Help me with a Decision..... X800XT-PE or BFG 6800Ultra OC.

A

arentol

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 15, 2004
Messages
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I currently have the setup listed below, but my BFG 6800Ultra OC just shipped from Dell on Monday and should be here soon. I bought it for my wife's PC since she needed something a little more powerful than a Radeon 9700np to run EQ2 the way she wants it to run.

So my question is, with the setup below do you think I should run the Ultra OC or the PE, which is also OC'ed. Keep in mind I literally play every decent game that comes out for the PC, of ever genre except RTS's, of which I only play the VERY best. (Rise of Nations, Warhammer 40k, etc.).

MoBo -- ABIT KV8 Pro
CPU -- AMD 64 3000+ Newcastle @ 240mhz
Video Card -- ATI Radeon x800XT-Platinum Edition @ 552/1142
RAM -- 1GB Kingston DDR PC-3200 (single stick)
CPUHSF -- ThermalTake Tower112 w/2 90mm fans
GPUHSF -- ThermalTake Extreme Giant III
Hdrive1 -- Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM SATA (Raid 0)
Hdrive2 -- Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM SATA (Raid 0)
PSU -- True 480watt ThermalTake Silent PurePower
Sound Card -- Audigy2 ZS Gamer
Case -- ThermalTake Xaser II A6000A
Monitor -- Hitachi CM772B 19" - 1600x1200@85hz
DVD Drive -- Sony 16x DVD-ROM

Thanks!
 
With my experience with my 6800 ULTRA I will have to say X800XT PE. I really don´t like how antialiasing and anisotropic kills the performance on this card. I also got trouble with stability. I know many doesn´t have this problem but my 9700 PRO and 9800 PRO:S didn´t crash on me. This have done so and now there is some games that I just can´t play more than 30 minutes without lockups.

Also you are much more unique getting an X800XT PE considering how few there seem to be out there :)

And as for Shader model 3. I am afraid ATI was right. Todays generation isn´t fast enough for it unless you run SLI I guess. Pacific fighters have awesome shader model 3 water but cut my performance in half. Don´t really get playable framerates even though I currently run at 1024x768x32 and cut down on aniso and aa.

If you plan to invest in a nforce 4 SLI ready mainboard though 6800:s is much more interesting. Then you get one now and another one when you need it. Demands good airflow in your case though. My case can just about handle one 6800 ULTRA. Max out at 78 degrees C at stock.
 
Well, both my cards are AGP so I don't think going the SLI route will ever be an option anyway.

Sounds like one vote against the 6800U and one vote for it... Anyone else got any thoughts?
 
I have an eVGA 6800 Ultra, and I say go w/ the Ultra personally...all around a better card. To the person w/ the crashes, I'd blame Leadtek w/ their silent but too fucking hot design for their cards...that's not nvidia's fault. I almost guarentee if you add some better airflow to your case you won't have the crashes you've been having.


As far as I look at it, nVidia has a huge advantage in OpenGL games, and a marginal loss in D3D. Take HL2 for example...nvidia got to test it like 2 days compared to ATi's 2 weeks, and ATi paid cash to get better performance in D3D which they are already better at...the difference? Eh, negligable. I personally love my card, which came 425/1100 just like the BFG does (seems all makers jumped the 425/1100 bandwagon for 6800U's).

All in all, it's your personal taste...you can't go wrong with either. ATi fan-boys will say "nVidia's broken WMV support and dual slots are gay and we pwn in D3D and Doom3 sucks anyway so na na na" and nVidia fan-boys will say "ATi copied our dual-slot and dual-dvi, you paid for HL2 and we still almost won, not to mention linux and 64-bit support that ATi doesn't have". etc etc etc. The war wages on, and I say go BFG 6800U....not to mention 6800U's are finally selling for MSRP :) Wish the x800xtpe's were....
 
First off your not going to get good advice asking silly questions like that in this forum. Of course an ATI owner is going to recommend the XT PE, like a Nvidia owner will the Ultra. I own an Ultra and am happy with it, but it looks like there is a new faster card out there, with the X800 XT PE close behind. Look at the benchmarks [H]ard posted today and decide for yourself. http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njk3 By the way don't listen to a word tsuehpsyde has to say. Every time he opens his mouth shit comes out ;)
 
Buy the cheaper one, then send me the money you saved from not buying the other. That way, we're all happy.
 
The problem is I get better temps than the average joe that run 80 degree C at 450/1200 stable :rolleyes:

I am running 400/1100 STOCK with reasonable enough temps. Never ever above 78 degrees. I have had the same locks clocked down to 350/1100 as well ;)

My ambients can be 15 degrees or 25 degrees always locks in certain games.

That is not leadteks fault as except for the cooler they are just like every other 6800 ULTRA ;). Leadtek are usually higher quality as well. Least number of RMA of all nVidia manufacturers in previous generations.

But from what I have heard they work fine in Intel systems anyway. According to my dealer they claimed that they have had RMA:s on cards on A64 based systems that worked flawless in Intel systems.
 
oqvist said:
With my experience with my 6800 ULTRA I will have to say X800XT PE. I really don´t like how antialiasing and anisotropic kills the performance on this card. I also got trouble with stability. I know many doesn´t have this problem but my 9700 PRO and 9800 PRO:S didn´t crash on me. This have done so and now there is some games that I just can´t play more than 30 minutes without lockups.

Also you are much more unique getting an X800XT PE considering how few there seem to be out there :)

And as for Shader model 3. I am afraid ATI was right. Todays generation isn´t fast enough for it unless you run SLI I guess. Pacific fighters have awesome shader model 3 water but cut my performance in half. Don´t really get playable framerates even though I currently run at 1024x768x32 and cut down on aniso and aa.

If you plan to invest in a nforce 4 SLI ready mainboard though 6800:s is much more interesting. Then you get one now and another one when you need it. Demands good airflow in your case though. My case can just about handle one 6800 ULTRA. Max out at 78 degrees C at stock.
Click to expand...

Did you run driver cleaner? If you go from ATI to NVIDIA, or vise versa, you HAVE to run driver cleaner in safe mode.
 
Hard to go wrong with either. Problem with the XT-PE is that they aren't available most of the time and are insanely overpriced compared to the Ultra when they are. Since you already have it, those problems are a non-issue, and I'd stick to XT-PE myself.

I'd also stick an Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer on the sucker. :D
 
My advice is this....

The 6800U is fast and really only faster in Doom3 and OpenGL games.

The 800XT-PE is faster in all things D3D and can hold its own in OpenGL (just because of sher power and muscle). Once ATi gets better drivers in OpenGL (who knows when) and if they keep cheating with shaders to get better performance but dont hurt IQ (nVidia does this too)

There both good cards.


For the money the 6800GT or 6600GT are good buys and work well.
The 800Pro and the 9800Pro are also good cards still.


I guess you need to decide what games you play the most and pick the right card for you.


;)
 
Both cards are really good. Buy the one you find

Although, I think I'm starting to learn more towards the x800xtpe though. After the reviews for the x850s and seeing all three (x800,x850, 6800ultra) it's seeming to me that the x800 squeezes out higher resolutions with AA more often than the ultra does.
 
Netrat33 said:
Both cards are really good. Buy the one you find

Although, I think I'm starting to learn more towards the x800xtpe though. After the reviews for the x850s and seeing all three (x800,x850, 6800ultra) it's seeming to me that the x800 squeezes out higher resolutions with AA more often than the ultra does.
Click to expand...

In D3D it is king. And in Farcry and HL2 it is the card of choice IMHO.
I'm not biased but the facts show its faster. The 6800U is in no way slow but its just not as fast in them two games.
 
NEVERLIFT said:
In D3D it is king. And in Farcry and HL2 it is the card of choice IMHO.
I'm not biased but the facts show its faster. The 6800U is in no way slow but its just not as fast in them two games.
Click to expand...

Yea I know. Both are just really good cards. I'm just saying I'm LEANING...not jumping towards one side.

;)
 
Toad21 said:
Did you run driver cleaner? If you go from ATI to NVIDIA, or vise versa, you HAVE to run driver cleaner in safe mode.
Click to expand...

I thank you for the support but yes. It actually worked quite well for some months though never 100 % stable. I think it was FUBAR to begin with so it´s just getting worse.

Am getting a new mainboard so will see if I have any better luck. Funny thing is that just a week ago I played HL 2 never a crash or anything.
 
What level of AA and AF are you running, and what drivers.. (Sorry for the Hijack..)

As for the thread -- it's personal preference. Niether card wins 100% of the time in one or the other API...
 
Me? 4x aa and 4 or 8x aniso most often. All optimizations enabled. 1024x768x32.
 
Alright, I come home from 12 hours of work to read this
DandyBear said:
By the way don't listen to a word tsuehpsyde has to say. Every time he opens his mouth shit comes out ;)
Click to expand...

not sure if that's a friendly wink to me, or the gentleman who originally posted. Either way, I'm taking offense to that. You go ahead and show me where shit is flying out of my mouth you little fuck. If the wink was to me, well, i retract that statement.

Secondly we have...
oqvist said:
That is not leadteks fault as except for the cooler they are just like every other 6800 ULTRA . Leadtek are usually higher quality as well. Least number of RMA of all nVidia manufacturers in previous generations.
Click to expand...
First off, the only thing that CAN be different is the cooler, which is the same on the GT as the ultra...so it's by no means reference. And because it's made to be silent, it also run ALOT warmer, so read up before you complain that it's the same quality...it's not, it runs much warmer. Sure it may be solid construction, but if it doesn't cool as well, I personally don't give a shit. I have a GeForce3 Ti200 from Leadtek and it's great, cools well. I wanted to go leadtek again, but after seeing that thing, no thanks.

Link to card:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-122-196&depa=0

If you're getting an ultra, get anything that's reference. As for x800xt:pe, either flash a Pro VIVO or wait for a price drop. If money doesn't matter, then throw down for an offical XTPE. And for the rest of you, please do the forums a favor and think before you speak. Thanks.
 
Wow. I can't believe a few people were talking about which one to buy when I made it clear One's in my PC currently and the other has already shipped to me and will be in my hands this week. I guess they just read the title and didn't even look at what I asked.... Kinda makes you wonder how much ANYONE around here reads threads before they post.

Anyway, I was uncertain earlier, but now that I have seen the responses I think I will stick with the x800XT-PE in my system and let my wife use the new card. Perhaps if a few really good games come out next year on the Doom3 engine I will swap, but otherwise it looks like the slightly better overall performance of the x800 is the way to go..... Plus it's less work for me trying to deal with driver issues from switching cards in two PC's.
 
I've been happy with my 6800Ultra, but you can't go wrong wither either card. The X800 is stronger in D3D apps with could make it more appealing. There are strong points for each card.
 
I would have to say the BFG 6800Ultra OC. If only because the X800XTPE is still pretty much all but none existant in AGP :eek: (I Know i had to Hunt throught the Amazon to find one lmao j/k :p
But if you like ATI cards Then the X800XT vanilla edition is a Great card and can pretty much keep pace with a 6800U Happy hunting ;) :D
 
arentol said:
Wow. I can't believe a few people were talking about which one to buy when I made it clear One's in my PC currently and the other has already shipped to me and will be in my hands this week. I guess they just read the title and didn't even look at what I asked.... Kinda makes you wonder how much ANYONE around here reads threads before they post.

Anyway, I was uncertain earlier, but now that I have seen the responses I think I will stick with the x800XT-PE in my system and let my wife use the new card. Perhaps if a few really good games come out next year on the Doom3 engine I will swap, but otherwise it looks like the slightly better overall performance of the x800 is the way to go..... Plus it's less work for me trying to deal with driver issues from switching cards in two PC's.
Click to expand...

:)

funny reading this after reading this the two following posts ;)

In your case, I see how it's easy to everyone (including me) to misunderstand. This topic comes up SOOOOO much. And it almost seemed like you weren't sure which card you wanted. Just keep the x800xtpe in your computer and put the 6800ultra in your wifes computer. Save yourself some headache on your own computer that's working fine
 
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