Any idea if Ati is going to release a cooler high end card?

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:43 pm

Anyone know if ati is going to release a card similar to x1900xt or 1900xtx but that runs cooler?

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 7:42 pm

I wouldn't think so. NV and ATI are most likely gearing up for their next releases (G80/R600) in time for xmas season. But if this article has any truth to it (yeah I know it's the Inquirer) it doesn't look like too good of an outlook for silencers.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34319
and here
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33343

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:58 am

Yea I just want a card as powerful as a 1900xt and with the same features, but uses the amount of power of a 7900gt. Guess that might be 6 months to a year away at best

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:47 am

GamingGod wrote:Yea I just want a card as powerful as a 1900xt and with the same features, but uses the amount of power of a 7900gt. Guess that might be 6 months to a year away at best

you could always use a program like atitool...basically, you can have pstates like cnq does. I think the pcb's of the 1900's let you tweak voltages along with clock speeds...so, if you have atitool running, it can detect you're only using a 2d, and drop the clocks and maybe the voltages...I haven't really looked into it much, as only the beta version seems to have those features. I think it will be much longer than a year before we see power consumption start to drop. Think about it, each company is releasing an even bigger chip than they have now, and they're not going to introduce an entirely new high end part 6 months from then. Maybe a year, but, it wont necessarily be a new architecture, just a revision. But who knows what a gpu revision could bring as far as power consumption.

Sizzle · Post by **Sizzle** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:12 am

I thought I read the x1950 did a better job with power then the x1900 but I can't recall where I read that at.

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:28 am

GamingGod wrote:Yea I just want a card as powerful as a 1900xt and with the same features, but uses the amount of power of a 7900gt. Guess that might be 6 months to a year away at best

Are you looking for a card based on power consumption alone? HIS has a new cooler for their 1900/1950 cards (ICEQ3). A couple people here have them and say the coolers are pretty quiet. Looks like the best option for the time being. When I get a C2D in a couple months that's what I'll go with. If even a midrange next generation card is going to be as hot as they say, I want no part of those things.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:22 pm

Sizzle wrote:I thought I read the x1950 did a better job with power then the x1900 but I can't recall where I read that at.

the ddr4 they use does reduce the overall power draw of the card. It draws less than the x1900xtx. but, they only have one model so far, the pro version wont be out until mid october.

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:54 am

Yea but those HIS ICE3 cards are too expensive. I might try getting a 1900xt and putting a zalman 900 on it. Maybe Ill find a xt on rebate again. I saw one at one time for $250 after rebate, I should have jumped on it, but I thought they were going to fall down even further in prices.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:03 am

newegg has a sapphire x1900xt 256mb version for $239...holiday price drops can't come soon enough!

RDaneel · Post by **RDaneel** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:18 am

That's the tough call, isn't it? Go for a 7900GS with some overclocking or a X1950 (both using a VF900)...

I don't want to sacrifice too much performance, but I also don't want to have to run all my fans faster to exhaust that many watts of difference. Darn ATI for not paying any attention to power consumption!

As for the 200W cards, forget it. I'm willing to buy a $300 graphics card, but it just doesn't make sense to do it now with DX10 parts on the horizon. An evga OC'd 7900GS will hold me over nicely (I game at 1600x1200) till REASONABLE dx10 parts are available - and I mean reasonable in terms of both price AND heat output!