X800 Pro vs. 6800 GT

Bugalaman

Bugalaman

Really a Ugandachick
Joined
Apr 3, 2002
Messages
3,275
OK, I know this is the life long debate, but which one?

spend $430 (total wih tax) and get a BFG 6800 GT http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...duct&productCategoryId=cat01151&skuId=6684652

OR

spend $385 (with shipping and tax) on a Visiontek X800 pro: http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4053432
It appears to overclock like mad in this [H] review

The cost difference isn't really a problem.
Which one would give me the best perfromance? Overclocking ability?

My current system is: XP 2500 @ 2.3, NF7-S, 1024 Corsair XMS PC 3200, Radeon 9800pro (378/378). I'm sick of my 9800, it was fine a year ago, but is slow as shit now. The FPS used to be locked at 90 in COD, but now go from 15-45. (heh, don't suggest anything, I've tried to fix that problem, no luck)
I could just go to newegg and get a 3500+ and a K8N neo2 Platnium, but I think a video card is better for me righ now.
What do you guys think?
Thank You :)
 
If money really isnt an issue I'd go with the GT. However, you could save $60 and with that go buy Half life 2 :cool:
 
You know this is a touchy issue. I think both cards have both strong and weak points. I have to lean towards the GT mainly because it's a little more revolutionary than the evolutionary Radeon line. This is from a guy that one year ago was all ATI or nothing. The 6800 series changed my mind. While my 9800 Pro is a great card (currently running in my SFF) the X800 series seemed like more of the same. I wanted to try something different and SM3.0 and future applications made the decision for me. So the short of it is I'd choose the 6800 GT. The long of it is I'd read around the forum some more and get a feeling for what people think.
 
cost is no issue? GT.
if cost is an issue: Pro.
ultimately they'll all render at more than playable, some will do it faster than others in certain applications.

just fyi, my visiontek i've been able to clock it safely up to 100mhz over my default core speed, and 70mhz over my default memory speed, and with the stock cooler. :) i don't KEEP it there mind you, i don't have the kind of money to replace in case of an "accident"
 
I'd go for the 6800GT if both were the same price, but the VT X800 Pro is a good deal.
 
If you can get that BFG GT with that reference cooler, i'd go for it. The blue LED BFG's don't give me a good feeling. May not matter if you're going to replace the cooler anyway.
I hope you have the same good luck that i did with my BFG GT. I hit 430/1100 on stock cooling in the warmth of the summer. Some are lucky, some ain't.
 
GT for a little bit of future proofing with that SM3. Lots of stuff coming around this year that will need want it. :D
 
Here's something interesting, we see the x800 pro tie and take the lead in all of the benchmarks where the x800 pro has 3Dc enabled. Just matching performance on the 6800GT and taking control in various benchmarks. This could be good news to pro owners and may make you think twice before deciding on your next card as HL2 will provide further optimizations. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/farcry13_9.html
 
3DC is on for the 6800 series? How the heck does that work? Damn man, I was just looking at the performance level of HDR.. Wow it sucks. SLI would fix that right up though. That will be interesting to see. :eek:
 
3Dc isnt on the 6800 cards, they are enabling normal mapping, which is accelerated with 3Dc but is slown down on the 6800 cards because they have no 3Dc to help with the normal maps. That's why you get slightly better image quality with normal uncompressed maps.
 
I have to go with the 6800gt because of the massive opengl performance advantage and the potential of sm3.
 
Plenty of the x800 Pro VIVO flashes have either flunked, or not gotten up to XT or XTPE clocks. And some GTs just won't clock up to Ultra speeds. So there is no guarantee either way.

Nice thing about the 6800 GT is that with good cooling and a decent power supply, you can typically get them past Ultra clocks with the stock bios and be nice & stable. Because if nothing else, the GT core is always the same core as the Ultra core, which is not the case with the x800 Pro.

Bottom line is, ATI nerfed the x800 Pro too much to really compete with the 6800 GT. 4 fewer pipelines (12 vs. 16 for the GT) and no SM3, which is already used in Far Cry for a nice speed boost... so it isn't vaporware like some ATI apologists pretend. nVidia just made a better product this round at the ~$400 level, just like ATI made a better product than nVidia with the 9700 and 9800 series.
 
If you only keep the card for 6 months to maybe a year max, forget SM3.0....it does almost nothing in real world gaming, at least in Far Cry. SM2.x does very high image quality in current games, and HDR, well, if you like to play Far Cry with no AA and can handle frame rates cut in half in most situations, then go for the GT. HDR for me, a die hard ONLINE Far Cry player, is worthless. Too much speed hit in a game that needs (for me) 50fps or better on average to make me happy. The 6800GT will provide you with great performance though with AA and moderate AF on, and between a stock 12 pipe X800 Pro and the GT, I would get the GT since the extra 4 pipes on the GT will serve you better as games get more complex, especially if you plan on keeping the card a long time.

However, if you are comfortable softmodding/bios flashing an X800 Pro VIVO model, you have a very high likelyhood of getting yourself a full on 16 pipe XT-PE, that will outperform the 6800GT comfortably in most D3D games and runs plenty fast still for OpenGL titles and has very high IQ for both. It really depends on what you play, how long you are going to keep the card, what features you want, and what brand you PREFER.

I tried both the NV and the ATI this round, I sold the 6800GT and kept the BIOS flashed ATI. I play more D3D titles so ATI is better for my own particualr needs.


You really cannot go wrong with either though.
 
CastleBravo said:
Plenty of the x800 Pro VIVO flashes have either flunked, or not gotten up to XT or XTPE clocks. And some GTs just won't clock up to Ultra speeds. So there is no guarantee either way.

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Very true, although I believe the majority of VIVO flashes work well as far as opening the extra 4 pipes. Some won't run full on XT-PE speeds of 520/560 but I have not heard of a VIVO yet that won't do a minimum of 500/500 where as stock was 475/450. I got a great card and mine runs XT-PE speeds like a champ. If it had not, I would have sold it and tried again.
 
I guess I choose the BFG 6800 GT. Will I really notice that much of an improvement over my 9800? I plan to keep this for a couple years. Awwww shit, its out of stock again at BB, I'll have to wait a few days....

EDIT, or would it be better to order AV8 and a 3500?
 
Get the video card, you can always upgrade your cpu and mobo later
 
Or you could do like any sensable normal thinking human would do and USE THE DAMN SEARCH BUTTON. There is at least 5 posts about people talking about this same issue.

I guess "Hard|Gawd" doesnt stand for "understanding and following the guidelines"
 
phaelinx said:
Or you could do like any sensable normal thinking human would do and USE THE DAMN SEARCH BUTTON. There is at least 5 posts about people talking about this same issue.

I guess "Hard|Gawd" doesnt stand for "understanding and following the guidelines"
Click to expand...
thanks for the info buddy :p
 
No problem..If you have anymore issues, dont even worry about using the search button. Post away like the "n00bs" do. I'll be more than happy to help every time.
 
phaelinx said:
No problem..If you have anymore issues, dont even worry about using the search button. Post away like the "n00bs" do. I'll be more than happy to help every time.
Click to expand...
lol, I never asked how to build my computer, I read reviews and used the "search" button, but this time I thought I'd post ;)
 
Bugalaman said:
lol, I never asked how to build my computer, I read reviews and used the "search" button, but this time I thought I'd post ;)
Click to expand...


lol shame on you!
 
its all personal preference.. they have their ups and downs but overall you wont notice a difference (unless you insist on getting max fps)
 
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