Hardware Advice

[f0rked]

Hey everyone, I recently came into a fair amount of money, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what card to get from the following page: Overclockers.co.uk
Or if anyone knows a site with better offers on those cards (preferrably UK based). Also, does anyone know of any good watercooling systems that can easily be added to an existing machine? My cpu fan makes my computer sound like some kind of plane while playing games..

 

[Revisedsoul]

well to solve the noise problem just turn the sound up higher

but if you got the cash go for the and want the best go for the x800xt

but as companys go i ahve no idea. but prolly best to stick to the bigger names.

 

[GPRT]

Overclockers.co.uk is a fantastic store. They have very good customer service, fast delivery and a very knowledgable forum.

Card wise, if money is no object, i'd go with the x800xt (if you can wait) or an 6800 ultra.

 

[The Terminator]

Go with the 6800 ultra, its really the best card out there right now.

 

[bosox188]

I'd take the X800XT PE over the Ultra, they're both about the same and the ultra needs a big 480w psu and 2 molex connectors.

 

[Dynasty]

Go with the 6800 ultra, its really the best card out there right now.

(crying in pain and laughter) sorry m8! x800xt PE has 'THE HIGHEST VISUAL QUALITY KNOWN TO MAN'...ahem...enough said.

 

[The Terminator]

Um, your joking right? the 6800 is faster then the x800 xt pe and although it does take a large PSU and molex connectors, its still faster. If youve got the money its what I would buy.

 

[[Matt]]

Um, your joking right? the 6800 is faster then the x800 xt pe and although it does take a large PSU and molex connectors, its still faster. If youve got the money its what I would buy.

The 6800 is faster in doom 3... and thats only in the time demo's and when the game is run at 1600x1200 with full FSAA and AF. Run the game at lower resolutions both card never drop below the 60 frames per second cap. Not only that but the xt pe is faster in around 80% of other game benchmarks...

 

[GreasedNeut]

The 6800 is faster in doom 3... and thats only in the time demo's and when the game is run at 1600x1200 with full FSAA and AF. Run the game at lower resolutions both card never drop below the 60 frames per second cap. Not only that but the xt pe is faster in around 80% of other game benchmarks...

thats w/ old benchies when nvidia didnt have new drivers yet

also the 6800 ultra oc's like a champ and @ 450mhz it beats the x800xt

 

[Asus]

What games do you play?
Generally speaking, the X800XT PE is the fastest card over all games and resolution combinations.

The 6800GT is a good deal being that it is a full 16pipeline card at 400$ but I would really wait for benchmarks for certain games you really want to play using the card. No one in their right mind would buy a 6800Ultra with the 6800GT being the exact same thing just slightly slower speed.

The X800pro is also a great card but it is only a 12pipeline card. Generally it rides behind the 6800GT but it excels if you play certain DX9 games or are really into AA or AF.

If you are buying soon, I would get which ever card is available but if you are waiting then I would wait for those important benchmarks. I look for the games I play, the resolution and the AA/AF level I use.
Also I look for key games that may predict the performance of future games I play. For example Tomb Raider (or even HL2 when it comes out) is a very heavy DX9 based game, with a number of effects like Depth of Field which blurs objects as their distance grows, that may be representative of future DX9 games that make a lot of use of those effects. Maybe if you play OpenGL games then you could use RTCW or Doom3 as a reference.

Here is a pretty good overall picture between the cards.
6800U OCed, 6800 Ultra and X800 XT PE
6800 GT and X800 Pro
6800, 9800XT and FX 5950 Ultra

thats w/ old benchies when nvidia didnt have new drivers yet

also the 6800 ultra oc's like a champ and @ 450mhz it beats the x800xt

Even the Water cooled and OCed 6800Ultra didn't beat the X800XT PE in this review. Here were the OCing results btw.

 

[Dynasty]

Um, your joking right? the 6800 is faster then the x800 xt pe and although it does take a large PSU and molex connectors, its still faster. If youve got the money its what I would buy.

m8 im sorry but benchmarks prove you wrong. the x800xt pe may have less pipelines, therefore it needs less power to run. besides, what's written in paper means **** all when you play games. the x800 beats the 6800 almost completely, even if it is by a few fps overall.
sure the 6800 is an excellent card and i wouldnt think twice about recommending it, but Nvidia just cant be trusted with their dx9 architecture in their cards atm. can we be sure for a fact if the 6800 will be capable with future games? will you have to upgrade again? therefore, the 6800 is the 2nd most recommended card out there, as the x800xt pe has no doubts about its capabilities...but price will definitely have an impact on who buys what.