6800GT vs X800XL

[Rocking]

If we forget about price, which one is better?
Which one can be overclocked more, how much power do these cards consume? 6800GT has SM3.0 and X800XL has VIVO... The cards also seem to perform pretty much evenly in Tom's Hardware's VGA Graphs, too.

If you'd get a 6800GT or an X800XL for free, which one would you take and and for what reasons? Tell about the pros and cons of these cards.
No price discussion please.

 

[trinibwoy]

The GT overclocks much better and is practically guaranteed at Ultra speeds. For free, it really comes down to the games you play but the GT is a better package IMO. The XL is better if you're a big fan of Colin Mcrae 5 or EQ2.

 

[Skrying]

For free? The 6800GT.

 

[1c3d0g]

The GeForce 6800GT hands down. It's 98.9% guaranteed that you'll at least reach 6800 Ultra speeds, most likely beyond that. So in essence you get a 6800 Ultra without spending that much.

 

[coz]

6800GT.

Better feature set, better overclocking......

A quick glance at some reviews show the X800XL hitting about 430MHz core clock - that's 7.5% over stock. My 6800GT goes up to 420MHz (+20%) over stock on air and 440MHz (+26%) on water. You'd be pretty bloody unlucky to grab a 6800GT that wouldn't hit Ultra core speed (400MHz / +14%). That's why I went with the 6800GT - 6800 Ultra performance without the price.

They're both excellent performers though so in that respect it's a hard decision. The main advantage the X800XL has over the 6800GT is something I can't mention.

 

[Glow]

X800XL gets my vote

 

[coz]

X800XL gets my vote

I'm not sure the thread author was asking for X800XL 512MB vs 6800GT 256MB comparisons? I mean, if you're spending that much on a video card you'd probably get an X850XT-PE instead.

 

[Skrying]

I'm not sure the thread author was asking for X800XL 512MB vs 6800GT 256MB comparisons? I mean, if you're spending that much on a video card you'd probably get an X850XT-PE instead.

The extra memory probaby has no effect at all.

 

[Glow]

The extra memory probaby has no effect at all.

just adds to the cost thats about it

 

[CleanSlate]

Actually at higher than 16by12 resolutions with AA and AF the 512 X800XL performs better than the XTPE.

I'd go for an X800XL512 megger if you have a monitor that can do those types of resolutions, it'll kill the 6800gt.

Depends on the games you play if you play HL2/cs:s go for the X800XL, if Doom3/GTA go 6800GT. OCing probably won't make up for the difference in driver/game native support.

X800XL doesn't OC much on average about 50-100 on core and mem.

~Adam

 

[air2k5]

i run bf2 on athlon xp3200+, 1gb ddr400 corsair, x800xl 256mb (not ocied) on 1280x960 4xaa, all max settigns, works good, but i just ordered a amd64 and a mobo, so will run even better.
but i think x800xl will give u more than nvidia will

 

[coz]

The extra memory probaby has no effect at all.

That depends entirely upon the application - Half-Life 2 benchmarks show gains up to 20% when comparing X800XL 256MB vs 512MB. I agree most games perform the same but what about that BF2 benchmark score? Who's to say that wasn't boosted by the extra memory?

To kind of prove my point - these BF2 benchmarks show the 6800GT as being faster than the X800XL 256MB.

 

[Majin]

800XL vs a 6800GT
kinda like comparing a
Honda Civic to a Lexus
6800GT, more features, more overhead!

 

[TheCreator]

800XL vs a 6800GT
kinda like comparing a
Honda Civic to a Lexus
6800GT, more features, more overhead!

worst comparison ever... perhaps a civic to an accord... but even that is pushing it.

 

[coz]

Actually at higher than 16by12 resolutions with AA and AF the 512 X800XL performs better than the XTPE.

I'd go for an X800XL512 megger if you have a monitor that can do those types of resolutions, it'll kill the 6800gt.

Please show me an article with benchmarks where the X800XL 512MB is *consistently* faster than a X850XT-PE or even an X800XL 256MB. Even if the X800XL 512MB is faster in crazy-high resolutions (above 1600x1200) with tons of AA and AF, I doubt it has the fill-rate or memory bandwidth to make gaming possible anyway.

 

[Majin]

worst comparison ever... perhaps a civic to an accord... but even that is pushing it.

Okay maybe thats pushing it... but
WORST EVER....
EVER IN HISTORY?
So in over 6k years of recorded human history, that was the worst comparison to date!
Who's pushing it now!

 

[Skrying]

Okay maybe thats pushing it... but
WORST EVER....
EVER IN HISTORY?
So in over 6k years of recorded human history, that was the worst comparison to date!
Who's pushing it now!

He's "The Creator" I think he'd know.

 

[Stellar]

Even if the X800XL 512MB is faster in crazy-high resolutions (above 1600x1200) with tons of AA and AF, I doubt it has the fill-rate or memory bandwidth to make gaming possible anyway.

Total self-contradiction.

 

[air2k5]

800XL vs a 6800GT
kinda like comparing a
Honda Civic to a Lexus
6800GT, more features, more overhead!

6800GT vs TNT2 8mb
kinda like comparing Civic to Lexus
NOW THAT MAKE SENCE

 

[Terra]

X800XL gets my vote

Funny..that is not the conclusion of AMDZone, when they reviewed the card..and they are hosting that image you linked too:
AMDZone Sapphire Radeon X800 XL 512MB Review

Doom3

Using Doom 3 with our test demo through the later Hell level we see an unfortunate trend that will carry on throughout much of the tests, as the extra 256MB of memory does little to nothing to increase performance overall and can't meet ATI's own X850 XT.

Doom3 4xAA

At 1600x1200 with an overclocked 512MB X800 XL the card comes close to the X850XT but still can't match it. The Open GL based Doom 3 does perform better with Nvidia's 6800 GT.

HalfLife 2

Half-Life 2 is one of the few games that sees an advantage with the 512MB version of the X800 XL as it almost matches the X850 XT and overclocked even tops the 256MB version if only slightly

Half-life 2 4xAA

Half-Life 2 is one of the few games that sees an advantage with the 512MB version of the X800 XL as it almost matches the X850 XT and overclocked even tops the 256MB version if only slightly

FarCry

More than a year after it's release Crytek's Far Cry still looks great and provides an excellent benchmark for Direct3D. No real drastic changes here but the X850 does push away the competition at 1600x1200 resolutions.

FarCry 4xAA

Results repeat with antialiasing and anisotropic filtering enabled in Far Cry.

Chaos Theory

Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is one of the newest and most graphically intense games on the market today. Using 1.1 shaders, the X850 XT pulls out ahead of all the competition, 11fps faster than the overclocked X800 XL 512MB card at 1024x768.

Chaos Theory 4xAA

With our final benchmark using our custom timedemo on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, we see that 512MB of memory simply isn't enough to overtake the more raw power of the X850 XT

Conclusion

Conclusion

Pricing

You can purchase the 512mb card here for $449. At this amount the extra 256MB of memory on Sapphire's Radeon X800 XL comes with quite a price increase over Sapphire's Radeon X800 XL which can be found for $318, a price difference of $131. With virtually no speed increase at all with 512MB of memory it is quite an expense for bragging rights that lack any substance.

Terra - And how come you compared the X800XL 512MB with the cheaper 6800GT 256MB?

 

[Skrying]

Funny enough though, that article showed the X800Xl beating the 6800GT in every game but Doom 3. That's the 256 or the 512 version too.

 

[CleanSlate]

Please show me an article with benchmarks where the X800XL 512MB is *consistently* faster than a X850XT-PE or even an X800XL 256MB. Even if the X800XL 512MB is faster in crazy-high resolutions (above 1600x1200) with tons of AA and AF, I doubt it has the fill-rate or memory bandwidth to make gaming possible anyway.

A hardforum member did the benches one time, I can't seem to find the page (searched), and I forgot what the name of the thread is. Guess you'll just have to do the research yourself.

~Adam

 

[coz]

Total self-contradiction.

No it's not. You can have a faster frame rate that's still unplayable, 10 fps is twice as fast as 5 fps but would you consider that a playable frame-rate? All I'm trying to say is that *if* the X800XL 512MB really does pull ahead of the X850XT-PE at resolutions above 1600x1200 with a load of AA and AF applied (as CleanSlate suggests) then it isn't going to be much of a playable frame-rate anyway. The exception to that is Half-Life 2 where the X800XL 512MB produces a very playable frame-rate even at 2048x1536 with 6xAA and 16xAF.

 

[coz]

I can't seem to find the page (searched), and I forgot what the name of the thread is. Guess you'll just have to do the research yourself.

I was kinda hoping you could prove your own assertion.

 

[CleanSlate]

I was too. Hence, the search, but I have more things to do in life than trying to prove something I know I saw to someone in doubt.

~Adam

 

[coz]

I was too. Hence, the search, but I have more things to do in life than trying to prove something I know I saw to someone in doubt.

Was it this thread? Kurtis (the Techlounge reviewer) links to the same HL2 benchmark I did and yes, X800XL 512MB walks over everything else in 2048x1536 with bigtime AA and AF applied. However, that's only one game and practically every other game benchmark shows the X850XT-PE well ahead at high-res+AA+AF settings.

 

[CleanSlate]

Yes that was it but not practically everything else, practically all the other cards cant even run it at that resolution with that AA/AF. It wins by default since it is the only one that can do it .

Look at the FPS differences though, the difference between the XL and XTPE is very little compared to the XTPE, that's a $400+ card vs a $300 card. I guess the choice is obvious to me, I'd rather have a little less performance and spend $100+ less.

~Adam

 

[Terra]

Funny enough though, that article showed the X800Xl beating the 6800GT in every game but Doom 3. That's the 256 or the 512 version too.

Funny I don't see the 256 MB X800XL version in that artiicle?

Terra - Do you just sit around and invent arguments all the time?