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**Praetor** · 02-26-2006, 03:00 PM

Category D - "I want to play all the latest games at the highest settings, I'm willing to pay the premium for it"
Buyers in this category are looking for the best of the best and are willing to pay for it. Cards here are the cream of the crop either out of the box or are very readily overclockable. Due to market trends AGP cards do not exist in this reccomendation category. Products reccomended here however are subject to the following:

No price restriction
Only top tier cards will be chosen
Only cards with 256bit memory interfaces will be chosen
Only PCI-Express cards will be chosen
Only cards with a minimum of 256MB of video memory will be chosen, preference will explicitly be given for 512MB+ cards
Preference will be given for copper/exhaust coolers

Note that large points are given for overclockability and that this category is not focused on "reckless spending of money"

[PCIE][ATi] ATi 100-435703 Radeon X1800XL 256MB ($312.00). This is no X1800XT however it is quite readily overclockable and thus has significant value there
[PCIE][nVidia] eVGA 256-P2-N519-AX GeForce 7800GT CO 256MB ($349.00) Also not the top dog card, this card's value lies in it's overclockability (thanks to the cupper cooler) as well as the free SLI motherboard that it comes with
[PCIE][ATi] Gigabyte GV-RX18T512V-B Radeon X1800XT 512MB ($394.99), HIS Hightech H180XT512DVN Radeon X1800XT 512MB ($399.99 after $50.00 MIR) These are the flagship cards of ATi's X1800 series and offer the best performance that GPU series had to offer. Both models feature semi-exhaust type coolers
[PCIE][nVidia] eVGA 256-P2-N527-AX GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($434.00) The 7800GTX (A1/A2) has undeniable performance and this eVGA model featuring a custom copper cooling system allows for potentially even more overclocking past it's already out-of-the-box overclocking
[PCIE][ATi] Powercolor 1900XT512OEM Radeon X1900XT 512MB ($479.00) Clocked a hair slower than the X1900XTX, the X1900XT is the undeniable currently reigning GPU, guaranteeing it a reccomendation
[PCIE][nVidia] XFX PVT70FUND7 GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($499.00), Leadtek WinFast PX7800GTX TDH myVIVO Extreme 256MB ($499.00), eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($489.00) Coming significantly overclocked and with the Leadtek model featuring a semi-exhaust cooler these cards maximize the performance of the 7800GTX (A1/A2)
[PCIE][ATi] PowerColor 1900XTX512OEM Radeon X1900XTX 512MB ($579.00), MSI RX1900XTX-VT2D512E Radeon X1900XTX 512MB ($589.99), Connect3D 3055 Radeon X1900XTX 512MB ($579.00 after $20.00 MIR) Literally the best videocards available on the market, the X1900XTX cards command a very high premium .. but if you're looking for the absolute best card on the market (at time of writing), here it is.

Praetor's Picks - Category D
[PCIE][nVidia]

Picking the eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($489.00) wasnt easy: the Leadtek model comes with a slightly lower clock speed on the memory however it has an arguably superior cooler (heatpipe + semiexhaust) however the superior warranty provided by eVGA made the decision: for users who want to push their hardware to the max, the extra layer of protection afforded by eVGA's warranty is a huge bonus.
Make eVGA
Model Name/# 256-P2-N529-AX
Interface PCI-Express
GPU nVidia GeForce 7800GTX
GPU Clock 490MHz
Memory 256MB GDDR3
Memory Clock 650MHz (DDR1300)
Memory Interface 256bit (41.6GB/s bandwidth)
Pipelines 24x8
Cooling ACS³ custom cooler
Shader Models 3.0
Connectivity DVI+DVI+VIVO
Product Link http://www.evga.com/products/moreinf...256-P2-N529-AX
[PCIE][ATi]

Not a hard choice here! Although the X1900XTX is a superior card, paying the premium for the extra 25/50MHz overclock is boarderline insane! Picking the Powercolor 1900XT512OEM Radeon X1900XT 512MB ($479.00) saved us $80 compared to the cheapest X1900XTX.
Make PowerColor
Model Name/# 1900XTX512OEM
Interface PCI-Express
GPU ATi Radeon X1900XT
GPU Clock 625MHz
Memory 512MB GDDR3
Memory Clock 725MHz (DDR1450)
Memory Interface 256bit (46.4GB/s bandwidth)
Pipelines 16x8
Cooling Semi-exhaust HSF
Shader Models 3.0
Connectivity DVI+DVI+VIVO
Product Link http://www.powercolor.com/global/mai...ail.asp?id=105

02-26-2006, 03:00 PM	#7 (permalink)
Praetor Administrator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Age: 24 Posts: 19,946	*Category D - "I want to play all the latest games at the highest settings, I'm willing to pay the premium for it"* Buyers in this category are looking for the best of the best and are willing to pay for it. Cards here are the cream of the crop either out of the box or are very readily overclockable. Due to market trends AGP cards do not exist in this reccomendation category. Products reccomended here however are subject to the following: No price restriction Only top tier cards will be chosen Only cards with 256bit memory interfaces will be chosen Only PCI-Express cards will be chosen Only cards with a minimum of 256MB of video memory will be chosen, preference will explicitly be given for 512MB+ cards Preference will be given for copper/exhaust coolers Note that large points are given for overclockability and that this category is not focused on "reckless spending of money" [PCIE][ATi] ATi 100-435703 Radeon X1800XL 256MB ($312.00). This is no X1800XT however it is quite readily overclockable and thus has significant value there [PCIE][nVidia] eVGA 256-P2-N519-AX GeForce 7800GT CO 256MB ($349.00) Also not the top dog card, this card's value lies in it's overclockability (thanks to the cupper cooler) as well as the free SLI motherboard that it comes with [PCIE][ATi] Gigabyte GV-RX18T512V-B Radeon X1800XT 512MB ($394.99), HIS Hightech H180XT512DVN Radeon X1800XT 512MB ($399.99 after $50.00 MIR) These are the flagship cards of ATi's X1800 series and offer the best performance that GPU series had to offer. Both models feature semi-exhaust type coolers [PCIE][nVidia] eVGA 256-P2-N527-AX GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($434.00) The 7800GTX (A1/A2) has undeniable performance and this eVGA model featuring a custom copper cooling system allows for potentially even more overclocking past it's already out-of-the-box overclocking [PCIE][ATi] Powercolor 1900XT512OEM Radeon X1900XT 512MB ($479.00) Clocked a hair slower than the X1900XTX, the X1900XT is the undeniable currently reigning GPU, guaranteeing it a reccomendation [PCIE][nVidia] XFX PVT70FUND7 GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($499.00), Leadtek WinFast PX7800GTX TDH myVIVO Extreme 256MB ($499.00), eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($489.00) Coming significantly overclocked and with the Leadtek model featuring a semi-exhaust cooler these cards maximize the performance of the 7800GTX (A1/A2) [PCIE][ATi] PowerColor 1900XTX512OEM Radeon X1900XTX 512MB ($579.00), MSI RX1900XTX-VT2D512E Radeon X1900XTX 512MB ($589.99), Connect3D 3055 Radeon X1900XTX 512MB ($579.00 after $20.00 MIR) Literally the best videocards available on the market, the X1900XTX cards command a very high premium .. but if you're looking for the absolute best card on the market (at time of writing), here it is. *Praetor's Picks - Category D* [PCIE][nVidia] Picking the eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX GeForce 7800GTX 256MB ($489.00) wasnt easy: the Leadtek model comes with a slightly lower clock speed on the memory however it has an arguably superior cooler (heatpipe + semiexhaust) however the superior warranty provided by eVGA made the decision: for users who want to push their hardware to the max, the extra layer of protection afforded by eVGA's warranty is a huge bonus. Make eVGA Model Name/# 256-P2-N529-AX Interface PCI-Express GPU nVidia GeForce 7800GTX GPU Clock 490MHz Memory 256MB GDDR3 Memory Clock 650MHz (DDR1300) Memory Interface 256bit (41.6GB/s bandwidth) Pipelines 24x8 Cooling ACS³ custom cooler Shader Models 3.0 Connectivity DVI+DVI+VIVO Product Link http://www.evga.com/products/moreinf...256-P2-N529-AX [PCIE][ATi] Not a hard choice here! Although the X1900XTX is a superior card, paying the premium for the extra 25/50MHz overclock is boarderline insane! Picking the Powercolor 1900XT512OEM Radeon X1900XT 512MB ($479.00) saved us $80 compared to the cheapest X1900XTX. Make PowerColor Model Name/# 1900XTX512OEM Interface PCI-Express GPU ATi Radeon X1900XT GPU Clock 625MHz Memory 512MB GDDR3 Memory Clock 725MHz (DDR1450) Memory Interface 256bit (46.4GB/s bandwidth) Pipelines 16x8 Cooling Semi-exhaust HSF Shader Models 3.0 Connectivity DVI+DVI+VIVO Product Link http://www.powercolor.com/global/mai...ail.asp?id=105 __________________ ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8 4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400 5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10 OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI