent motherboards, dont take the newegg reviews seriously. most of the people on there are idiots. i had (still have but dont use) an abit kn9 nf4 ultra and trust me it is a rock solid mobo.

Yeah don't pay attention to newegg reviews...99% of the time they don't mean anything. Abit makes great mobos...I just built my friend a puter with an Abit Fatality 650i SLI mobo and it's quite nice.

 

[shan1784]

The Abit comments make me feel much better about my purchase so thanks to all of you for your comments...

As for the video card thing, I have never experienced a game running over 60 fps at high settings. I've always had to use med to low settings to make them playable. I'm not sure that I would recognize the extra 10 to 15 fps you are talking about.

Right now I am hooked on Counter Strike and Day of Defeat. I am a fan of Battlefield and Ghost Recon series as well. Just have never had the opportunity to play them as I've never had the hardware to do so.

That being said I do want the best card for my money. Based on this would the 7950GT be the better route? What about SLI? Is this worth considering again...

I can't thank everyone enough for the hlep here...

 

[b1gapl]

According to gurusan and nagasama, the 7950GT is the winner.

 

[Nagasama]

if you are going to sli, get the cheaper 7900gs and overclock them. no sli, get the 7950gt. of course, if you are going to buy two new 7900gs's, you might as well buy and 8800gts 320mb it will cost roughly the same as 2 7900gs cards. and perform a little better maybe, but i am not sure if the 320mb outdoes 2 7900gs or not.

 

[b1gapl]

I think they're pretty close.

I agree with nagasama, on SLIing the 7900GS, single 7950GT, or opting for the 8800GTS 320mb, if you are SLIing those 7900GS now.