BFG GeForce 7900 GTO 256MB PCI Express Graphics card?

[paulcalvert]

Im hoping that you guys could help me with getting some info on this card? I have got some money to spend and I am deciing between getting this amazing graphics card or some airsoft stuff. I know how to take computers apart and most of the hardware stuff but im dont know much about graphics cards so im not a complete pc noob.

The exact name of the graphics card is

BFG GeForce 7900 GTO 256MB PCI Express Graphics Card

Is this a good reliable card? It says in the spec that it is over clocked and the core clock speed is considerably higher than other 7900 cards. Is this a big factor which I should consider when choosing a grahpics card.
If this card isnt the best 7900 256mb one out there can you recommend any others with will run pc games better?

Also, my pc specs is as followed.

Intel 4 processor 3.2 Ghz
2GB RAM
and I currently have an ATI Radeon x800

do i need a duel core processor to run this card aswell?

thanks for reading, any help will be much appreciated.

many thanks, paul

[Taxation]

7900 cards are great

overclocking makes cards run faster and if done properly (eg. by manufacturers then it will run fine)

I got the cheapest 7900 i could find and it doesnt overclock too well, get a good card to run overclocked

The best that i have seen are the ones from XFX, they run like stink

Dual core gaming hasnt come into play yet, so dual core processors arent needed, all gfx cards need is a single core processor.

You will also need a power supply that is over 400 Watts (what i would reccomend), maybe a hiper 480W, or if you dont want to change the power supply then make sure it has 2 spare 4 pin power dongles/ 6 pin pci power cable

[paulcalvert]

not usre what m power suplpy but the one im getting is overclocked my the manufacturers. where can i find out what my power supply is?

[Taxation]

open up your case
look at the top towards the rear of the case
you will see a box
on the box it will say what it is and what power you are getting

[paulcalvert]

My current power pack is 280w so will this do?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... NOV-PSU600 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-PSU600)
will this come with all the wires and conectors aswell?

[djgandy]

It's hard to say. The 600watt rating is peak which is what it can handle for 1/10th a second.
Continuous rating will probably be somewhere in the 400's if that.
If you're about to spend ridiculous money on a graphics card you should allow for a decent power supply in your budget.

[Taxation]

you need at least 350W to run that card, with bare minimum hardware in your computer.

invest £50 and that incl delivery on one of these
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... ?HYP-4M480 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?HYP-4M480)
these are really good and they are so easy to set up.
Even i installed one, and that was my first build

[Nox]

yep, get the hiper, you will find its probably rated higher than the 600w one. The wattage on PSU's should be used as a guideline - it changes a **** of a lot depending on the temperature its tested at. ie a cold PSU will have a higher wattage rating. Very few manufacturers actually rate their PSU at peak operating temps.

Nox

[Nox]

oh, and I have that GFX card - its GREAT!!! everything is on max in Oblivion/DDO and they run flawlessly.

Nox

[paulcalvert]

I think i will get that power unit but the card that I was looking at was this
http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=ti ... &pa=genbrw (http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=ELEC&title=918177&p=303&g=388&pa=genbrw)
this one is from play.com

and the other that I would really like is
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... %20%20&P=1 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?bfg-79gt%20%20&P=1)
from novatech.

the thing is that the one from novatech has slightly better spec than the one from play. Is it a considerable difference between the two so I should wait for the better one from novatech and is it worth an extra £30 work of graphics card?

The thing that stands out the most to me is that the one from play has 475 core clock speed and the one from novatech has 670 core clock speed, is this an important factor to consider when choosing between the two? also the Memory Bandwidth and the vertices/sec are also higher on the card from novatech.

What should I do? Wait for novatech to get them back in tock or order one from play?

thanks.

[Taxation]

XFX GeForce 7900 GT Extreme Edition 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) from http://www.overclockers.co.uk
search codes-GX-076-XF
PVT71G-UDER

[Nox]

XFX do not give the same warranties to Europeans as they do to Americans, its a LOT worse. If it were the other way round the Americans would of probably sued :D I would not get an XFX for this reason, considering it's only a few quid cheaper.

Nox

[Taxation]

yeah but, nothing is going to go wrong unless you mess around with it.
Getting a bigger warranty is just a way of the corporate pirates getting more money out of you with the same product

[paulcalvert]

mm that looks nice. Is that the best card I could get for that price?
is it better than the BFG 7900GT OC?

[paulcalvert]

after comparing it to other graphic cards that looks the best 256mb one out there thanks for the info. Ill ask the guy who is installing it for me to get that and a 50watt power unit.

cheers

[Taxation]

dont you mean 500W power supply, 50W would just be funny trying to make it work.

And it is also very easy to install.just like a sound card, internal modem, RAM. so easy

[paulcalvert]

I take out my x800 all the time but with this new one it needs more power plugs n stuff and a new power unit with all the plugs going into the right ones, also if I get my mates, dads friend to do it he gets discount aswell so it will be alot cheaper! I think im going for the card of overclockers, it amazing and teh best card there for my money.

[Taxation]

The XFX card or what

The only power plug that goes into the graphics card is a 6 pin pci-e power plug, you get a 2-4pin molex>1-6 pin connector with every new gpu now-a-days.

If you use common sense then it is easy as pie.

Power supply was prob the easiest, but what ever works for you.........hope u get it running soon,btw overclockers have great delivery (same as novatech), comes really quickly.

And the 7900GT is fookin quick, mine is the bottom of the range one (money limited) and it is still quick, max screen res, max AF and AA plus HDR on basically every game i know/have, make sure you have some fast RAM to let this baby fly, btw, the stock cooler is a bit noisy, im gonna be modding mine to have a 60/80mm fan as apposed to that rubbish little 20mm fan.because that fan is too noisy for me, especially because i have a case with half a side panel on one side(but it still looks (dare i say) ****)
http://www.micronux.com/catalog/images/products/case_shark_l.jpg

[paulcalvert]

so u have got the exact same one as what i am goin to get? cos mine seems the best in the 256mb range so it isnt bottom of the market is it?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/cgi-bin/s ... 2d076_2dXF (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eoverclocker s%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fsearch%2ehtml&WD=gx%2d076%2dxf&PN=7900_Series%2ehtml%23aGX_2d076_2dXF#aGX_2d076_2 dXF)

also, is the card that im getting better than this one? (2nd down)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... eries.html (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7800__Series.html)

[Taxation]

Okay first of all the links, give the name of the one you are going for.

And any 7900 is better than a 7800GTX (unless it is a 7800GTX with 512 mem).
Even my 7900GT is better than a 78GTX and my 79GT was about £210.

Dont go for the 78GTX, it is old technology, if you can afford a 79GT from XFX then get the 79GT from XFX, not the older 7800 series.

[paulcalvert]

thanks for the help mate. ill def get that 7900 from that link, its called

XFX GeForce 7900 GT Extreme Edition 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

and ill get that power unit aswell, thanks for the help, i couldnt have chosen with out it. right, its time to spend some money :D

[Taxation]

No problems matey.

And no..............you cannot get a rewind, thankyou very much :D

[paulcalvert]

just talked to the guy hu is fitting it in (he is doing it for peanuts) so i should have it in before wednesday.

do you just need one pci-e slot for the card?

[Taxation]

yup

[paulcalvert]

Im ordering the card and a Tagan TG530-U22 530W ATX2.01 2Force SLi Compliant Silent PSU, as my new power unit tomoght and they should be in my pc for wednesday :D

ill let you know what it is like.

[Taxation]

btw, the fan on the 7900gt is very noisy, i just modded mine by taking the whole thing apart and putting a 60mm cpu fan i had lying around to replace it, and it is a whole lot quieter now, and also runs cooler. pics to come soon.