Why does everyone love the 6800 series so much?

G

gregr

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 24, 2004
Messages
265
First off I would like to say that I am not an ati fanboy. In fact I am not really a fanboy about anything, I just simply buy the better product. With that said, I'm not really sure why everyone likes the 6800 series so much. I am considering getting a x800 or 6800 series card so I have been looking at benchmarks recently. What I have seen is that when you increase the resolution, along with AA and AF, the x800 series is dramatically better, the exception being doom3. So why all of the sudden are people saying that the 6800 series is so much better? Is it just because of doom3, or did I miss something? Please try and keep replies as unbiased as possible, I just simply want to know what card is better. Thank you :)
 
My guess is that since the 6800GT and ultra are basically the same card with the GT only having slower clock speeds.

Whereas in the ATi case the x800pro only has 12 pipelines instead of the 16 in the XT. And the astounding Doom 3 benchmarks may have something to do with it as well
 
I know that snak, but I want opinions from both sides here. And I dont see why this needs to turn into a flame war or anything, I wanted unbiased opinions so I posted in the general video card forums.
 
neoreturns said:
My guess is that since the 6800GT and ultra are basically the same card with the GT only having slower clock speeds.

Whereas in the ATi case the x800pro only has 12 pipelines instead of the 16 in the XT. And the astounding Doom 3 benchmarks may have something to do with it as well
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enough said, better value
 
So basically:

6800 gt > x800 pro

and

x800xt > 6800 ultra?

That's the opinion that I formed while looking at various benchmarks and reviews. I am probably going to just go all out and get either a x800xt or a 6800u because I want this card to last a while. So am I better off with the ati card?
 
gregr said:
So basically:

6800 gt > x800 pro

and

x800xt > 6800 ultra?

That's the opinion that I formed while looking at various benchmarks and reviews. I am probably going to just go all out and get either a x800xt or a 6800u because I want this card to last a while. So am I better off with the ati card?
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I think the 6800ultra is still faster than the XT
 
anything anyone posts on here asking or saying that one side is better ALWAYS turns into a flamewar....in my opinion the 6800GT would kick the fuck outa the pro...just because of the 4 more pipelines....and most other websites dont show the GT operating at lower resolutions....that and the 6800s have sm3.0 (which doesnt really impress me) but does offer some performance improvements......also you gotta figure the 6800s are a new architecture(sp but dont care) and that nvidias drivers are REALLY REALLY young....and the x800 is just souped up old technology so the drivers are already mature....basically the x800s are showing there power but the 6800s arent giving there full potential yet AND there almost keeping up with the x800s in everything cept doom3 (and we all know hwo THAT turned out :D)

p.s i like ATI better but nvidias new cards are just superior this round....
 
It's about bang for the buck...Nvidia's complete lineup is a better value when you compare the performance of the cards. Hell even the plain 6800 gives the X800Xt a run for it's money in Doom 3. Also the Nvidia cards have some next gen features that the X800 cards are missing like sm3.0. If Ati tweaks their lineup/pricing a little this all could change though..
 
*their

jesus

xSyzygy666x said:
anything anyone posts on here asking or saying that one side is better ALWAYS turns into a flamewar....in my opinion the 6800GT would kick the fuck outa the pro...just because of the 4 more pipelines....and most other websites dont show the GT operating at lower resolutions....that and the 6800s have sm3.0 (which doesnt really impress me) but does offer some performance improvements......also you gotta figure the 6800s are a new architecture(sp but dont care) and that nvidias drivers are REALLY REALLY young....and the x800 is just souped up old technology so the drivers are already mature....basically the x800s are showing there power but the 6800s arent giving there full potential yet AND there almost keeping up with the x800s in everything cept doom3 (and we all know hwo THAT turned out :D)

p.s i like ATI better but nvidias new cards are just superior this round....
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xSyzygy666x said:
the GT is the BEST deal if you can get your hands on the 100$ extra...
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that the endless story of $100 more you can get...then for a another $100 you can get the top of the line card.

i paid $283 for my 6800 thats a $100 more then i paid for my last card. I always tell myself not to spend more then $200 on a videocard, oh well.
 
gregr said:
First off I would like to say that I am not an ati fanboy. In fact I am not really a fanboy about anything, I just simply buy the better product. With that said, I'm not really sure why everyone likes the 6800 series so much. I am considering getting a x800 or 6800 series card so I have been looking at benchmarks recently. What I have seen is that when you increase the resolution, along with AA and AF, the x800 series is dramatically better, the exception being doom3. So why all of the sudden are people saying that the 6800 series is so much better? Is it just because of doom3, or did I miss something? Please try and keep replies as unbiased as possible, I just simply want to know what card is better. Thank you :)
Click to expand...

Apprently you are only looking at the FarCry benchmarks, becasue in other DX9 games nVidia wins 50% of the time, and in the games it loses, it is behind only a few fps. In OpenGL games nVidia wins 100% of the time. In DX8 games nVidia wins 100% of the time. Please read something other than FarCry benchmarks before you make the statement that the "x800 series is dramatically better." Also, the 6800 supports PS 3.0 which will ensure that you won't have to upgrade the card in another 6-12 months when PS3 games start comming out (FarCry is not a true PS3.0 game). Doom III is the freaken game of the century, and it has a lot weight, and the 6800 destoryed the x800 in it by nearly 70% in some cases. Also the 6800 GT is the ultimate value card. You will not get a better price to perfromance ratio in any game than the 6800GT. The GT is $100 less than the Ultra, yet it only trails by a few fps. The GT even beats out the X800 Pro in FarCry.

So it honestly depends on what games you play. If you play only FarCry and a few select DX9 games, then get an X800 XT. If you use OpenGL, DX8, and DX9 then the 6800 series is the best. If you are considering the value segment (x800 pro vs GT) then their is really no reason to get the X800 Pro as the GT beats it in every single benchmark. I do not understand why anyone would get an X800 Pro other than availibility issues.
 
The x800 pro may beat the 6800gt at some resolutions in certain games, but youd have to be very lucky not to get a 6800 that overclocks to ultra speeds. Thats why its so good just as everybody has said.
 
Not to mention that anyone buying a new video card during this time is doing it to play doom 3. Therefore, the doom3 benchmarks are rather compelling to most of us.
 
jon_k said:
Apprently you are only looking at the FarCry benchmarks, becasue in other DX9 games nVidia wins 50% of the time, and in the games it loses, it is behind only a few fps. In OpenGL games nVidia wins 100% of the time. In DX8 games nVidia wins 100% of the time. Please read something other than FarCry benchmarks before you make the statement that the "x800 series is dramatically better." Also, the 6800 supports PS 3.0 which will ensure that you won't have to upgrade the card in another 6-12 months when PS3 games start comming out (FarCry is not a true PS3.0 game). Doom III is the freaken game of the century, and it has a lot weight, and the 6800 destoryed the x800 in it by nearly 70% in some cases. Also the 6800 GT is the ultimate value card. You will not get a better price to perfromance ratio in any game than the 6800GT. The GT is $100 less than the Ultra, yet it only trails by a few fps. The GT even beats out the X800 Pro in FarCry.

So it honestly depends on what games you play. If you play only FarCry and a few select DX9 games, then get an X800 XT. If you use OpenGL, DX8, and DX9 then the 6800 series is the best. If you are considering the value segment (x800 pro vs GT) then their is really no reason to get the X800 Pro as the GT beats it in every single benchmark. I do not understand why anyone would get an X800 Pro other than availibility issues.
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From the benchmarks I looked at, it seemed like nvidia won when the resolution was lower and AA and AF was off, but as soon as AA and AF were turned on, ATI took the lead. Well chances are I'll pick up whatever I can find first, the 6800gt or the x800xt. But it seems as if the x800xt's are next to impossible to find. They have them in stock at compusa but they are the xtacy versions, and I'm not sure if those are good or bad.
 
mpK1337 said:
Not to mention that anyone buying a new video card during this time is doing it to play doom 3. Therefore, the doom3 benchmarks are rather compelling to most of us.
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not true; i'm getting a new vid card but not for doom3.

ohgod said:
youd have to be very lucky not to get a 6800 that overclocks to ultra speeds
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unlucky?
 
I just took a break from playing Doom3 at 1600x1200 at 4xaa and 8xaf...and that's why I love the 6800 series...I'm running a 6800GT at Ultra speeds and Doom3 is like butta!
 
Uh, so nobody's going to mention that ATI doesn't do SM3.0 yet?

Invariably, ATIs next generation of cards will do SM3, and more games will start supporting it. But if you're buying RIGHT NOW and you get an ATI, you're going to be pissed in a year from now when the performance advantages of SM3 decrease your card's relative performance vs the 6800s.

People keep comparing the cards based on benchmarks that vary by like, 4 fps. Who gives a shit! Not having SM3 support is huge in comparison to 4 fps. It's that kind of issue that caused people to wish they hadn't bought FX cards. So they beat ATI in DX8 by a few FPS, fantastic. The fact that they couldn't do DX9 for shit made them nearly worthless compared to their ATI counterparts when DX9 games started coming out.

If you plan to keep the card for awhile, the 6800s are far and away the better card to buy at the moment. If you just want the highest FPS for a few months until you upgrade again, then it doesn't really matter.
 
I spent $380 on my Ultra =)... too bad its never coming in :rolleyes:. And there is a diffrence more than just clock speeds between GT and Ultra, the RAM is I believe 1.6ns on the Ultra and 2.0(?) on the GT? SO that means 1400mhz max vrs 1200mhz max (possibly 1.3 to 1.1, not sure).

I don't know about you all but I just bought whatever was I saw as the best value, which for me was a 6800 Ultra for $350 (+ tax).
 
Take alook at the driver versions in the benchmarks you have seen, 61.45 and up the 6800 ultra is pretty much equal to the ati xt pe in Dx9 games, win some loss some, now the 62 series drivers nV is going to optimize their aa and af a bit more like ATi has done for thier x800 line (nV will still let you turn off these optimizations, but these new optmizations won't effect image quality with aa and af, just like ATi's optimizations).
 
Well I found the x800xt in stock for 500 bucks but it is a visiontek xtasy. I also found the 6800gt in stock for 400 but it is a pny verto. Does that make any diffrerence? How do they compare to the ati/nvidia cards? Because it will probably be a long time before I can find one of those.
 
gregr said:
From the benchmarks I looked at, it seemed like nvidia won when the resolution was lower and AA and AF was off, but as soon as AA and AF were turned on, ATI took the lead. Well chances are I'll pick up whatever I can find first, the 6800gt or the x800xt. But it seems as if the x800xt's are next to impossible to find. They have them in stock at compusa but they are the xtacy versions, and I'm not sure if those are good or bad.
Click to expand...

Check these benchmarks out in some of my favorite games:

nVidia wins in Aquanox (DirectX)
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=10

nVidia wins in Jedi Academy (OpenGL)
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=19

nVidia wins in Wolfenstein (OpenGL)
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=20

nVidia wins in Neverwinter Nights (OpenGL)
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=21

nVidia wins in X2 the threat (DirextX)
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=18

nVidia wins in Prince of Persia (DirextX)
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/graphics-cards-2004_32.html

nVidia wins in LOTR Return of the King (DirextX)
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/graphics-cards-2004_34.html

in this "highly anticipated DX9 game" which is widely rumored to be Half Life 2 nVidai comes out dead even with ATI
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/graphics-cards-2004_26.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/graphics-cards-2004_27.html

There are plenty more examples of this, but I just chose some of my favorite games
 
PNY is a very good company I've had 2 cards from them a gf 3 ti 500 and a gf 4 ti 4600 never had any problems with them, BFG would probably be your better bet since they have a life time warrentty, I think PNY only has 2 years not sure though. Can't really speak of ATi cards, never had much luck with them.
 
ive heard of alot of people having problems with pny....but visiontek (if your going to spend extra for a x800xt) is a good company ive heard good things.....ive owned neither companies so i cant make a personal comment...just what ive seen...
 
Nvidia beating ati in fps is not the only thing that is positive, but the fact that you are 100% guaranteed that you will be getting the real trilinear filtering in games. Unlike the ati cards that blend bilinear filtering under trilinear settings. And dont forget that you are getting crappy textures along with it. Some might be wondering why ati games look dark or gloomy that is because it hides the details from objects in the distance to obtain more fps. If ati cards today started using the real settings as they are supposed to they will be far behind in performance then they are right now. Those who are getting X800 pro over 6800gt are making a BIG mistake. Dont be :confused: with ati be :D with Nvidia.
 
"Why does everyone love the 6800 series so much"

Price/Performance ratio.

Some here have already said it, the 6800 GT overclocks fairly easily to Ultra speeds for $100 less than msrp on the ultra.

16 pipes vs 12 on the x800pro

SM 3.0

Nalu :D

Doom 3

Bodacious TaTa's

(ok ok so nalu doesn't have bodacious tata's but dawn does!!! and runs fine on 6800 series cards)

First Nvidia card to give ATI a good run for its money in the high and mid range cards sience the Geforce TI 4600 days.

It's better than sliced bread.
 
gregr said:
First off I would like to say that I am not an ati fanboy. In fact I am not really a fanboy about anything, I just simply buy the better product. With that said, I'm not really sure why everyone likes the 6800 series so much. I am considering getting a x800 or 6800 series card so I have been looking at benchmarks recently. What I have seen is that when you increase the resolution, along with AA and AF, the x800 series is dramatically better, the exception being doom3. So why all of the sudden are people saying that the 6800 series is so much better? Is it just because of doom3, or did I miss something? Please try and keep replies as unbiased as possible, I just simply want to know what card is better. Thank you :)
Click to expand...

You're looking at old benchmarks imo. The latest drives for the 6800U show that it is now better/as good as the x800 in far cry, and many other games, as well as doom. It will most likely be better for hl2 as well.
 
I made the switch. I had an X800 Pro, and switched to a PNY 6800 GT. I couldn't be happier.
 
If I said that I was anticipating half-life 2 much more than doom 3, would that change any of your recommendations?
 
yes, we would say put off buying a card until half life 2 comes out and you can make a good comparison with the released game and whatever cards are out at that time.
 
xSyzygy666x said:
ive heard of alot of people having problems with pny....but visiontek (if your going to spend extra for a x800xt) is a good company ive heard good things.....ive owned neither companies so i cant make a personal comment...just what ive seen...
Click to expand...

I've got a Visiontek GF4-4400 in my rig, that's given me no problems. Highly recommended, though they have had enough of Nvidia, and have since become an ATI only retailer. Not 100% sure but think the FX series powerpoint presentation must have scared them away.

As far as why everyone loves the 6800? Not sure about love...maybe lust....?
 
TheSpoon said:
not true; i'm getting a new vid card but not for doom3.


unlucky?
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No what i'm saying is that you would have to be lucky to get a 6800gt that doesnt overclock to ultra speeds. Mostly all of them do.
 
eastvillager said:
^^^^Welcome to the dark side, muahahaha. ;)
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LOL. You should say "welcome back to the dark side". I came to ATI with the introduction of the 9700 Pro, and stuck with them through the X800 Pro I just sold. But before that, it was nVidia all the way for me. I must say it is nice to have Digital Vibrance again.
 
ohgod said:
No what i'm saying is that you would have to be lucky to get a 6800gt that doesnt overclock to ultra speeds. Mostly all of them do.
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That's what Spoon was saying dude.

"you would have to be unlucky to get a 6800gt that doesnt overclock to ultra speeds"
 
gregr said:
If I said that I was anticipating half-life 2 much more than doom 3, would that change any of your recommendations?
Click to expand...

I'm looking forwards to HL2 more and I'm still looking to get the 6800U, however I may wait just in case it isn't faster/as fast, should be though...
 
Picked up an X800 Pro by Visiontek and have had no probs. Then again, Doom 3 hasnt touched this comp yet but I have no worries. 4.9 Cats from ATI have been promised as having superior Doom 3 support. Also, most other game play superior on ATI cards so all the hubbub is a joke.
 
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