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128 or 256 MB's?

J

Jedimoto

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 11, 2004
Messages
144
Ok, from what I've read here thus far... the 6800 beats the 9800XT hands down. So I'm looking at prices and on Newegg I found the following. (I know I can find cheaper prices, this is just for comparison's sake)...

Gainward 6800 128MB for $305
Powercolor 9800XT 256MB for $309

So, my question is... is a 128MB 6800 STILL faster/better than a 256MB 9800XT? And if so why? Or is only the 256MB version of the 6800 better than the 256MB 9800XT?

I'm still using my MX440 64MB, but I'm building a PC for the first time and trying to get all the facts. Thanks.
 
A 6800nu will be faster then a 9800XT whether it has 128MB of RAM or 256MB of RAM. The 256MB of RAM on the 9800XT wont even start to benefit it till you start to play at high resolutions with the detail cranked up in games like DOOM 3.
 
So the difference in 128MB and 256Mb of memory doesn't really matter?
Or is the 6800 just enough of a better card that the memory difference doesn't make up for it?

Sounds like I better look long and hard at the 6800, eh? Think they'll come down in price in the next month or two?
 
it depends what games u wanna play, u wannt play doom3 and other opengl games then get the nvidia, u wanna play pretty much everything else (moreso on the d3d side, like hl2/source) then get an ati card.

me personally, if i were to upgrade now i would wait for ati's next card and get it. i ran through doom 3 just to experience the good story and graphics; i did not need to paly it at 60fps constant. ati plays the games better that i want to play, its all depends on what u do
 
Sigh.
Hell, I don't know. What I really wnat to play is Battlefield Vietnam (My P4 1.5 with a mx440 64MB system just can't do it very well), and Battlefield2. Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, are also goodies I would like to sample. I just wondered if it really makes a difference between 128 and 256 MB of memory.
 
To put it bluntly, the 6800nu beats the 9800xt every time, substantially. Whether its d3d or openGL. There isnt a faster ati card in the 6800s price range. True, the fastest d3d card out there right now is the XTPE, but they are almost essentially vaporware. At every other price point nvidia currently has the crown (we'll see about the x700xt when those benchs roll out). As far as price goes, I paid 250 for my 6800, so if you keep your eyes open you can probably find a good deal too.
 
why does everyone always insist on ATI for D3D? the 6800 will still beat the 9800 in d3d, its just not "optimized" for d3d as much as it is for ogl. its really gettin annoying :/
 
Yes the advanced tech of the 6800 line gets you a better faster card despite the loss in ram. Really I advise a GT if you want to do this. And before everyone shouts Bottleneck! When you upgrade your CPU and that bn, disappears you get that much more out of the CPU upgrade. The advanced tech of the 6800 means the card ages much more slowly than it otherwise might have. Therefore even if it takes a long time for you to upgrade the CPU, the GT is still kicking and then you will be very glad of that 256.
 
So, I' guess I'll be looking at the GT's then. Maybe I can afford it.
And at what point in the AMD line-up do you get past the bottleneck you speak of?
 
My 3400+ seems to be a bottleneck for my 6800Ultra no matter what I do, as long as the res is below 1600x1200. Far Cry: 1280x1024 with 4xAA 16xAF seems to run the same as 1280x1024 without AA/AF. I'm sure the FPS will have dropped a bit, but not to the extent that it's noticeable in gameplay. The GT won't be a load slower, but the 6800 non-Ultra would be feeling the strain at this point.
 
SFI said:
it depends what games u wanna play, u wannt play doom3 and other opengl games then get the nvidia, u wanna play pretty much everything else (moreso on the d3d side, like hl2/source) then get an ati card.

me personally, if i were to upgrade now i would wait for ati's next card and get it. i ran through doom 3 just to experience the good story and graphics; i did not need to paly it at 60fps constant. ati plays the games better that i want to play, its all depends on what u do
Click to expand...

How do you know that ATI is better for D3D? lol

I dont get where people keep coming up with the idea that nVidia is better for DOOM 3 and ATI is better for everything else.

nVidia is better for ALL OpenGL games and is better for the majority of D3D games. If you would get out there and look at more D3D titles then some half baked source code demo and Far Cry then you'd see the 6800U and 6800GT take as many or more wins then the X800XT PE and X800Pro in D3D titles. The 6800GT has the X800Pro for lunch in OpenGL and D3D both.

It all has to do with the drivers used, the settings used, and the part of the level tested. It all comes down to which specific games you play as to which is better but the 6800U has more D3D wins and all the OpenGL wins and THAT is why its the better card.

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/videocards/article.php/3406871

I mean heck, the 6800U is leading the way in the new Counter-Strike: Source Beta benches using the newer 65.76 ForceWare drivers.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/gigabyte_geforce_6800_ultra/page19.asp
 
what was the main point of my post? i can play the games I WANNA PLAy faster on ym ati then the equivalent nvidia card, meaning hl2 and CS Source will run a heck of a lot better on my 9800 pro then a majority of much mroe expensive nvidia cards
 
SFI said:
what was the main point of my post? i can play the games I WANNA PLAy faster on ym ati then the equivalent nvidia card, meaning hl2 and CS Source will run a heck of a lot better on my 9800 pro then a majority of much mroe expensive nvidia cards
Click to expand...

You think HL2 is going to run better on your 9800 pro then it will on a more expensive 6800nu or 6800GT? lol :rolleyes:

What benchmarks have you been looking at? As you can see from that link i just posted the 6800U is actually running as fast and faster then the X800XT PE in the CS Source beta now.
 
Having seen a (stock) BFG 6800GT in action in CS:source I can tell you that watching it pull 90 FPS is a beautiful thing.

Besides that - The more telling point is that while Nvidia Cards have a large performance advatage in OpenGL games (A significant increase in playability, defined as a higher res or AA/AF at equivalent Framerates), where the ATI cards don't seem to have the same benefits in D3D games. I see the XTPE beating the 6800 by a reasonable margin at a certain rez - but the 6800U remains playable framerates at that same resolution (Damn playable to boot). So while the XTPE wins, the 6800U plays the game essentially just as well (from an experience perspective). On the other hand - in the places where the 6800U wins, it REALLY wins - tending to allow for higher AA, AF, or Resolution than the XTPE, or at the same settings the XTPE will drop below 30FPS.

So I would say that the 6800 series gives a more consistent experience than the XT series and that is why it's a better card.

That's why you should go with a 6800 over a 9800 - and if you really want to be able to crank things up then check out the 6800GT over the 6800. As for the memory 128 MB is enough for now, but 256 will future proof you.
 
Yes the 128 6800 is faster than the 256 9800XT. More pipelines = better performance in most games.....Since you are still building your first computer, I would forgo something else in your system in order to get the 6800GT. For example, if you budgeted a DVD burner, you could always get one in the future.
 
Yeh, I'm pretty sold on the 6800 or the 6800GT, right now. I' was not originally wanting to spend over $200 on a graphics card, but it sounds like it's worth it.
 
I know how you feel, I did not want to send over $200 for a videocard. I have a 9700pro and a 9800pro. So I though that would be enough. In fact the BFG 6800GT OC is still sitting on my desk, unopened. I havent had anytime to put it in my rig yet. It has been 2 days. Maybe I will get to it tonight and report the difference...
 
Think yourselves lucky. I was originally planning on nipping out to the shop over my lunch break to buy a 9800Pro to refresh my 1800+/GF3 Ti500/512Mb RAM system. When they didn't have them in stock, I started looking around online, got the bug and ended up buying:

3400+
1Gb RAM
2 x 160Gb disks
6800Ultra OC
New Motherboard

over a thousand quid's worth, instead of the £150 I'd planned to spend. Sigh.
 
Um, I'm in New Mexico, I don't have a clue what a quid is.
how many quids in a pound?
 
And so he spent almost a thousand pounds on a video card?
What does that equal? About $500?
Man, I need to egt out more. :p
 
No, don't think so.

He bought a 3000+, $200
A gig of PC 3200, $200
2 x 160 GB HDs, $250
6800 Ultra OC, $500+
Motherboard, $120

So, counting the fact that things are more expensive in Britain, about $1700 US seems right on the money (heheheh...no pun intended).
 
D'OH!
I thought he was talking about spending a thousand quid on the power supply. Heh. Double D'OH. :D
 
Jedimoto said:
So the difference in 128MB and 256Mb of memory doesn't really matter?
Or is the 6800 just enough of a better card that the memory difference doesn't make up for it?

Sounds like I better look long and hard at the 6800, eh? Think they'll come down in price in the next month or two?
Click to expand...

Video memory isn't related directly to the speed of the card. I've tried explaining this to people who ask about video cards. The ATi Radeon 9600XT 256MB is SLOWER than a 9800Pro 128MB. Memory doesn't mean shit in terms of VPU/GPU processing power and rendering speed.

That memory is mainly for textures. Which only Farcry and Doom III can really bennifit from a 256MB card right now as I understand it.
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
Video memory isn't related directly to the speed of the card. I've tried explaining this to people who ask about video cards. The ATi Radeon 9600XT 256MB is SLOWER than a 9800Pro 128MB. Memory doesn't mean shit in terms of VPU/GPU processing power and rendering speed.

That memory is mainly for textures. Which only Farcry and Doom III can really bennifit from a 256MB card right now as I understand it.
Click to expand...
Cool, thanks for the straight-up answer.
 
id go with the 6800
but if you can save up another 100 and get a GT ^^ :D
 
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