6800GT or X800 XT?

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Sand

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I'm shopping for a new video card for my system (9800 Pro, AGP bus, 3.0 GHz P4, 1Gig, twin raptor SATA HD) in the $400 price range. The 6800 GT seems the card of choice, but I'm being lured by the X800 XT at $70 or so more. I'm not a big DOOM3 fan, though I'm sure I'll end up playing plenty of games based on that engine. Right now planned games are Far Cry and HL2, as well as older stuff (Halo in prep for Halo 2, Thief 3, BF:V, etc.).

Is the X800 worth spending more on or should I stick with the GT?
 
Sand said:
I'm shopping for a new video card for my system (9800 Pro, AGP bus, 3.0 GHz P4, 1Gig, twin raptor SATA HD) in the $400 price range. The 6800 GT seems the card of choice, but I'm being lured by the X800 XT at $70 or so more. I'm not a big DOOM3 fan, though I'm sure I'll end up playing plenty of games based on that engine. Right now planned games are Far Cry and HL2, as well as older stuff (Halo in prep for Halo 2, Thief 3, BF:V, etc.).

Is the X800 worth spending more on or should I stick with the GT?
Click to expand...

I love the GT. See my sig. I have also done the bios flash which is listed here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=785299&highlight=bfg+6800

Which gives a safe ultra oc. Definitely go with a GT and I have had both ATI and Nvdia so I am not a zealot of either... :p
 
well .. this is not a biased opinion but it seems like u dont really wanna play doom 3 but u wanna play hl2 and far cry .. well i would say go with the x800xt since ur not really goin after doom3 based games ... and even if u were ... u seem to look forward to direct x more and not far cry stuttering like many are complaining about with their 6800 gts ... as well as really bad artifacts .. but some would also say that sm3.0 is fast and the 6800's perform better .. but then again .. do ur research and read what people had to say about their in game performances since benchmarks don't tell u much
 
Right but if you plan to keep it for a long time, try to think about futureproofing your purchase. the GT has SM3.0 which is not available on the X800XT but the rest is a toss-up depending on what games you plan to play.
 
If this is a short term buy (less than a year), I'd go with the X800XT. I switched from a perfect X800Pro modded to XT ---> to a 6800GT and find the X800 more pleasant on the eyes and ears. Meaning, the text and graphics seem sharper and the noise level is nothing even close to the 6800.

Also, for all the hoopla about how great the Nvidia drivers are, I think is false. You spend more time chasing "leaked" betas to fix small problems whereas ATI is constantly releasing quality drivers on a monthly basis. Much easier to manage.
 
Wow, lots of stuff to think about.

I've done a lot of net research and it seems like the cards are pretty close performance wise (the X800 having an edge, but also costing more). I figure on keeping this card for a year or so most likely.

Noise level is pretty important -- I don't need a silent card, but my current system is fairly quiet and something ear-blasting would be bad. I've heard the BFG 6800 OC is not too loud.

And then there's the Pro -> XT mod that R1ck mentions. Newegg seems to have moddable cards for ~420 which seems much more tempting when compared to a 6800. Tough call...
 
sac_tagg said:
Also, don't forget that the 6800GT supports HRD, while the X800 XT(PE) doesn't.
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Don't forget you have to lower your resolution when enabling HRD due to the performance hit. HRD is too much for current generation cards that support it. I tried it for a day and found the fact you must lower your resolution (unless you have a P4 4.0ghz type system) and still don't have good FPS too much for me.
 
Sand said:
Wow, lots of stuff to think about.

I've done a lot of net research and it seems like the cards are pretty close performance wise (the X800 having an edge, but also costing more). I figure on keeping this card for a year or so most likely.

Noise level is pretty important -- I don't need a silent card, but my current system is fairly quiet and something ear-blasting would be bad. I've heard the BFG 6800 OC is not too loud.

And then there's the Pro -> XT mod that R1ck mentions. Newegg seems to have moddable cards for ~420 which seems much more tempting when compared to a 6800. Tough call...
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It is a tough call. Coming from a guy who now has both, I'd actually stick with my X800 if it weren't in my new HTPC (needed good HDTV support which the 6800 is severely lacking). Also, don't let anyone fool you, the 6800 is loud, regardless of the manufacture unless it is watercooled.

I will most likely get another X800, XT this time, when ATI releases PCI-e boards. ;)
 
"ATI is constantly releasing quality drivers on a monthly basis"

LOL. when you have that many bugs you better put them out on a monthly basis.
LOL :D :D :D
 
R1ckCa1n said:
I will most likely get another X800, XT this time, when ATI releases PCI-e boards. ;)
Click to expand...

I have one sitting in my HTPC--what are you waiting for?

;D

I also have PCI-e GT in my work/play Shuttle system. Both are great cards, but the X800XT is definitely the quicker of the two.
 
Also, don't let anyone fool you, the 6800 is loud, regardless of the manufacture unless it is watercooled.
Click to expand...

No joke indeed, the 6800GT sounds like an airplane in comparison with X800.

LOL. when you have that many bugs you better put them out on a monthly basis.
LOL
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I've read many (still) have the st-st-stuttering and shimmering problems with the latest Nv whql Forceware. I hope for these guys that this is gonna be solved in next whql release which is in about 6 months from now. :)
 
My X800 VIVO-XT-PE modded smokes my old 6800GT.....in Far Cry. Period. Go read the latest [H]ard review of the Far Cry 1.3 patch. The XT-PE smacks the 6800 around like a cheap hooker on a friday night in the Bronx...no HDR needed for me, I prefer being able to use a minimum of 2x AA and 4x AF...you cannot, repeat, cannot, use AA with NV's HDR in Far Cry. So you end up running a lower res with HDR and still taking a big speed hit ad jaggies all over...but some like it, to each his own I say.

Now for Doom3 only, yes, the 6800GT is faster...but I find the XT-PE is smoother.


And HL2? Who knows, we don't have it yet... :D
 
Who cares about that 3.0 crap. By the time games start using it the 6800gt will have a hard ti me getting good FPS out of those games anyway. Who ever has the 6800gt will have to upgrade no matter how you look at it. I had a 6800gt for about a month. And that has to be the worst card i ever owned. I did everything in the book to make this thing run half as smooth as my 9700pro. Sure it was getting good fps but it was stuttering like a bitch. And the image quality was not that good either.

I was mad that i spent that much money for a gt when my 9700 pro seemed to be doing a better job. So i sold the gt and got a XT for $425 and it was the best thing i have ever done. ;)
 
TheRapture said:
My X800 VIVO-XT-PE modded smokes my old 6800GT.....in Far Cry. Period. Go read the latest [H]ard review of the Far Cry 1.3 patch.
Click to expand...

Ummm... how does that review show the x800 XT smoking the 6800GT?

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njc4LDE=

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Fort):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 50.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 49.7

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Control):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 83.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 72.3

The only reason the XT is even keeping up with the GT at all is because of the hiccup glitch the new patch causes on some 6800 cards. And even with that dragging down its framerates the GT still came out on top.
 
I don't know about that FC 1.3 review, but it does seem like in general the X800 XT has a slight edge on the 6800 GT, especially if you aren't going to be playing DOOM3. :) Since it looks like one can get the right X800 Pro and flash it to XT performance levels for about the price of a 6800 GT, I suspect that's the way I'm going to go...
 
6800GTOwned said:
Ummm... how does that review show the x800 XT smoking the 6800GT?

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njc4LDE=

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Fort):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 50.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 49.7

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Control):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 83.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 72.3

The only reason the XT is even keeping up with the GT at all is because of the hiccup glitch the new patch causes on some 6800 cards. And even with that dragging down its framerates the GT still came out on top.
Click to expand...

Aye but if you take another look, the XT is running 1600x1200, the GT 1280x1024
 
6800GTOwned said:
Ummm... how does that review show the x800 XT smoking the 6800GT?

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njc4LDE=

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Fort):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 50.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 49.7

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Control):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 83.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 72.3

The only reason the XT is even keeping up with the GT at all is because of the hiccup glitch the new patch causes on some 6800 cards. And even with that dragging down its framerates the GT still came out on top.
Click to expand...

You can throw out numbers at us all day if you want. Without real world experience you will never know just how much better the XT is over the GT. My 9700pro ran smoother than the GT all day. 9700pro was not faster, Just smoother.
 
6800GTOwned said:
Ummm... how does that review show the x800 XT smoking the 6800GT?

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njc4LDE=

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Fort):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 50.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 49.7

Average FPS Far Cry 1.3 (Control):
PCI-E 6800 GT- 83.1
PCI-E x800 XT- 72.3

The only reason the XT is even keeping up with the GT at all is because of the hiccup glitch the new patch causes on some 6800 cards. And even with that dragging down its framerates the GT still came out on top.
Click to expand...



Ummm...not. If you would READ the article, that is with the ATI card at 1600x1200 while the NV card is way downat 1280x1024...and you must not have read THIS either:



VIDIA GeForce 6800GT

Moving to Patch 1.3 with Shader Model 3.0 enabled by default did not make image quality better than Shader Model 2.0. The same darkening of the water and lighting differences with the flashlight were seen moving to Patch 1.3 with the Radeon X800XT, which was not using Shader Model 3.0. These differences we can attribute to changes that are part of patch 1.3 and not Shader Model 3.0.

We did notice shader quality improvements from Patch 1.1 to Patch 1.3, which now make the image quality on the GeForce 6800GT comparable to the shader image quality as seen on Radeon X800 video cards. The shader quality with Shader Model 3.0 is not better than Shader Model 2.0, it is now equal, where it wasn’t before in this game with Patch 1.1.

Performance-wise there were some noticeable improvements in some outdoor scenes that had a lot of trees, grass, and bushes. Indoors we did notice performance improvements when using the flashlight, but other than that we did not notice a major increase in heavily shader oriented levels.

The current pausing/hitching phenomenon is a problem, at least on my system. There have been others mention this hitching issue as well in our forums. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed with a new driver.


Also, look at thie image HERE: http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTA5ODgwOTkwNERKN2E2QlpNZmRfM18zX2wuZ2lm

and HERE: http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTA5ODgwOTkwNERKN2E2QlpNZmRfMl80X2wuZ2lm

See the differences in resolution tested? If the 6800GT had been run at the same 1600x1200 as the ATI card was, it would have gotten it's proverbial ass HANDED to it...not to mention the MINIMUM framerate of the NV card was almost HALF of what the ATI card was at, even considering how much higher res the ATI was tested at...so go eat some crow now, and research a bit before you go posting FUD. :D


By the way, your nickname is appropriate...in this case, the 6800GT got OWNED.
 
all i gotta say is OUCH ur GT got owned ... X800 XT just served u a hot plate of an ass with whooping cream on it
 
They are both good cards, you cannot go wrong with either of them...
 
This is stupid as HELL. Of coure the x800 XT is faster than the GT. It is also more expensive than the GT, by about $100. You might as well say that a 6800 Ultra is faster than an x800 Pro... it is true, but it is also meaningless bullshit. What's next? "Did you hear that a $200 FX 5900 is faster than a $100 9600 Pro? nVidia r0xx0r5!" :rolleyes:

Both are good cards. If you can afford the XT, it is faster than the GT at almost evertything, which of course it *should* be because it costs more. On the other hand, the GT is a better "bang-for-the-buck" choice, and certainly all-around better than the x800 Pro... which is what it should really be compared to.
 
Ummm..., that is with the ATI card at 1600x1200 while the NV card is way down at 1280x1024
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It seems that a lot of people are missing this point. In the forums in my home country (Holland) i must explain this over and over again, everytime a Hardocp review is being discussed. :)

Brent J., please state this clearer in your future reviews, people don't read the resolution numbers above the graphs. :)
 
CastleBravo said:
This is stupid as HELL. Of coure the x800 XT is faster than the GT. It is also more expensive than the GT, by about $100. You might as well say that a 6800 Ultra is faster than an x800 Pro... it is true, but it is also meaningless bullshit. What's next? "Did you hear that a $200 FX 5900 is faster than a $100 9600 Pro? nVidia r0xx0r5!" :rolleyes:

Both are good cards. If you can afford the XT, it is faster than the GT at almost evertything, which of course it *should* be because it costs more. On the other hand, the GT is a better "bang-for-the-buck" choice, and certainly all-around better than the x800 Pro... which is what it should really be compared to.
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Extremely well put. The fact is that the 6800GT is meant to beat the X800Pro which it does with ease...the fact that people are comparing it to the X800XT shows how good of a card it is. If I had a choice between the two I'd get the X800XT but for the money the 6800GT is a sweet deal.

proof
X800XT = $450
6800GT = $372
difference = $78
 
i agree, its like comparing two fighters in different weight classes...its a no brainer
 
How much was the GT when it first came out? How much is the XT when it first came out?
 
money is no object: x800xt.

money is important to you: 6800gt and OC to ultra speeds.

simple as that.
 
HRslammR said:
money is no object: x800xt.

money is important to you: 6800gt and OC to ultra speeds.

simple as that.
Click to expand...



Quoted for perfect truth! My posts are in reference to those idiots that keep saying the 680GT is the faster card in EVERYTHING....price notwithstanding of course. :D
 
Apple740 said:
No joke indeed, the 6800GT sounds like an airplane in comparison with X800.
Click to expand...

Which is the main reason why I ended up keeping my x800pro VIVO instead of the 6800GT I had also purchased. It was a frustrating choice... Pro VIVO vs 6800 that easily overclocked to Ultra speeds. So I let noise be the deciding factor.

And now that I've started tweaking, I'm figuring out I made a good choice. Rock solid at 550/580 with all 16 pipes. I used a BIOS that turns on the 16 pipes but keeps the pro speeds. If I need it, there is more power. Even at 550 it never gets over 76C.

With the x800xt's only being $50 more than the VIVOs it might be worth it for guaranteed 16p. Even though with a VIVO you're basically there... (prices ripped from pricewatch)

Of course the 6800gt is a good choice too...

Choices, choices... this generation is fun.

-dB
 
i still think that the people say they see studdering areeither OCing further than there capable of, or have never used one.
 
Ok, obviously a lot of opinions are scewed because of reviews that inaccurately rate cards in a few different ways, IE; Different levels as well as resolutions.

The 6800GT should be compared to the X800Pro
The 6800Ultra should be compared to the X800XT/PE

I'm in the same boat at the moment, I'm debating on whether I want an X800Pro Vivo and OC it to XT speeds or greater, or to go for the 6800GT and OC it to Ultra speeds. Which performs better. The Ultra or the XT/PE?

Here comes another heated debate. :)
 
ShepsCrook said:
Ok, obviously a lot of opinions are scewed because of reviews that inaccurately rate cards in a few different ways, IE; Different levels as well as resolutions.

The 6800GT should be compared to the X800Pro
The 6800Ultra should be compared to the X800XT/PE

I'm in the same boat at the moment, I'm debating on whether I want an X800Pro Vivo and OC it to XT speeds or greater, or to go for the 6800GT and OC it to Ultra speeds. Which performs better. The Ultra or the XT/PE?

Here comes another heated debate. :)
Click to expand...


Couldn't agree more.....

"The 6800GT should be compared to the X800Pro
The 6800Ultra should be compared to the X800XT/PE"
 
Right now I am in a similar situation. Comparing a 6800GT against a x800 Pro. Right now I am favoring the 6800GT for the 16 pipelines alone. Everything else seems to come about close enough to the same for me. If I could find enough x800 Pro that would confirm the Pro to XT conversion I might consider it more.
 
I think that's my main setback, is if I knew that the card was going to be OCable to XTPE speeds with the VIVO 1.6ns ram, I would jump all over it like a fat chick in a candy store. But since there's no guarantee that you will get a good card, the safer bet is the 6800GT because about 98% of them have been proven to OC to Ultra speeds and better easily.
 
Monarch is currently having a sale on the eVGA 6800Ultra for $499. Think that's something to pounce on?
 
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