ATI or Nvidia?

[Noobtastic]

This will be my first time building, and I want to make sure everything is top notch to my budget.

I have 1300 dollars to spend, I have concluded that I will spend a maximum of 350 dollars on a Videocard.

There are several I have been looking at.

First is the Nvidia 6800GT 256mb 256 bit PCI-E (SLI Supported)
Next is the ATI X800XL 256mb 256 bit PCI-E (I think its SLI supported)

Which shall I get?/Is there a better cards out there that I could get for the money?
I also saw a Saphire Radeon X800XL 512mb 256bit PCI-E for 389 bucks however it is not SLI supported. Is that a better card then the ones I posted above? Is it worth the money?

 

[twitchee2]

get the 800xl its better bang for the buck and a single 7800gtx will outpreform sli 6800gts

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Personally I'd take the X800XL because it's quite a bit cheaper and is almost as fast as a 6800GT. There are no ATi cards that have SLI however. Don't get the 512MB version though, it's overpriced and doesn't give much of an advantage.

 

[Noobtastic]

Argh, I wrote a fairly long reply and I got an error saying I had censored words in my reply?

What the fack? Thats crap I didn't have any profanity in my post...weak man.

I forgot what the fack I was even writing..ARGH!!!!

These are my PC specs soon to be:

AMD 3700 Claw hammer
1 gig crucial ram
Abit Fatality




I will be only playing BF2, so which card will run it better?

 

[KoolDrew]

X800XL. It can be bought for $250 at Monarch making it a much better choice.

 

[Mesix]

Why are you getting a clawhammer?

 

[Noobtastic]

Originally posted by: Mesix
Why are you getting a clawhammer?

Is that bad?

 

[twitchee2]

get the san diego that and venice are the new cores here, its a bit more expenisve

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: twitchee2
get the san diego that and venice are the new cores here, its a bit more expenisve

yup, cooler running, which means quiter hsf's and/or faster OC's

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

It looks like you don't have much of an idea what parts to get... Clawhammer is an outdated core built on the 130nm manufacturing process. You're getting a Fatility?! Overpriced waste of money. Get the MSI Neo4 Platinum if you're not overclocking much, or the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D if you want to overclock a lot. It seems like you have a LOT of research to do on computer components... There's no such thing as ATI SLI. SLI is dual nVidia cards. I wouldn't rush into this if I were you. I spent a good 5-6 months researching before I actually bought the parts for my first build

 

[SonicIce]

if they're the same price, the 6800 GT is faster. the x800xl is usually cheaper in PCIe though so i'd get that since they're really close in performance.

 

[Noobtastic]

I was thinking of maybe getting an AMD 3500 Venice chip...instead of the clawhammer...that was my original choice before I saw a cheaper 3700 Clawhammer but then apparently it isn't as good as the 3500 Venice..

Well ok.

Maybe I ll just make another thread..

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

The 6800GT is a bit more expensive, even though it performs about the same as the X800XL. $250 for an X800XL is a much better deal than like $350+ for a 6800GT.

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: twitchee2
and a single 7800gtx will outpreform sli 6800gts

and what is that supposed to mean? how does the 7800gtx get involved to determine whether or not he should get the 6800 gt or x800 xl?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Now. The 6800GT > X800XL if you look at performance. It wins in more benches etc, BUT the factor is price. A 6800GT can be 300+ up to like $350 or even more. An X800XL is much cheaper and is DEFINITELY worth it. I say get the Gigabyte fanless one which is like $282 on Newegg? Since X800XLs dont OC that well, you might as well get a silent solution.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Id go with the nvidia, not only is it faster but from my experience the drivers are a little more reliable.

/me hides from all the ATI is better crowd

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Id go with the nvidia, not only is it faster but from my experience the drivers are a little more reliable.

/me hides from all the ATI is better crowd

that is ture about drivers....but in this case even though i am a bit of an nvidia fanboy...i have to say the ATI card is the better choice especially if you plan to upgrade to better cards in the future

 

[Noriaki]

Originally posted by: Noobtastic

Next is the ATI X800XL 256mb 256 bit PCI-E (I think its SLI supported)

ATi used the term Crossfire (the X800XL can be used with a Crossfire setup) which is pretty much the same concept as SLI. "SLI" is the nVidia name however, so to be anal about it there is no such thing as an ATi card that supports SLI.

Oh, yeah I would go with the X800XL for the cheaper price.

 

[m3rcury]

x800xl is a better bang for the buck than the 6800gt. also, the last review I saw pretty much said that (other than in doom3) the x800xl was atleast as good as the 6800gt.

 

[miketheidiot]

fanless x800xl

edit: get an epox or dfi nf4 board much cheaper and better, or the non fatality abit board.

isn't the clawhammer 3700 a socket 754 part? get a 3500 venice instead. It will actually work with your motherboard.

 

[SonicIce]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot
fanless x800xl

edit: get an epox or dfi nf4 board much cheaper and better, or the non fatality abit board.

isn't the clawhammer 3700 a socket 754 part? get a 3500 venice instead. It will actually work with your motherboard.

i wonder how hot that thing gets under heavy gaming

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Yeah, I heard that the fanless one gets incredibly hot...

 

[eplebnista]

nVidia

 

[fierydemise]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
Yeah, I heard that the fanless one gets incredibly hot...

Reviews have said it gets hotter then others but it doesn't overheat, by itself it can get up to 75+C under load, but with a single 90mm fan 6" away the load temp is around 50C under load. Basically if you have good ventilation it doesn't get too hot otherwise you might have some problems.

 

[djnsmith7]

I just bought the X800XL & have no plans of looking back. My X800XL plays BF2 just fine. From the reviews that I read which compared this card to the 6800GT, the cards are relatively even in performance. The X800XL will be between $50 - $100 less. Use that savings towards your CPU.

I'm a big fan of ASUS motherboards, so that's what I'm going to recommend. Since you've decided to go with a PCIe card, I recommend the A8N-SLI Deluxe board. The board is a bit on the pricey side, but that's easily justified by its upgradeability in the future.

Remember, your PC is only as fast as your weakest link (CPU, Video Card, RAM & Motherboard). You don't really want to shortcut on those.

I agree with what t3h said earlier. Take your time. Don't rush into this process. I've done this several times now & I learn something new every time. If you take your time & do your research (there's plenty to do here at AT), you'll make the best decisions for your budget needs.

By the way, I just bought my X800XL at Best Buy for $299 & saved $20 off BF2. BB did a price match on the X800XL.