6800 Gt

[morocomojo]

Is the 6800 GT the nVidia budget card or does it outperform the 6800 and 6800 Ultra?

 

[vsaravia]

I would say that 6800 OC is the budget card (if you think that's a budget), 6800 GT OC is the middle one, and 6800 OC Ultra is top of the line. But, they are all very fast cards with excellent graphics.

 

[PseudoKnight]

In order of expense and thus the range of the card:

6200, 6600, 6600GT, 6800, 6800GT, 6800 Ultra

The list disregards PCI-Express versions since they are basically the same.

 

[dru]

what the hell is the difference between pci and agp? ive never known.. (i know they fit in different slots in the motherboard, but what is the difference performance-wise?)

 

[Sucky Ducky]

PCI is crap, AGP goes up to "8x" speeds, PCI-X (Express) goes up to "16x" speed... It has double bandwith etc... But so far, not much more then a 1% or 2% performance boost over AGP cards, that'll change soon enough I guess

 

[GRIMEY]

PCI-X is not PCI Express.

 

[PseudoKnight]

Only get PCI-Express if you intend to do SLI (dual video cards) or upgrade your video card on the same motherboard in the future. Otherwise it's pointless for gamers. It offers more bandwidth but current video cards don't even fill up the AGP bandwidth yet. There's very little performance gain IF any. The guy above me claims there is 1-2% performance gain but I haven't seen benchmarks validating that statement.

 

[_-_-SELAS-_-_]

If you already have a mb get AGP if ur about to get a new system get pci-express

theres also a 6800LE but if your ok with the price tag on the 6800GT get that.

 

[Grumpy]

6600GT is good value for money, if you are loaded try the 6800 GT. ATi still rule for HL2 though.

 

[MajorPayne]

6600GT is good value for money, if you are loaded try the 6800 GT.

That is what I have heard too. I am getting a replacement for my 9600Xt soon, and I am looking VERY closely at the 6800 GT.

ATi still rule for HL2 though.

And it would be MY personal preference except that for the $400.00 I have to spend, I can get either an X800 PRO (with 12 pipelines and no support for Pixel Shader 3.0), or I can get a 6800 GT (with 16 Pipelines, and PS 3.0 support). I have not made up my mind yet, but I am definitely leaning toward the 6800 GT.

 

[PseudoKnight]

I got a leadtek 6800GT at Newegg.com for $395. It comes with Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia. Besides heatsink/fans, software bundles can be a determining factor on which card to buy. (for instance, many bought the evga 6800gt that comes with DoomIII)

X800 Pro is a good card for HL2, but the 6800GT is a better all around card. I do hope Nvidia makes some improvement on HL2 performance, though.

Obviously I would suggest the 6800GT. However, if the X800 XL comes out before you buy and you have a PCI-Express motherboard, that would be an excellent choice. I probably would have gotten it had it already been released. It has 16 pipelines yet is only $350.

 

[MajorPayne]

Obviously I would suggest the 6800GT. However, if the X800 XL comes out before you buy and you have a PCI-Express motherboard, that would be an excellent choice. I probably would have gotten it had it already been released. It has 16 pipelines yet is only $350.

I do not plan on going with PCI-Express... None of the cards out there can top out an 8X AGP slot anyway, and I love my current MOBO. Do you know if the X800 XL will be offered in PCI-E AND AGP, or only PCI-E.

 

[Grumpy]

Have only heard of it coming in PCI-E ATi seem to be moving away from AGP very quickly, probably so they can sell us one of their PCI-E MBs I am very surprised at the abandonment of AGP by both companies, I expected better AGP support for at least a year more Nvidia is at least trying to release most GPUs with the Bridge Chip.

 

[Acert93]

Only get PCI-Express if you intend to do SLI (dual video cards) or upgrade your video card on the same motherboard in the future. Otherwise it's pointless for gamers. It offers more bandwidth but current video cards don't even fill up the AGP bandwidth yet. There's very little performance gain IF any. The guy above me claims there is 1-2% performance gain but I haven't seen benchmarks validating that statement.

PCI Express (not to be confused with PCI-X, which is a workstation 64bit solution I believe) is not useless for gamers.

Future cards are almost all going to be PCI Express. One of the big reasons why is PCI allows much better caching and access to system memory. It is bi-directional and can load/offload information just as fast in both directions. And PCI Express has much higher bandwidth, with PIC Express 32x just announced. ANOTHER benefit of PCI Express is that it offers a lot more power through the slot. I believe it can provide 75W of power, with 32x PCI Express offering 150W. Translation: Say goodbye to the Molex cable, at least for mid range cards.

PCI Express is not about what it will do for gamers now, but down the road with DirectX 10/WGF 2.0. So if you are going to get a new system, DEFINATELY get a PCI Express. It will not do much now, but down the road--if you tend to upgrade your video card more often than your system--you will be happy.

As for the 6800GT question, it has 16 pixel shaders and 6 vertex shaders, just like the 6800U. The 6800 only has 12 and 5/4 (depending on model). The 6800 Ultra is clocked at 400Mhz core and 1.1Ghz mem, the 6800GT is 350Mhz core and 1.0Ghz mem.

I have an eVGA 6800GT, I bought this because it is a solid company, with a good reputation for quality, and had a decent package (came with FarCry). On top of this eVGA's 6800GTs have a reputation of OCing well. Mine reaches 420Mhz core and 1.14Ghz mem--MUCH better than a 6800Ultra.

 

[corkscru74]

I do not plan on going with PCI-Express... None of the cards out there can top out an 8X AGP slot anyway, and I love my current MOBO. Do you know if the X800 XL will be offered in PCI-E AND AGP, or only PCI-E.

How can you love your Mobo? To me it's the place I plug stuff in - what's there to love?

 

[MajorPayne]

Have only heard of it coming in PCI-E ATi seem to be moving away from AGP very quickly, probably so they can sell us one of their PCI-E MBs I am very surprised at the abandonment of AGP by both companies, I expected better AGP support for at least a year more Nvidia is at least trying to release most GPUs with the Bridge Chip.

Yeah, that kinda bums me out too. I love the idea of PCI-Express (and the new BTX Mobo's with thier cooling solutions too), but I do not want to rid myself of a perfectly good motherboard that I am happy with just to drop another $245.00 so I can say I have PCI-Express. And this is to say nothing of the fact that when I DO get a PCI-Express MOBO, I have to buy it AND the new GFX card too!

By the way, does anyone know if there are any BTX MOBO's for sale right now (Preferably with PCI-Express), and if so, does anyone know of a timeline for them coming to the A-64 chipsets?

 

[PseudoKnight]

PCI Express (not to be confused with PCI-X, which is a workstation 64bit solution I believe) is not useless for gamers.

You must have misread me or something. I never meant to say that it won't be useful for future generations of video cards. Like you said, it's a good buy if you plan on upgrading your video card on the same motherboard. If you're like me, you don't upgrade components like that but instead buy a whole new PC every 2-3 years. PCI-Express is pointless for me right now as I imagine it is for most gamers.

How can you love your Mobo? To me it's the place I plug stuff in - what's there to love?

I don't think it's too unusual to have affection for something you built and work on for years. (even polish, clean, etc.) People love their cars, why not their computer components? Besides, I think he was just saying that he thinks he made a great decision in purchasing the motherboard he has.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Yeah, that kinda bums me out too. I love the idea of PCI-Express (and the new BTX Mobo's with thier cooling solutions too), but I do not want to rid myself of a perfectly good motherboard that I am happy with just to drop another $245.00 so I can say I have PCI-Express. And this is to say nothing of the fact that when I DO get a PCI-Express MOBO, I have to buy it AND the new GFX card too!

By the way, does anyone know if there are any BTX MOBO's for sale right now (Preferably with PCI-Express), and if so, does anyone know of a timeline for them coming to the A-64 chipsets?

Yeah. I recently bought a new mobo with PCI Express, and I also got a 6600 GT for 183 dollars. A VERY good deal.

 

[PseudoKnight]

Yeah, that kinda bums me out too. I love the idea of PCI-Express (and the new BTX Mobo's with thier cooling solutions too), but I do not want to rid myself of a perfectly good motherboard that I am happy with just to drop another $245.00 so I can say I have PCI-Express. And this is to say nothing of the fact that when I DO get a PCI-Express MOBO, I have to buy it AND the new GFX card too!

By the way, does anyone know if there are any BTX MOBO's for sale right now (Preferably with PCI-Express), and if so, does anyone know of a timeline for them coming to the A-64 chipsets?

Let BTX mature a bit. It's going to be the new standard but the options will be slim for a while. Of course, if you like to be an early adopter then be my guest.

As for getting a new mobo for the PCI-Express, it gives you a good excuse to upgrade your CPU. I understand your dissatisfaction with having to buy a new motherboard just to get a new GPU, but this is the way the tech industry has always worked. To complain about new and better tech is odd. Still, there are plenty of good top of the line AGP options out there.

 

[Eon Blue]

I have a 6800 GT OC. It's nice. Get one.

 

[czrsink]

Next graphics card update comes with the entire system for me. I'm hanging on to my Northwood P4 as long as possible (it's rock solid and a sound performer) along with my 9800Pro. However, as soon as the first batch of price cuts comes on the NForce 4 SLi board, I'm moving to AMD 64 and GeForce 6800 (or whatever replacement Nvidia has in place by then).

I don't want to to be left behind when the Unreal 3 engine comes out.