$400 Video Card

[Odoacer]

Okay, so I think I'm gonna swallow my wallet and get a $400 video card for college (hopefully it'll last me the next 5 years!)

Now, here are the contenders:

ATI X800 Pro - I'm an ATI man, always been satisfied with their products
nVidia GeForce 6800 GT - Looks a tad bit faster, with Pixel Shader 3.0 to boot (note: I'm a developer also, this could come in handy)

Which should I get? Or am I being completely stupid and should opt for a lower-priced card (~$300, Radeon 9800XT, et al)?

 

[imported_mitch2891]

I say 6800GT.

Got mine about 3 weeks ago and it is fantastic, could not be happier. But really it is personal choice they are close enough that you won't lose out either way (although unless I am mistaken the 6800GT is a tad faster and not just in D3)

 

[OnEMoReTrY]

First off, SM 2.0b will do anything SM 3.0 will do equal or faster as proven in many benchmarks currently out. So I do not agree with going with the 6800 GT because of that reason. However the 6800 GT does tend to do better in most benchmarks so I would suggest going with that card. However, I've had my x800 pro since June and I have been running everything 1280*1024 with bells and whistles and have had absolutly no slowdowns, granted I would love to try 1600*1200 but my monitor is too old. I think I got lucky on a pro as it overclocks to 580/575 without artifacting pretty easily. I would love to see an overclocked GT vs a pro @ that clock. Anyways overall I would probably suggest going with the 6800 GT as many others would as well.

 

[Rage187]

GT of course.


Better performance in D3 and the Souce engine(CS/HL2)

not too mention the extra 4 pipes and PS3

 

[OnEMoReTrY]

Originally posted by: Rage187
GT of course.
Better performance in D3 and the Souce engine(CS/HL2)

There is many sites that beg to differ with the performance in the source engine. And it is only using one timedemo which demonstrates next to nothing of real gameplay. I would wait for the actual HL2 to come out and check those benchmarks before making a purchase based on performance of the source engine

 

[Rage187]

For every 1 site that says the Pro is better, there are 5 that say the GT is better.


Here's one w/o even trying


and another

I can find a few more if you want.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: OnEMoReTrY
First off, SM 2.0b will do anything SM 3.0 will do equal or faster as proven in many benchmarks currently out. So I do not agree with going with the 6800 GT because of that reason. However the 6800 GT does tend to do better in most benchmarks so I would suggest going with that card. However, I've had my x800 pro since June and I have been running everything 1280*1024 with bells and whistles and have had absolutly no slowdowns, granted I would love to try 1600*1200 but my monitor is too old. I think I got lucky on a pro as it overclocks to 580/575 without artifacting pretty easily. I would love to see an overclocked GT vs a pro @ that clock. Anyways overall I would probably suggest going with the 6800 GT as many others would as well.

Im interested in how you know 2.0b does everything in most cases faster than 3.0. DO tell where you pulled that out from. It just so happens that Far Cry is the only game that supports RUDIMENTARY, SM3.0 support, meaning it doesn't support all of 3.0's features. It just happens that it supports most of 2.0bs features. That why we are seeing similiar performance gains there. Until someone comes out with a game that natively supports SM3.0 and all its features we wont know what the advantages/disadvantages are.

As for me GT no doubt. X800Pro is a good card but it cant compete with the GT, now when and if ATI releases the X800GT that will really show which card to get as long as ATI lowers the price on X800Pros drastically, and makes the X800GT priced competitvely with the 6800GT.

-Kevin

 

[jhbball]

Originally posted by: Rage187
For every 1 site that says the Pro is better, there are 5 that say the GT is better.


Here's one w/o even trying


and another

I can find a few more if you want.

ha... so you scrolled down in your second test right? did you actually read the numbers? or just look at the first score @ 1024x768. Look at your links again.

 

[Childs]

You should wait, depending on what kind of card you currently have. And if you're going to college soon, that $400 will be more valuable as spending money than a video card.

 

[Mik3y]

GT hands down.

 

[Corporate Thug]

its very close, but prolly the GT

 

[Tab]

I dont like any of the reviews for of the Source Engine, they are all to far off from each other. I'd go nvidia personally...

 

[gururu]

i think in the end you gotta go with more pipes.

 

[Bar81]

What kind of games do you like to play?

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: jhbball

Originally posted by: Rage187
For every 1 site that says the Pro is better, there are 5 that say the GT is better.


Here's one w/o even trying


and another

I can find a few more if you want.

ha... so you scrolled down in your second test right? did you actually read the numbers? or just look at the first score @ 1024x768. Look at your links again.

um look at the test for 1600x1200 4aa 8/16 AF, the GT beats the pro by 7fps.

"ATI RADEON X800 XT is the leader in both eye-candy and pure speed modes, while the GeForce 6800 Ultra and GeForce 6800 GT get the No.2 and No.3 spots respectively."

What benchmark are you looking at?

 

[Odoacer]

I play a lot of different games including the standard heavy-duty shooters (Doom 3, eventually HL2, etc).

I guess I'll get the eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT. Most of the recommendations are for a 6800 GT and I'm stoked that it comes with Far Cry (which I don't have yet).

Thanks for all the input, guys!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Mik3y
GT hands down.

 

[Bar81]

Originally posted by: Odoacer
I play a lot of different games including the standard heavy-duty shooters (Doom 3, eventually HL2, etc).

I guess I'll get the eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT. Most of the recommendations are for a 6800 GT and I'm stoked that it comes with Far Cry (which I don't have yet).

Thanks for all the input, guys!

Yeah, very nice bundle. I'm playing through it again since I got my XT PE and it's as fun the second time through and prettier to boot with the maxed out AA/AF over my X800 Pro.

 

[Dakey]

Originally posted by: Rage187

Originally posted by: jhbball

Originally posted by: Rage187
For every 1 site that says the Pro is better, there are 5 that say the GT is better.


Here's one w/o even trying


and another

I can find a few more if you want.

ha... so you scrolled down in your second test right? did you actually read the numbers? or just look at the first score @ 1024x768. Look at your links again.

um look at the test for 1600x1200 4aa 8/16 AF, the GT beats the pro by 7fps.

"ATI RADEON X800 XT is the leader in both eye-candy and pure speed modes, while the GeForce 6800 Ultra and GeForce 6800 GT get the No.2 and No.3 spots respectively."

What benchmark are you looking at?

Oh nos 7fps maybe newer catalyst will take care of that and it says 800 xt is speed king so let it be for now im going with X800 XTPE...

My friend got a 6800 gt evga and its less than perfect (dissapointing were his exact werdz!)amigos so dont believe the hype !!


!! da Rig !!

 

[iamskew]

there's a reason Nvidia's stock prices are going down...everyone knows ati owns the vid card industry

 

[NJDevil]

Originally posted by: iamskew
there's a reason Nvidia's stock prices are going down...everyone knows ati owns the vid card industry

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I cannot stop laughing.

I didn't think people this silly knew how to use the internet.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: iamskew
there's a reason Nvidia's stock prices are going down...everyone knows ati owns the vid card industry

actually, Intel owns the vid card industry, so buy intel extreme video motherboards with integrated graphics.

 

[Acanthus]

omg, we all know XGI will be a market leader by 2007, dont forget them.

 

[fbrdphreak]

X800 Pro and 6800 GT are not in the same category IMO. You're comparing apples to oranges. Sure, they cost the same: but that's 'cuz ATI has been a little behind in getting product to market.
X800 Pro: 12 pipes, SM3.0b
6800GT: 16 pipes, SM3.0

Now the clocks are different, but IMO comparing nVidia/ATI clocks is like comparing AMD/Intel clocks. Its not as drasitcally different as w/the CPUs but still diff enough to not worry too much about that. Right now, the 6800GT is the best card for $400; Hl2/D3 or not. When ATI EVER releases the X800GT for $400 MSRP, then it will be a contender against the 6800GT and I would bet that it holds its own pretty well. But until then, you're paying more money for a less powerful card.

 

[Gamingphreek]

I think you meant SM2.0b

Also the X800Pro is a direct contender with the 6800GT. It was meant to directly compete with the GT however ATI didn't anticipate the 6800GT being so "powerful" with 16 pipes and what not so they are making a X800GT.

-Kevin