x800PE vs 6800 Ultra

R

RS

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 14, 2001
Messages
456
Today I got a waterblock for my Ultra which I had since summer. Today I was also able to pick up X800PE....so I will have to compare the two cards. I had no problems with the Ultra but in games I play (non-Doom) and at settings I use (1600x1200 lots of AA) ATI seems to have an advantage from what I see in reviews. I will have to personally verify this and decide which card I am going to put the waterblock on in the end.

More info tonight after I get to install it.
 
awesmoe cool, i need to know this too as im going to be getting one or the other also.

also could you compare image quality?
 
If there's anything that strikes me I will let you know but from what I read I don't expect significant differences in IQ. The big difference seems to be ATI's superiority in anything that uses DX and AA versus Ultra's ability to do well in OpenGL games. Most of the games I play are DX and I use a lot of AA so that's why I was tempted to try ATI.
 
RS said:
If there's anything that strikes me I will let you know but from what I read I don't expect significant differences in IQ. The big difference seems to be ATI's superiority in anything that uses DX and AA versus Ultra's ability to do well in OpenGL games. Most of the games I play are DX and I use a lot of AA so that's why I was tempted to try ATI.
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except in farcry, where the 6800U looks way better than ati with its 16-bit HDR.
 
I don't know, it might be jsut me...but the 6800's image quality is worse than ATi, and the drivers are worse. I would prefer an ATi card(next gen, not 850).
 
BloodRayne said:
I don't know, it might be jsut me...but the 6800's image quality is worse than ATi, and the drivers are worse. I would prefer an ATi card(next gen, not 850).
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The shimmering problem most were complaining about was solved in the recent 67.02 drivers by setting Negative LOD Bias to "clamp" in advanced properties of these drivers. They are on par in IQ now, only difference being ATI supports 6xMSAA max while Nvidia supports 8xS AA max (4xMSAA + 1x2 SSAA), and that Nvidia supports OpenEXR 16-bit HDR lighting while ATI only supports 8-bit RGBE8 "HDR" lighting which doesn't look too hot. For the most part, they look similar, except in HDR situations Nvidia looks significantly better.
 
Coming from someone who has both, ATI's quality is slightly better. I really like the 2d of ATI over NV and the gaming is pretty much on par, with the exception of driver glitches on the 6800's. If NV and their "wonderful" drivers can get straightened out it would help.

The biggest factor for me is how damn loud the 6800 is compared to ATI's solution. My 6800 waterblock should be here today or Friday so I might have a different outlook soon!
 
tranCendenZ said:
They are on par in IQ now, only difference being ATI supports 6xMSAA max while Nvidia supports 8xS AA max (4xMSAA + 1x2 SSAA), and that Nvidia supports OpenEXR 16-bit HDR lighting while ATI only supports 8-bit RGBE8 "HDR" lighting which doesn't look too hot. For the most part, they look similar, except in HDR situations Nvidia looks significantly better.
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Since 8X S AA is unplayable, I wouldn't put that in the mix..... I like the HDR on the ATI Crytek demo over the HDR in Far Cry since Far Cry's requires you to lower the resolution just to obtain good FPS.
 
I always hear this, ATI for Direct X and Nvidia in Open GL games. The problem is for Nvidia users are there are far more DX games than Open GL. So my Ultra performs better in only like 20% of the games.
 
In my situation lowering the resolution is the last option since I use an LCD....so if an effect has to force me to scale down resolution to be useful then it will never be turned on.

At the end of the day, either BFG 6800Ultra (with a matching koolance waterblock) or ATI x800 PE will be available :D
 
RS said:
In my situation lowering the resolution is the last option since I use an LCD....so if an effect has to force me to scale down resolution to be useful then it will never be turned on.

At the end of the day, either BFG 6800Ultra (with a matching koolance waterblock) or ATI x800 PE will be available :D
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make sure you use "r_hdrrendering 2" instead of 7 if you are running at high res :)
 
Having had both... Pick either. Hell, go to the store, stand in front of the video cards, spin around three times and pick up the one you're pointing at.

HDR doesn't really look better IMO, just different.

I ended up with a x800 due to one real reason: the fan is quieter. Everything else is pretty much equal. The 6800 is possibly, maybe, could be slightly more future proof. The performamnce difference is negligable. The x800 has slightly, margninally, clearer analog outputs. Which you's only really notice at 1600x1200 or better on a good monitor staring at text.

With either, you can't go wrong. Which is how it should be when forking out $500+ for a video card. In fact, that could very well be the best way to pick one: what's in stock and cheaper.

-dB
 
I can tell you now that you will prefer the x800. Personally I liked the subtle HDR usage in HL2 that the radioactive look in farcry. AA is much better on the PE, I still see jaggies on my ultra. This didn't happen with my PE. Everything was much smoother with the PE also. My ultra seems jerky sometimes...
 
I picked the Ultra in summer cause it was available and had dual DVI.

I have 2 major issues with the Ultra:

* Dual DVI turns out to be unusable since it doesn't have the bandwidth to drive 2 high def monitors.

* Everquest2 runs jerky jerky jerky

---------------

I am pretty sure x800 should run EQ2 much better and I am going to try vga output on PE for my second monitor, and see if it is usable.

Either card will be watercooled so noise is not a problem.
 
i am pretty sure everquest 2 runs jerky on anything that is out today..lol and this is one of those games that need more than 256mb of videoram to run on high resolution too i think.....
 
Image quality being better with ati is a nonsence. HL2 looks better on 6800 than ati's x800. Friend of mine has the same monitor like mine and has x800 but hl2 looked washed out, mostly the textures and objects in the distance looked blurrier. The funny thing is that when taking screen shots from both cards to compare image quality is useless for some reason, differences wont show.
 
RS said:
How do I turn that HDR thing on?
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Put a flash light in your face :) That's basically what it looks like right now.
Oh and stare at legos (jaggies) :D

turn up that res with the x800xtpe. 1600x1200 at 4x AA and 16xAF. smooth as glass (well depending on your processor too a64 recommended for that. XP3000+ 1600x1200 at 4x AA and 8xAF) ;)
 
HeavenX said:
Image quality being better with ati is a nonsence. HL2 looks better on 6800 than ati's x800. Friend of mine has the same monitor like mine and has x800 but hl2 looked washed out, mostly the textures and objects in the distance looked blurrier. The funny thing is that when taking screen shots from both cards to compare image quality is useless for some reason, differences wont show.
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Maybe his monitor is F'd :p
Telling ya know there is no difference. The only thing you want to pull ahead in is cranking up the resolution to ungodly res and still play fast.
 
aZn_plyR said:
i am pretty sure everquest 2 runs jerky on anything that is out today..lol and this is one of those games that need more than 256mb of videoram to run on high resolution too i think.....
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As I said, I played the beta on Extreme at 1600. The only thing needed to be disabled was Environment Shadows, which hit for 5+ FPS. I never bothered tweaking all the visual display settings, since I only played for a week or so. It does run fine on Extreme @ 1600 on todays high end hardware. They like to overhype it.
 
Finally put my Radeon in and noticed:

- nice improvement in EQ2
- Far Cry almost smooth at 4x/8x at 1920x1200 (looking for more smoothness after some OC'ing)
- some improvement in Halo although I lost some WS resolution choices in setup


I am also expecting improvement in BF:V (haven't had a chance to reinstall it yet).

I think I will be putting a waterblock on this baby and selling my Ultra. While not a humongous improvement, the games seem to have gained a degree of smoothness compared to the Ultra. I am a big believer in Hi Res / high AA gaming and ATI just does it better so it seems.
 
OK, after putting my waterblock in, everything worked great. Following a break, I got VGA screens on startup. Had to manually force installation of drivers, cause ATI installer refused to recognize the card.

I am trying to think why is the card ID not available. I think that some AS got loose after a while (was stress testing the card) and might have affected the little card ID nipples. After forcing driver re-installation the card works great again. Any ideas? I think I may have to take the waterblock off and check it.
 
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