x800GTO or 6800 vanilla

[inertiadriftsc]

Hey,
I was wondering, which do you guys feel is a better card, I have an old ti4600 and its starting to die, and icant afford much more than a $225 video card (that is even pushing the budget a little) which do you guys think is a better card for the money. I'm looking for a solid card that will last a long time and basically make it through my college career. (I'm gunna be doing EE so autocad and drafting devices and maybe a few games, the reason for the slightly higher end is I also like to do some 3d rendering, and graphics work, but not enough to make an ultra high end card worth it)

 

[freeloader1969]

For what you're going to be doing with it, a 6800 vanilla will do.

 

[banGerprawN]

Better performance and overclockability on X800GTO (chance to unlock on Connect3D versions of this card), cheaper and a fairly good chance to unlock on the 6800. I think of the top of my head they're both about equal in performance at stock, GTO slightly edging out 6800.

 

[Intel_Hydralisk]

Assuming it's AGP... since your old card was a ti4600...

You could give unlocking an AGP 6800 a shot.

 

[kurt454]

I would go with the GTO to get 256 mb of vram.

 

[ClearM4]

My vote goes for the x800GTO. Its pretty much a x800pro with the core down clocked to 400 mhz instead of 475mhz (same core though so should overlock to ~500+ mhz). Memory is clocked higher on the GTO (490mhz vs the pro's 450mhz). Assuming you need AGP the 6800 will be cheaper though and might unlock. The AGP 800gto will not unlock, but when overclocked competes against the 6800gt. So, even the 6800 unlocks and overclocks well (50% chance?) the x800gto will still be a tad faster and has twice the ram. The AGP 6800 128MB is ~$175-200 shipped and the AGP x800gto ~$190-210 shipped.
http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A9607181 AGP x800 GTO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122193 AGP 6800

 

[delusion_2005]

6800 vanilla since for its features such as Sm 3.0, i believe the 6800 would pull away from the gto at a higher reso and while you at it you can try unlocking some pipes aye.

 

[banGerprawN]

6800 vanilla since for its features such as Sm 3.0, i believe the 6800 would pull away from the gto at a higher reso and while you at it you can try unlocking some pipes aye.

The GTO is more likely to pull away from the 6800 at higher res due to it's larger and faster RAM buffer, as well as ATi generally offering superior performance at higher resolutions (1600x1200, noteably) in that generation.
On the SM3.0 front, yes, it's a feature that should definitely be considered. However, every game so far that is coded for SM3.0 is only coded that way to add performance draining features such as soft shadows, for example. The 6800 would struggle running something like that, in which case, I think SM3.0 is a moot point at this level of performance. (IMO)

 

[xXaNaXx]

one other thing to consider:

the 6800 does not have HDTV outputs, if that is a consideration for you....the ATI has it, and that would sway the decision (for me, at least) in favor of the ATI.