6800ultra, or XT-PE?? Buying in the next 3 days

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Davenow

Gawd
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Aug 8, 2003
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My main game is CS:S, and I also play a decent amount of BFV, COD multi and plan on Guild Wars.
I was 100% solid on an XT-PE, but I have noticed that there is a much better stock of 6800 Ultras around, and they are cheaper.

However I am worried about the stuttering issue. My ATI cards never did it, and I dont want to spend 450-500 on a card that does. I know the XT-PE wont, but will the 6800ultra?
It lookes like its luck of the draw, and there seems to be no real solution for it. Or am I wrong? Also I have only seen reports of it on GT's, do ultras not do it?

I have also seen benchmarks that show the ultras to be faster in HL2, as well as the XT-PE being faster. How can I know which to believe????

It is also easier to put an arctic cooler on an XT-PE, BUT I want to keep an open mind. As you can easily see, I lean towards the ATI, but definately want to hear about the 6800ultra.

Yes I know this is a can of worms, but I need to know. Please keep OPINIONS to yourself, I dont want to hear them, and wont take any opinions into consideration. I want facts, and test results.
 
I run CS:S on a 6800 Ultra, Zero Stuttering

I do not think there will be much of a difference between the two cards.

The only real world difference you will see is the price and the availability, namely the x800 XT PEs can't be found, and rumors are its already discontinued.
 
BTW, I am in the market for one or the other as well. Please post in this forum if you happen to see a good deal on a PCI-E X800XT or 6800U. Thanks!
 
I have a BFG 6800Ultra OC and get no stuttering whatsoever. Some people report they get stuttering, they are a minority, I'm sure.

Both play at 1280x1024 with 4xaa 8xaf more or less equally from the reviews I've read. Push the resolution to 1600x1200 and the XTPE generally pulls away. Except in Doom 3 and OpenGL, at which the nVidia card is better. I played HL2 at 1600x1200 4xaa 16xaf happily. Doom 3 played at 1600x1200 8xaf. The XT PE might not look quite as smooth at this resolution for me.

I tried to order an XTPE but for some reason my DEBIT card got rejected with plenty of cash in, otherwise I'd give you a direct comparison between the two. If I was buying again, I'd get an XT PE (now that it's actually available, it wasn't when I bought), but you will NOT make a bad decision. The XT PE has more brute force, the 6800U has more features that are currently not widely used and isn't exactly shy on power either. It needs a big PSU though - whatever people say, it's better to be safe than sorry.

If the Ultra is cheaper, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
 
Gah...
While I appreciate the replies Its only making my decision harder! :p

If both are awesome cards, how the heck am I supposed to choose lol.

I am probably going to end up going with teh XT-PE as its going into a sff case with a limited power supply (but has enough for the xt-PE)

Although I have been considering going to a full sized case again and selling the aria.
Which means I could go ultra....*bangs head on desk



Anyone else have some more input???
 
What is the price difference between the two cards you have seen?

EDIT - and the 6800U is a big old card. I don't know how it compares to the XT PE physically, but for sff you'd need to be extra careful, especially with 2-slot cooling to think about.
 
The XT-PE will be faster in the games you play. Majority of reviews will agree. I'd personally just grab a VIVO and flash it to an XT-PE, in the interest of saving cash.

Main thing is, if you're looking at a high end card, you're buying it for more than just performance, but also image quality. I was thinking about ditching my VIVO after seeing some recent deals ($360 on Anandtech for a generic Ultra - wowza!), but comparing the visual differences between the two cards made me decide to stick with the VIVO. Checkout this review:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1607380,00.asp AA looks okay on some of the Ultra/PE comparisons, but it looks kind of chunky around the edges on a few (look at the rock in the AF comparison). So you'd lose that smoothness in every game you'd play.

You can get the ASUS 6800 Ultra, which is a single slot solution, but why bother? Too expensive, not as fast and it uses more power/runs hotter.
 
I have a 6800NU (16pipes 380/800) with zero stuttering so i dont see why a 6800U would have an issue.
 
I actually have both cards, an ATI x800XT-PE and a BFG 6800u OC.

One is in my wifes PC and one is in mine. Since my wife only needs the card for EQ2 I tested them both to decide which I wanted and ended up giving her the 6800u.

When I got the 6800u I had already had my x800XT-PE for 5 months and played about 30 different games on it with only 1 very minor problem, which was later fixed in a patch of the game. Since I was very confident in the X800 I decided to test the 6800 when it came in with a few games to see if it was worthwhile to switch. It only took 4 games for me to decide.....

NFSU2: The 6800 worked perfectly.
Half-life 2: The 6800 output was very dark and I ended up having to tweak the gamma settings severely (almost completely maxed them) to make the game playable.
EQ2: The 6800 was darker than the X800 and I had to turn down a bunch of settings to get playable frames. I also was unable to get proper specular lighting (which makes the game look incredible if it's working right) even when I turned that back on.
Medal of Honor Pacific Assault: On the 6800 I had serious errors in which textures would stretch across the screen. So for instance a guy's face might appear to have a piece of flesh sticking out 12 feet to the side.

So after having issues in 3 of the 4 games I decided the x800xt was the card for me, and I strongly recommend it over the 6800u unless you fully expect to do an SLI setup sometime in the next year or less.
 
I used my roommates xt-pe and didn't notice enough difference in cs:s to even warrant paying more over my GT.
 
arentol said:
I actually have both cards, an ATI x800XT-PE and a BFG 6800u OC.

One is in my wifes PC and one is in mine. Since my wife only needs the card for EQ2 I tested them both to decide which I wanted and ended up giving her the 6800u.

When I got the 6800u I had already had my x800XT-PE for 5 months and played about 30 different games on it with only 1 very minor problem, which was later fixed in a patch of the game. Since I was very confident in the X800 I decided to test the 6800 when it came in with a few games to see if it was worthwhile to switch. It only took 4 games for me to decide.....

NFSU2: The 6800 worked perfectly.
Half-life 2: The 6800 output was very dark and I ended up having to tweak the gamma settings severely (almost completely maxed them) to make the game playable.
EQ2: The 6800 was darker than the X800 and I had to turn down a bunch of settings to get playable frames. I also was unable to get proper specular lighting (which makes the game look incredible if it's working right) even when I turned that back on.
Medal of Honor Pacific Assault: On the 6800 I had serious errors in which textures would stretch across the screen. So for instance a guy's face might appear to have a piece of flesh sticking out 12 feet to the side.

So after having issues in 3 of the 4 games I decided the x800xt was the card for me, and I strongly recommend it over the 6800u unless you fully expect to do an SLI setup sometime in the next year or less.
Click to expand...


Never had any of those problems on my 6800U.
 
I've been looking for an X800 XT for ages - only been able to find an X800 Pro. Makes me think ATI is too concerned with supplying Dell than us enthusiasts. :confused:

The X800 Pro is starting to look good or is it desperation?
 
The stuttering was a driver issue, not the card lacking the performance at the given settings.
 
Try looking for an XL, less stress on your wallet plus it has gret performance.
 
6800U or x850 pe You can go wrong with either. I just got whatever I could get my hands on first :D
 
Get the X800XTPE a one slot card with a quiet fan that is faster in more games than the 6800U. The X850XTPE is an overclocked X800XTPE nothing more nothing less. The main idea with it was to increase the supply of Cards for PCIE. I would go X850XTPE due to the fact that it stomps the competion in everything but DOOM3. Also on NewEgg its only a bit more than a X800XTPE. Another good choice is the X850XT its as fast as a X800XTPE but its a lot more readily availble the only con with the X850 Seiries is the Dual Slot Cooling. Quiet fan though! :) :D
 
Get the Ultra so you can install Linux and continue to play games without wanting to kill yourself trying to get drivers working.

-zac
 
{NG}Fidel said:
Get the X800XTPE a one slot card with a quiet fan that is faster in more games than the 6800U. The X850XTPE is an overclocked X800XTPE nothing more nothing less. The main idea with it was to increase the supply of Cards for PCIE. I would go X850XTPE due to the fact that it stomps the competion in everything but DOOM3. Also on NewEgg its only a bit more than a X800XTPE. Another good choice is the X850XT its as fast as a X800XTPE but its a lot more readily availble the only con with the X850 Seiries is the Dual Slot Cooling. Quiet fan though! :) :D
Click to expand...


A few FPS more isn't really stomping, and it doesn't fully support DX 9.0c.
 
pr0zac said:
Get the Ultra so you can install Linux and continue to play games without wanting to kill yourself trying to get drivers working.

-zac
Click to expand...

Yeah. Those 3 Linux games are awesome!
 
Can you honestly tell me that it isnt winning though.

A few FPS more isn't really stomping, and it doesn't fully support DX 9.0c.
Click to expand...

Also what do you mean it does not Fully Support DX9.0c? Thats not what ive been told or seen.
 
{NG}Fidel said:
Can you honestly tell me that it isnt winning though.



Also what do you mean it does not Fully Support DX9.0c? Thats not what ive been told or seen.
Click to expand...

It doesn't. The ATi cards do not do Pixel Shader 3.0 or OpenEX HDR lighting. Those are both part of Microsoft's Direct X 9.0c certification.

So the poster is correct. They are no fully Direct X 9.0c compliant.
 
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