Buying vid. card, advice needed

[junco]

I used to have an Asus nVidia Geforce FX 5900 Ultra. The fan broke, so I got an RMA. A never used Asus 5950 Ultra, since they don't have the 5900 anymore. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to sell it on ebay and use the money to help me buy the latest and greatest card.

The catch is I'd like to save money too. As far as I can tell, the two top of the line cards (x800 XT and 6800 Ultra) sell for about the same, and the next ups (x800 Pro and 6800 GT) sell for about the same. Also, it seems ATI has a slight advantage in DX9 games, nvidia in OpenGL games, and support of PS 3.0. I don't care about noise or power requirements.. just performance. Yes, I'll be playign HL2 a lot, but I want the card to perform well across the board. I play a wide variety of 3D games. I've always had nVidia cards in the past and I like their drivers. How is ATI in that department?

I'm thinking I'll buy a 6800 GT or a x800 Pro and mod them, or if someone can convince me the extra $100 is worth it, maybe just buy an Ultra or XT. So my question is, what would I have better luck with? Buying a x800 Pro and flashing the bios to an XT card? Or buying a 6800 GT and overclocking it to Ultra speeds? Are there heat problems involved in this? Will either mod damage the card? Advice would be appreciated... I've read a lot of reviews and seen benchmarks online, but I'd like advice from actual owners too, thanks.

 

[GPRT]

A 6800gt is fine as it is easily clocked to an Ultra, and you don't need to flash it like with the X800. The ultra also performs ever so slightly better due to its constantly improving drivers.

 

[Asus]

Buying a 6800GT would be good. It is the easiest to OC to 6800Ultra speeds. But then again many regard the X800XT PE as being faster than the Ultra. If you get a X800Pro Vivo edition (Video Input) then you can flash the card to an X800XT PE (unlocking the other 4 pipelines for a total of 16) and OC to X800XT PE speeds. A little more work but worth it.

There is also a X800XT that already has the 16 pipelines and can be OCed as well. It sells for 50$ more than the X800Pro and 50$ less than the X800XT PE.

The 6800Ultra is not worth it considering that the 6800GT is so close to it's performance and yet the X800XT has better performance. While the X800XT PE might be worth it if you can justify the money. IMHO

Otherwise the 6800GT is a good choice.

 

[junco]

Great, thanks for the advice. A 6800GT is looking more and more like what I'll probably get. So where can I find comparisons of which 6800 GT cards have the best cooling and overclocking capability? Or anyone on here have some advice? Thanks.

 

[shadowSn1p3r]

i would recommend getting a 6800Gt, because its easy to overclock to the ultra speeds, without any it overheating problems. I'm thinking about getting a bfg tech 6800gt, but its not easy to get here in aus, so i might get it from another brand

 

[junco]

For anyone interested, I just spent several hours researching this. The Leadtek WinFast A400 card (6800 GT) has by far the most expansive cooling system. It takes up a PCI slot too because it is so big. I will be buying this card tomorrow. Newegg.com is out of stock, so I found another place called Xtreme Gear that has it for cheap. I hope they're reliable.

 

[Asus]

I've used them before and they are pretty good. You haue to pay for shipping though. And I've never had any experience with sending anything back with them.

 

[[Matt]]

For anyone interested, I just spent several hours researching this. The Leadtek WinFast A400 card (6800 GT) has by far the most expansive cooling system. It takes up a PCI slot too because it is so big. I will be buying this card tomorrow. Newegg.com is out of stock, so I found another place called Xtreme Gear that has it for cheap. I hope they're reliable.

It has a big cooler as it uses a silent fan system. Its larger fan does NOT mean its a good overclocker... in fact many people have found the opposite to be true. If you want my opinion on the best overclocking 6800gt then you need look no further than an XFX 6800GT

 

[Shamrock]

x800 Pro is your best choice.

 

[bryanf445]

then get it derek

 

[junco]

It has a big cooler as it uses a silent fan system. Its larger fan does NOT mean its a good overclocker... in fact many people have found the opposite to be true. If you want my opinion on the best overclocking 6800gt then you need look no further than an XFX 6800GT

Why do you say that? It looks to me like the XFX has the standard stock Nvidia cooling system. I don't know why then this card would be any better for overclocking than the next. I was basing my decision off a Tom's Hardware review of the Leadtek card where they mentioned that the cooling system allowed them to easily overclock it to Ultra speeds (and higher). I was all ready to order and now I'm wondering if I picked the wrong card... damn you

 

[Warbie]

I'd get the 6800 gt

 

[junco]

Well I had trouble finding any place that had the Leadtek in stock so I went with having my local Best Buy reserve the last BFG 6900 GT OC for me... I'm sure I'll be happy with it, and only $399, no shipping, and no waits. I could have spent so much time playing CS:S in the hours I've spent finding the right card... heh

 

[Murray]

Buying a 6800GT would be good. It is the easiest to OC to 6800Ultra speeds. But then again many regard the X800XT PE as being faster than the Ultra. If you get a X800Pro Vivo edition (Video Input) then you can flash the card to an X800XT PE (unlocking the other 4 pipelines for a total of 16) and OC to X800XT PE speeds. A little more work but worth it.

There is also a X800XT that already has the 16 pipelines and can be OCed as well. It sells for 50$ more than the X800Pro and 50$ less than the X800XT PE.

The 6800Ultra is not worth it considering that the 6800GT is so close to it's performance and yet the X800XT has better performance. While the X800XT PE might be worth it if you can justify the money. IMHO

Otherwise the 6800GT is a good choice.

Is it really possible to buy a X800Pro VIVO and after a BIOS flash and Overclock actually make it as fast as a X800XT PE? I thought you only could make it as fast as a X800XT non PE.

 

[Griz]

Is it really possible to buy a X800Pro VIVO and after a BIOS flash and Overclock actually make it as fast as a X800XT PE? I thought you only could make it as fast as a X800XT non PE.

Yep. In fact i've done it. The only difference between the XT and XT PE is the clock speeds, so it's just a case of overclocking that little bit further from the XT speeds (500/500) to the XT PE speeds (520/560).

 

[Murray]

Yep. In fact i've done it. The only difference between the XT and XT PE is the clock speeds, so it's just a case of overclocking that little bit further from the XT speeds (500/500) to the XT PE speeds (520/560).

Wow, sweet! :O