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NOTE TO NVIDIOTS: AT THE VERY LEAST, PLEASE READ THROUGH MY WHOLE POST BEFORE POSTING "OMG t3h 6800GT 4 LIFEZ LOLZ!!!!!!!!!111" SO THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE I CAN GET A GOOD ANSWER
I currently have in order in at Gateway for an X800XT, with an estimated ship date of the end of July. The word on forums in general though is that with CDW having many orders of its own on the X800XT, it might not be as willing to supply Gateway with cards, so there's a good chance my ship date will slip back even farther. Besides the fact that no other place has them right now, the reason I am sticking with Gateway is that the card ends up being $435 shipped, which isn't bad at all.
In light of recent events (the Far Cry patch, Best Buy's sale, and the much more near-term availability of the card), the 6800GT is becoming increasingly appealing at $360. What really pushed to consider Nvidia, though, was in looking at upgrades I could do to my system, I realized that my next upgrade will probably be a complete system overhaul. This will likely include a movement to PCI Express, and even if it's only $75, I'd feel as though I am not wasting money as much if I go with the 6800 GT. I would need to act quickly on this since the general consensus is that this deal will be dead after today.
Here are some of my thoughts on the pros and cons, some of which apply only to me:
-I like the ATI card since it seems like the more refined piece of engineering. It is smaller, and I believe draws less power and puts out less heat, which is a boon in my Shuttle case.
-I feel safer using the ATI because I won't be worried about getting screwed on the drivers. Being a pessimist, I see Nvidia's large driver performance gains as a failure on their part to put out a quality driver in the first place instead of an excellent driver team constantly coaxing more out of the cards, and that doesn't sit too well with me. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and I'd rather have x performance today than x-2 today with the promise of x+1 "in the next release". Companies lie. A LOT.
-I have no use for Linux or Linux drivers, so do not mention them as they are completely irrelevant.
-I can get beyond this in some ways, though, since I play CS, DoD, and Tribes a good deal. Being OpenGL, I expect the 6800GT to outperform the X800XT which would be great. However, the 4.7 drivers are supposed to give a healthy OpenGL boost to the Radeon series. See above for my problems with this...overall, I don't know what to make of this.
-I try to play all my games at 1600x1200; I have an LCD and that being my native resolution, I want to take advantage of it. There's no sense in getting a high-end card if you can't see the eye-candy you're getting. On the other hand, I suppose that running a lower resolution might give me "free" AA, but that's besides the point.
-I also like to play with AA and AF on. It seems as though 1600x1200 w/ AA and AF is where the ATI cards shine...can the 6800GT keep up? The HardOCP review favors the X800XT at 1600, with the 6800 going to 1280x1024 several times.
-Whenever I see people asking which card will play Doom 3 or HL2 better, I get this urge to find them and punch them in the face because, of course, nobody really knows. This really is the reason for this upgrade, though, so as much as it hurts I need to ask anyway. Nvidia has SM 3.0. ATI has 3dc. When all is said and done, do you think game developers will favor one over the other, or will they both have about an equal presence in games so that one brand does not necessarily have a leg up on the other?
-As an extension of the last question, is it worth it to pay the extra $75 for the possibility of 3dc compression and increased performance? It seems as though the 6800 series heavily benefit from SM 3.0, and unfortunately, I don't know if anyone knows (or can talk about) whether 3dc gives a comparable boost to ATI.
Thanks to those of you who actually read up to this point, and a double-thanks to those who actually consider my needs in making their reply. I have not yet slept and must do so now, so please do not take offense in my absence during the upcoming peak hours. I will be on again late this evening so that I can go ahead and buy the 6800GT if that is where this thread has headed.
I currently have in order in at Gateway for an X800XT, with an estimated ship date of the end of July. The word on forums in general though is that with CDW having many orders of its own on the X800XT, it might not be as willing to supply Gateway with cards, so there's a good chance my ship date will slip back even farther. Besides the fact that no other place has them right now, the reason I am sticking with Gateway is that the card ends up being $435 shipped, which isn't bad at all.
In light of recent events (the Far Cry patch, Best Buy's sale, and the much more near-term availability of the card), the 6800GT is becoming increasingly appealing at $360. What really pushed to consider Nvidia, though, was in looking at upgrades I could do to my system, I realized that my next upgrade will probably be a complete system overhaul. This will likely include a movement to PCI Express, and even if it's only $75, I'd feel as though I am not wasting money as much if I go with the 6800 GT. I would need to act quickly on this since the general consensus is that this deal will be dead after today.
Here are some of my thoughts on the pros and cons, some of which apply only to me:
-I like the ATI card since it seems like the more refined piece of engineering. It is smaller, and I believe draws less power and puts out less heat, which is a boon in my Shuttle case.
-I feel safer using the ATI because I won't be worried about getting screwed on the drivers. Being a pessimist, I see Nvidia's large driver performance gains as a failure on their part to put out a quality driver in the first place instead of an excellent driver team constantly coaxing more out of the cards, and that doesn't sit too well with me. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and I'd rather have x performance today than x-2 today with the promise of x+1 "in the next release". Companies lie. A LOT.
-I have no use for Linux or Linux drivers, so do not mention them as they are completely irrelevant.
-I can get beyond this in some ways, though, since I play CS, DoD, and Tribes a good deal. Being OpenGL, I expect the 6800GT to outperform the X800XT which would be great. However, the 4.7 drivers are supposed to give a healthy OpenGL boost to the Radeon series. See above for my problems with this...overall, I don't know what to make of this.
-I try to play all my games at 1600x1200; I have an LCD and that being my native resolution, I want to take advantage of it. There's no sense in getting a high-end card if you can't see the eye-candy you're getting. On the other hand, I suppose that running a lower resolution might give me "free" AA, but that's besides the point.
-I also like to play with AA and AF on. It seems as though 1600x1200 w/ AA and AF is where the ATI cards shine...can the 6800GT keep up? The HardOCP review favors the X800XT at 1600, with the 6800 going to 1280x1024 several times.
-Whenever I see people asking which card will play Doom 3 or HL2 better, I get this urge to find them and punch them in the face because, of course, nobody really knows. This really is the reason for this upgrade, though, so as much as it hurts I need to ask anyway. Nvidia has SM 3.0. ATI has 3dc. When all is said and done, do you think game developers will favor one over the other, or will they both have about an equal presence in games so that one brand does not necessarily have a leg up on the other?
-As an extension of the last question, is it worth it to pay the extra $75 for the possibility of 3dc compression and increased performance? It seems as though the 6800 series heavily benefit from SM 3.0, and unfortunately, I don't know if anyone knows (or can talk about) whether 3dc gives a comparable boost to ATI.
Thanks to those of you who actually read up to this point, and a double-thanks to those who actually consider my needs in making their reply. I have not yet slept and must do so now, so please do not take offense in my absence during the upcoming peak hours. I will be on again late this evening so that I can go ahead and buy the 6800GT if that is where this thread has headed.
